Photo of the Week 2026-09-21

 

A trial run shooting the moon on the day before official 'International Observe The Moon Night' proved worthwhile ...

 

' moon 'n stars '

... though I had to over come some challenges in post processing. Pulling down the bright light from the moon, boosting the highlights for the stars and removing a cottage light distraction or two were all possible with the basic editing tools of today. 

 

Let me back up a bit.

Last week I attended a presentation on Astro / NightSky Photography by Jonathan Sau. I had done some of this in the past and since drifted away from the dark late night outings required. Jonathan's presentation rekindled my interest and I made a note to learn more about the objects and events occurring in our night skies. As it turned out, plans for our next cottage visit coincided with 'International Observe The Moon Night' making it a good time to get back at it.

 

Using the planning apps available, I determined that the 'First Quarter' moon would be directly across the bay from us during early night time on Friday night. With official 'International Observe The Moon Night' on Saturday, I decided on a trial run Friday to familiarize myself with operating out in the dark. The 'Clear Skies' app, was forecasting near 100% total cloud both nights but "nothing ventured, nothing gained" so I went out anyway.

 

There were in fact clouds, but luckily a short reprieve allowed me to capture the interesting scene above. I had no such luck from my location the following night when 100% cloud did obscure the night sky.

 

DJE