Shooting the Moon

Today's Photo - The Moon


















Since there isn't much happening with the planning for my trailer or trip, I decided to do a page on photography.

Many of us has seen beautiful moons in our travels, but have been disappointed in the results when trying to photograph it.

Overexposed Moon

This is what you will often end up with if your camera is set to program or automatic exposure.  The problem is the moon is very bright while the background is very dark, The camera "averages" them together & the result is an over exposed moon.  

The solution is to use manual exposure.  Almost all cameras can have their aperture & shutter speed set to manual.  The next time you want to take a photograph of the moon, try this:

1. Set your ISO to the lowest value possible.  Typically, this will be 100.
2. Set your aperture to f: 16.
3. Use the "Sunny 16" rule to determine your shutter speed.  The Sunny 16 rule is used to estimate exposure for bright sunlight.  According to the rule, when the aperture is f: 16, the correct shutter speed will be the ISO of the camera.  Although you are shooting your photograph in the dark, the light coming from the moon is reflected sunlight - it is quite bright. So, if your ISO is 100, choose the shutter speed as close to 100th of a second as possible.
4. Although a tripod will help, if your shutter speed is over 100th of a second & you are reasonably steady, and don't have a real long focal length lens (over 200mm or say 15X) you can probably get away with a hand held shot.
5. Even with a tripod, if your exposure ends up longer than a couple of seconds, the moon will move far enough during that time to blur the image.  To make long exposures you will need a astronomical mount that is capable of tracking. 
6. You don't need to wait for a full moon - you will often have more interesting images when you can view the terminator of the moon because it accents the mountains & valleys.

Moon, Showing Terminator

So, the next time you have a clear night, get out your camera & "Shoot the Moon!"

Please let me know if you are interested in more hints & helps for photography - I won't always have something to blog about dealing with my trip!

Syracuse RV Show

Today's Photo  - Fall Reflections on a Pond, Sterling Nature Center, NY











The 14th Annual Campers World RV Supershow started today at the New York State Fairgrounds. Not sure why I went since I have made up my mind, but it's always nice to see what's out there.  Of course, for this show there is only one dealer, (Campers World) so the choices are a bit limited...

Since the entire show is indoors (we had a foot of snow Tuesday night and 6" last night) things are crammed together. There was a pretty good mix of 5th wheels, travel trailers & motorhomes, both new & used.

Since I wasn't one of the individuals that won the $380 million Mega Millions jackpot, I won't be buying this Itasca Meridian Diesel Pusher, but I have to admit it is a nice Class A RV.  Much too big for what I want to do, but well designed.  It uses a side isle to get to the bedroom, which has always made sense to me.

Anyhow, if I was going to purchase a class A RV, this Winnebago Via 25Q would probably be more like what I'd want.  at 25', it is a reasonable size, diesel powered (although I have heard of problems getting service on the Mercedes chassis).  At over $100K, this is still a bit much.

Other than pop ups, this was the smallest trailer at the show.  A close inspection inside reassures me that the Escape fiberglass trailer is well worth the extra cost.  I was not impressed with the construction.

Most of the Class B's were used.  You can tell that concerns about fuel prices are still prevalent - most of the class B's were selling at a premium.

Well, that's it for the show.  Take care...

More Places to See

Today's Photo - Half Dome From the Glacier Point Road, Yosemite National Park, CA












Yosemite National Park is definitely one of the National Parks I'd like to visit again.  Our last visit was on Memorial Day, 2004, and the park was quite crowded.  I realize that crowding is a problem all but the winter months, but if I have more time in the area I'm sure I can make early visits to some of the more photographic locations before the crowd gets there.


Some other California locations I'd like to see or see again - 

Burney Falls, McArthur-Burney Falls Memorial Park, CA

Burney Falls is a very pretty waterfall located in the North Central part of the state on CA 299. Not only a pretty waterfall, but there is camping in the park as well.  


Not to much further south of Burney Falls is Lassen Volcanic National Park.  The last time we were in the area CA 89 was closed so we couldn't get to the park.  I hope it will be open this time when I go by! 

Mono Lake, CA

Another California area I'd like to go back to is Mono Lake on US 395 about 13 miles from Yosemite.  Again, this is a place I've already been to, but my wife Carol was not feeling well that day & we only stopped for a limited time. It is a beautiful, strange place that deserves more time to properly photograph. I was there at midday, a killer for most images. 


There are many more places I would like to see - My last time in Death Valley was in 1950 - I don't remember much other than my father renting a window mounted "Swamp Cooler" air conditioner for the drive across it. Red Rock Canyon is another place I've heard is a great stop - I've never seen it.  I'm sure there hundreds or even thousands more...


Well, that's thoughts about places to see in two states, 48 to go!

It's Cold Again!

Today's Photo - An Image From a Production of Dracula.




















Every once in a while I'll throw in a photograph from my pre retirement days - well, actually this image is from a year ago - I still shoot the production images for the theatre department I retired from in 2001.  Theatre photography is an interesting, tough field.  Low light, high contrast, many one-time-only images, usually shot hand held.  I love landscape photography, but I do believe I developed far more skills shooting theatre.


Well, it had to happen - Last night at this time (7:00PM) it was 53° out.  Tonight it is 28° and dropping.  It was nice while it lasted, and it did melt all the snow.  I don't think we have seen grass in January for quite a number of years!  It won't last long - the weather report calls for 4" - 6" of snow tonight.


Not much new on the RV side of things.  I'm still reading everything I can find on how people manage to live in a 17' trailer.  Since I spent many years traveling with a 12' X 10' tent, I should already know how to carry the minimum, but somehow the trailer feels different; more like a home and more like you need more stuff! 

Happy New Year! & Babcock State Park, West Virginia

Today's Photo - The Glade Creek Grist Mill, Babcock State Park, West Virginia.











Continuing with some of the places I've traveled to take photographs, I have photographed the Glade Creek Grist Mill on two occasions, spring & fall of 2010.  This is a popular mill for photographers - While there I met individuals from all over the East that either stopped in the park as part of their journey, or made it their only destination.   

The Mill & Pond, Fall, 2010

The Park's Website notes that this mill was built in 1976 from parts of 3 area mills. Although I have yet to see it operating, they do mill cornmeal & buckwheat flour that is available for purchase. 

The Mll in Spring, 2010

The park has both cabins & a 52 unit campground that are open from mid April to the end of October. Although there are no hookups, there is a bathhouse with hot showers & flush toilets, dump stations & potable water fill up stations. 
While I feel visiting & photographing the grist mill is central to the park, there are many other activities include horse back riding, fishing  & boating on the lake, as well as fishing in Glade Creek, swimming in the park's pool, 20 miles of hiking trails, and many summer nature programs. A 336KB PDF map of the park is available from their site. A Goggle map that shows the location of the park:

View Larger Map 


The park is located in a beautiful part of West Virginia - well worth the trip!