Sunday, May 6, 2012

Sad but True, Will I Never Learn?

 to keep my big mouth shut?

I really did think twice about posting our plans to go out and shoot the moon, but jeez, it seemed pretty safe.

It started out good enough.  We looked out on the wharf, spoke to several people about where to expect the moon to rise, and decided the wharf was out.  We headed out to West Cliff Drive and picked this spot, which, according to previous pictures, seemed like a perfect spot.


We were pretty early, so I kept practicing, laying out shots, checking exposure, what ever.  This would prove to be my undoing but that's another part of the story.

I can't seem to be near the ocean 
and not take at least one picture of the pelicans.


The ice plant is just starting to bloom, 
in a few weeks it should cover the cliffs.


These black bumble bees were everywhere.


Being bored, I took a few shots with my iPhone.
I liked the perspective on this one,


so I played with it a bit
(click to enlarge)


then some more.
Kind of like the poppy fields
in the Wizard of Oz


Having my iPhone and iPad with me
makes it easy to play with my photos,
no matter where I am.

Finally, as we kept looking at the lighthouse, 
waiting for the moon to rise

it came up in another direction entirely.


Did I mention that by this time it was really cold?

And from somewhere,
an army of mosquitoes descended,
biting me on my face
(since the rest of my body was covered
because it was so danged cold . . .).

Mosquitoes love me,
I'm like their favorite flavor.

The feeling is not mutual.

Back to the moon . . .
I must say, 
it was nowhere near as impressive as I was expecting.  
I remember the moons of New Mexico, 
bright and huge, like this

It's my opinion 
that Californians wouldn't know a good moon 
if it hit them in the eye like a big pizza pie!

See?  This isn't so big . . .


Terry did get this shot, that I liked a lot,
but the moon wasn't in focus like we wanted.

We can't figure out how to get landscapes 
where there's ambient light, 
but you can still see the man in the moon.


These shots are easy, but I want the landscapes.

Remember how I spent so much time 
playing with the camera 
before the moon even came up?

Well, it was right after this shot 
that the battery in the camera died.


Of course I was a couple of blocks from the car.

And I didn't have a key anyway.

And Terry was off somewhere else shooting.

And there was no cel reception.

Are you getting the picture 
that this was a less than perfect evening?

To make things even better, 
for some reason, 
my allergies kicked in about then.
They haven't bothered me for a long time.
But suddenly, my eyes began to itch, then run.

With the camera effectively dead, 
I resorted to my phone.

The iPhone takes great pictures, but requires light.
Later, when I looked at these, I kind of liked the look.


Sort of like the paintings of Georges Seurat.


And this kind of reminded me of Monet.

If he had painted 
two of the three moons of Tatooine.


Right after these shots, 
I dropped my iPhone.
Fortunately, it was undamaged.

Then a big bug flew straight into my mouth,
right to the back of my throat.

The evening wasn't improving.

This was the last shot.


At this point, we decided we'd had enough
and decided to go out on the wharf for some chowder.

 The sight of this fish
supposedly heading for a cocktail 
struck home with me.


On the way home, 
we decided to take a look 
at the meadow in Henry Cowell State Park.  
Again, not the shot I was hoping for, 
but on some level, I like it


Now, I'm off to check out 
everybody else's blogs 
and see some good shots of the perigee supermoon.

I have high hopes for those of you out in the desert.

If you find any great shots online, let me know,
I feel like it was a totally blown opportunity for me.

Whine over

7 comments:

Merikay said...

We set an alarm on the stove and drove about five minutes to a place where we could see it. Our house has to many trees for a horizon view. I thought it was larger than a normal moon, but it didn't seem as spectacular as I expected.

No photography was attempted.

Russ Krecklow said...

Poor Kate...skeeter bait...but, I do like your photos. It was worth it to me to have you go through all of that just so we could see these shots on your blog...while we stayed home and went to bed, ho hum! I like the fish, too...and the pelicans, of course!! Now, go gargle with some listerine or something and get that bug taste out of your mouth!

Donna K said...

Oh dear!!! What a night you had. I hope you managed to spit out the bug. I think you need us to come down and help you out (I wish). Still, you got some good shots and had fun...well at least it's fun in retrospect.

Luci & Loree said...

What an experience!!! BUT i liked your pictures!!

Gaelyn said...

So the Supermoon and experiences were not what you expected. Other than bugs and mosquitos doesn't sound that bad. I screwed up the time for moon rise so we missed the horizon shot and played with the camera a lot. Until it got cold.

I really like the long shots with the ice plants, especially the ones by the Masters. And you got some great moon photos.

Hope dinner was good and the allergies have gone away.

photowannabe said...

Well that was definitely an "adventure".
You and I are mosquito bait and ewww on the bug appetizer.
I really did like your pictures though.
Right now Dave and I have allergies to beat the band. Itchy eyes and sneezing. Never had it this bad. Wish the wind would stop.
Hope you are doing better.

said...

LOL! Glad you survived the night ;-)