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Super Blood Moon Eclipse, Monterey Bay, CA

Posted by
Mike Hall (California, United States) on 28 September 2015 in Landscape & Rural and Portfolio.

So I was racking my brain on how to capture yesterday’s Super Blood Moon eclipse.

Where I live along California’s central coast heavy cloud cover and low lying fog was threatening to shut out any chance of viewing the moon but I was determined to “get something”. For me the more compelling composition was to have something interesting in the foreground (and attempt to try a time lapse composite), but the timing was such that by the time the moon rose high enough it would be dark and any foreground elements would be lost(unless I wanted to light paint). Rather than scrap going out, I decided to head into Santa Cruz and see if there were any breaks in the cloud cover. Also, I thought the Santa Cruz Wharf could make a nice foreground element that would be lit up as it got dark. Not too surprisingly (ok, I was a little surprised by the sheer number), there were cars and people lined up along West Cliff Drive…and a thick layer of fog on the bay. I took finding a parking spot as a sign and found a spot to shoot from where I could line up the moon and the wharf as it crested over the Santa Cruz Mountains. As time passed, the breeze started picking up, it got cooler, it didn’t seem like there were going to be any breaks in the fog bank for the moon to peek through and the masses started to leave. I was about to pack it in myself and head for high ground to try to get some isolated shots and there it was, just peeking through top of the fog…with a hint of color too !

Thanks for visiting my photoblog. Though I may not be able to respond to every comment, I do read them all and I appreciate your interest.

Denny Jump Photo from Easton, PA, United States

I love your story, your determination, your perseverance and i love this shot,....Bravo sir ;-) PS - don't feel too ad- here where I am, we had a cloud cover that would make june Gloom (a la San Diego in May and June) look like a clear winter's day!!! We Got NADA! Pissed off I went to bed....

29 Sep 2015 12:14am

@Denny Jump Photo: Thanks Denny. I almost didn't go out due to the weather (I texted Don and Scott to see what the weather was like in their areas too) but I would have been mad at myself if I ended up seeing awesome images out of my area. :-) At least I didn't get totally shut out.

L'Angevine from Angers, France

bien

29 Sep 2015 2:00pm