Moon play

Moon play?  What kind of title is that? What do you mean by Moon play?   

Well, I'll tell you. 

I have been taking lots of pictures of the Moon.  What I like best are the close-ups.  I love looking at the craters, and mountains and mare of the Moon.  I've taken what I think are some pretty good photos. 

And I also like recording images of the Moon rising.  Had some dandy ones there too.  

However, I've taken even more of what turned out to be rather odd photos of the Moon.  Shots that for some reason are not quite what I had hoped them to be. Actually, as new as I am to taking quality pictures, many times I just point and click, with this or that setting dialed in, and look to see what I get. Just playing with my toy.  

Sometimes, I've been surprised, even delighted with these experimental shots. Many more times, I hit delete.  

Today, I'm going to show you some of these in-between photos, that are kind of cool in some ways, but certainly don't qualify as a proper photograph.  Focus and exposure issues produce lots of pictures that fall into this category.  

Here we go.  

Now, don't get me wrong, I really like some of these.  Some of these you may also like.  They might even make you decide to take out your own camera and experiment with some Moon shots. You might be pleasantly surprised with some of yours, and the rest that you take, well, they probably won't be any worse than lots of these.  

The most notable feature in this first shot is the 'golden handle,' which is formed when the terminator line hits the Jura Mountain Range that lies along the edge of Mare Imbrium. The highest peak in that range is over 12,000 feet high.  

It happens on a waxing moon, that is, when it's getting larger each night.  You'll see it several days before the full Moon. 

And remember, if any of you in the northern hemisphere look for this feature, it will be reversed on your view of the Moon.  

Also here

This is a pretty good shot, not an odd-ball, but I've included it here with an arrow to show you another view of the mountain range that produces the golden handle.  

This next photo is also a good shot, showing the golden handle, but not so prominently as in the first picture.  

Just coming up, through the clouds, with lots of zoom. 

The palms framing this picture kept the Moon from being in focus, but look just to the left of the Moon.  That is a jet with it's contrail showing.  I was hoping that I could get a shot of the jet in front of the Moon, but with the focus problem, that didn't happen.  You can see the jet farther away in this next shot.   

I got a somewhat similar effect here as I did in the first picture.  Mountains, edge on and accentuated.  

I was temped to edit this picture and make it a little brighter, but decided to show it to you just as it was that night.  That is a mood-setter Moon if I ever saw one.  

Not a good picture, but boy, look at those craters.  

These next shots are rather nice, but not quite on the mark.  

I like this one, mostly. Very similar to the header. 

For this one, I turned on the flash and zoomed in a bit besides.  I was on our balcony. 

I like the fact that there is a round area on the right-hand palm that my zoom made just about the same size as the Moon. And that it's dark against the lighter tree.  Sort of a yin/yang thing going on there between the spot on the tree and the Moon in the sky. And they both seem to show a little bit of lean toward the other.   

I took this one the night of the eclipse of 11/19/21. It looks to me like a molten drop of metal.

Whoops, I broke the Moon. 

I really wish that this one had sharper focus.  

This is a 'misty-Moon.' 

That's it for now.  

Grab your own camera and give it a try. Try to have as solid a rest as you can. That makes a huge difference. Play a little. See what happens. Delight or delete.  You can't lose.       -djf