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Once in a Blue Moon

July 31st is what is known as a Blue Moon. It is not really going to be blue but instead will be an extra moon in the quarter and 2nd this month. It is a rarity, thus…once in a blue moon. Here are some tips to shoot the Blue Moon.

First, I prefer to shoot it the night before, so you are late for my philosophy. These images were just shot an hour or so ago. You need a good sturdy base…a tripod. Secondly you need a sharp long lens if you want to get close. I like the Tamron SP 150-600mm Di VC USD lens because I can shoot the moon and some of the color of sunset as well. The moon by itself is, well just the moon, add something to the scene. Where I shot it, I didn’t have any foreground stuff to add so I just added the shadow of the Earth as the sun set. I shoot in Manual Mode for the moon typically. I start with the Sunny 16 rule for a base exposure which states the exposure is 1/ISO at f16 on a clear non-polluted day/night. We had a bunch of haze here so I knew I would be about 2 stops or so open. My exposures ended up being 1/250th to 1/320th of a second at 400 ISO and f8. I also recommend using a cable release.
Even with the haze, the Tamron SP 150-600mm Di VC USD lens did a great job of capturing a great sharp moon. I used the Canon 7Dii for the images as well.

It may be too late to get your lens for the Blue Moon this time, but give Mark a call at Camera Land and be ready for the next full moon, even if it isn’t blue. Make sure as always to let Mark know you are a member of the Campfire for the best prices.

Post some Blue Moon images!

Nice! Great detail!