2010_1792 Once In A Blue Moon
Halloween night, a blue moon rose over the prairie just after sunset. I had spent an hour at the local seniors centre handing out treats and photographing the trick-or-treaters, then drove out to the park to wait for this extremely rare moonrise. Two full moons in a calendar month, the second falling on Halloween, is a rare event that hasn't occurred in North America since 1866.
Out in the park, the only people I saw were my friends Pat and Maurice. Pat said, "Will you be able to see it through the clouds?" There were some bands of thin cloud just above the horizon. I told her they would just improve the atmosphere.
When the moon finally appeared, it was deep orange. I looked at it carefully, because I didn't want to inadvertently "normalize" it in post processing. As it rose higher, its brightness increased, I had to continually adjust the exposure, and with the increased contrast, land details faded away into darkness. It was a good way to close out the month of October.
I drove home. No one had vandalized my house. This night can bring out the worst in people. It's the only night of the year when the Post Office lobby is locked. Some years ago, the morning after Halloween, friends of mine who run a country inn in an old, renovated convent that they purchased for that purpose, found a live goat in their lobby. Pretty funny, but now they lock their doors, too, on this strange and unpredictable night.
Photographed in Grasslands National Park, Saskatchewan (Canada). Don't use this on websites, blogs, or other media without explicit permission ©2020 James R. Page - all rights reserved.
2010_1792 Once In A Blue Moon
Halloween night, a blue moon rose over the prairie just after sunset. I had spent an hour at the local seniors centre handing out treats and photographing the trick-or-treaters, then drove out to the park to wait for this extremely rare moonrise. Two full moons in a calendar month, the second falling on Halloween, is a rare event that hasn't occurred in North America since 1866.
Out in the park, the only people I saw were my friends Pat and Maurice. Pat said, "Will you be able to see it through the clouds?" There were some bands of thin cloud just above the horizon. I told her they would just improve the atmosphere.
When the moon finally appeared, it was deep orange. I looked at it carefully, because I didn't want to inadvertently "normalize" it in post processing. As it rose higher, its brightness increased, I had to continually adjust the exposure, and with the increased contrast, land details faded away into darkness. It was a good way to close out the month of October.
I drove home. No one had vandalized my house. This night can bring out the worst in people. It's the only night of the year when the Post Office lobby is locked. Some years ago, the morning after Halloween, friends of mine who run a country inn in an old, renovated convent that they purchased for that purpose, found a live goat in their lobby. Pretty funny, but now they lock their doors, too, on this strange and unpredictable night.
Photographed in Grasslands National Park, Saskatchewan (Canada). Don't use this on websites, blogs, or other media without explicit permission ©2020 James R. Page - all rights reserved.