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That is the eclipsing moon up in the sky, from the other night. I waited a long time for it to come back out and although it was murky, it was then close enough to the bridge to get them both in the same frame with my 24-70mm. This image has been converted to B/W and then split-toned in Lightroom.

Originally, I’d planned to be at Mono Lake for last night’s lunar eclipse, but decided against it due to the storm. However, yesterday afternoon the skies were clearing just enough for us here in the Bay Area to witness a partially eclipsed full moon rise. The Golden Gate Bridge was where I wanted to be. I grabbed my tripod and the rest of my gear and took off. Traffic through the city was light. I don’t know if you’ve ever been able to go from Market to Lombard, on Van Ness without ever hitting a red light, but I did it yesterday and felt as if the traffic Gods had escorted me across all of San Francisco. I got to the Marin Headlands around 5:30 and while I thought there might be 25-30 photographers lined up along the fence, there were only 3. One of them had a compass and they were discussing exactly where the moon would be rising in relation to the bridge. Based on what they were saying, I expected to get a great shoot of the moon through the bridge. But no. These guys were waaaaay off and while they continued to look at the compass, I noticed the top of the moon poke up over the eastern hills. I wasn’t terribly impressed as there was about 15 minutes of clarity before it ducked behind the clouds. I shot it through a hole in the cyclone fence.

Then, as the sky darkened, the lights from the bridge created a brilliant contrast against the city. I shot for a long time, hoping the moon would come back out. It made a murky appearance later on, but I was freezing and it was time for a beer. I got one good shot.

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This was an image shot for a client that manufactures high end robes. I wanted to capture the feeling of having a luxurious robe draped over your body in the warmth of the afternoon sun; to create a sense of peace and calm to associate with the robe. To achieve this image, I had the model walking slowly on the beach directly at the sun and the ocean and used a lens hood to keep my 70-200mm lens in the shadow and prevent lens flare.

http://www.mreclipse.com/Special/LEprimer.html

There is a lunar eclipse scheduled for February 21st and I’m planning to go photograph it rise over Mono Lake. I’ve never been there, but have always wanted to go. Just recently, I started reading Fred Miranda’s forum on his valuable-to-any-photographer website, www.fredmiranda.com. He has awesome Photoshop plugins and I encourage you to visit. It was in the landscape forum that I just read about the eclipse coming up in a matter of days.

A few weeks ago, I was sitting in the living room talking with my friend John when, out the window, I noticed the moon hanging very low in the sky. Now, while they do make attachments that allow you to snap your SLR body onto a regular telescope, I don’t have one. What I do have is a 200mm lens with a 1.4x lens extender, giving me 280. I dropped my exposure compensation down 2 stops and setup on the railing. Fortunately shooting the moon itself is a fast exposure and doesn’t require a tripod. I cropped way down to get this. But it’s great! Look at the detail. I love digital. I shot this with my Canon 5D.

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While I was shooting the pear trees, it started to rain again and I looked up to see the beginnings of a rainbow forming beyond the orchard. So I quickly jumped back in the car and headed towards an open field where I thought I could make a good image. And of course, the perfect farmhouse was right out there in the middle of it. It took driving about 300-400 feet to get it to line up just right. At first it was just the bottom bit. But as I was shooting, the whole top half opened up. It was pretty cool.

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This image was made early in the morning on August 28th, 2007 as the moon set over the Golden Gate Bridge, from the deck of my house. I knew it was going to be a glorious full moon, so I set my alarm for 4 in the morning, but it was still way too high in the sky. When shooting the moon, you have to include something closer to you in order to provide a sense of scale in the frame. Here, I used a telephoto lens and cropped in post-production, in order to fill the frame with as much of the moon as possible while still holding on to the bridge. I knew sunrise was at 6 but I was hoping the moon would set over the bay while it was still totally dark. I should have checked the moon set time. It hung high in the sky all night only to come down shortly before dawn. I have a shot like the one I was hoping for already, so no biggie and here’s a great addition to the set. Look for our landscape photography workshop this summer and join us at the house for a sunset photography and cocktail party.

I woke up at 6am this morning with the moon shining brightly in my eyes. As I looked through my blurry vision, I knew a beautiful image was awaiting me on the ridge up the street. So I jumped up and headed out the door. Ahhhhh! my tripod is in the other car and my keys are with Alex. Hmmm, I see a stool that looks good enough… I run out the door and up to the spot. In minutes, I have the stool setup and the camera nice ‘n steady. Bam! Here it is… and wow, what a GORGEOUS day it is already