A Lesson from The Moon

Moonlight, a photo by tanuki_green on Flickr.

Here in the Pacific Northwest we have well earned reputation for bad weather and grey skies. We often hear about amazing astronomical things like eclipses, auroras, and meteor showers but because we’re all too often shrouded in layers of thick, grey clouds, we rarely have the opportunity to see what Nature is showing off.

Back in 2008 I heard there would be a full lunar eclipse in the month of February–one of those dark, grey months. I was certain it would be another cloudy night where I’d miss out on one of those rare and beautiful events that I have heard so many people speak of with awe and wonder; when it turned out to be a clear, cloudless night I jumped at the opportunity to break into a new category of photography and try my hand at night shots of the moon. Armed with my Canon PowerShot S3IS in one hand and a tripod in the other I set up and took some nice, long exposure shots.

This one is of the moon nearing its full eclipse.

One of the lessons I took away from this night is to take every opportunity as it is presented. To be honest, that wasn’t the first time I’d learnt that lesson, but that time it stuck and it’s one I keep close to the heart these days.

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X-posted from Visions from the Tanuki.
You can find the original post here.