Blue Moon

Full Moon Hiding, a photo by Wayne-K on Flickr.

I was hiking earlier this month on the Pleasanton Ridge and witnessed the full moon rising over the distant hills. The colors in the evening sky were spectacular and it was a beautiful scene. Unfortunately, I had my FM2 with 50mm lens and the focal length was too short to adequately capture the shot. There was to be a second full moon later in the month, so I penciled it into my calendar and waited patiently for it to arrive.

I went hiking last night on the Ridge and although today was the official full moon, the moon last night was beautiful. The evening sunlight warmed the amber grass covered hills with orange light and the moon rose quickly in the clear, cloudless sky. Once again, I had my FM2 with 50mm lens, but I was not concerned because I was planning on returning the next night with my D80 and telephoto lens.

Today, the full moon finally arrived. The second full moon of a month is commonly known as the blue moon. It doesn’t happen often…just once in a blue moon. I packed my Nikon D80 DSLR, telephoto zoom lens, Benro travel tripod, and circular polarizer filter. I was ready to capture tonight’s full moon in all her glory. Unfortunately, Mother Nature had other plans. The fog and clouds rolled in, covering the East Bay. There was no wonderful warm afternoon light and the moonrise was obscured by fog. On the positive side, we had a nice hike on the trails nonetheless.

Here are a few photos from the hike. Not the full moon photos I intended to capture, but there will be a next time…