Grab Your Coffee And Sit A Spell, I Have Lots To Chat About

August 11, 2014

Good morning.  I hope everyone was out looking at that gorgeous super moon last night.  Pogo and I and dwarf Helen hopped into the car and drove to the ocean at Scituate Harbor.  We got there a couple hours before moonrise so that we could just enjoy the sights and the salty air.

If you live by the ocean, then you know that aches and pains don't seem to hurt much at all when you are by the water.  The salty air is magical.  At least, for me that seems to be true.  The salt water is also a healer.  If you have rashes or poison ivy and the like, the salt water will help to clear it up.  This part I know is true.

Well, when we got to the harbor last night, there were already some folks there. Some were just enjoying the view, some were fishing, and others were picking their spots to sit and wait for the moonrise.

With Helen's much needed help, we found us a great spot out on the rocks at the beginning of the jetty.  (not very far from the lighthouse)  I find that on rocks, I am like a drunken toddler with very iffy footing.  Of course, the flip flops did not help! 

Within an hour, the crowd was beginning to thicken.  There were tripods and cameras everywhere.  Not far from us, one fellow had a super duper lens on his camera, and I just had to sit and drool while thinking of the awesome photos he was going to be getting with that lens.

When we first arrived, the tide was out but was soon on its way back in.  Dwarf Helen offered to take Pogo for a walk out on the beach and of course he was so very happy to go with her.

My little man just loved the water and the mud, and the rocks and the bits of grass, and everything and anything in his path!  The stones were like hills and small mountains, but he just loved everything about the beach. 

Behind us, the sun was setting, and covering everything with a beautiful golden glow.   Here I tried to get a photo while the flag was flying high out, but well, beggars can't be choosers and I was happy to get this pretty photo.  (the building is part of the lighthouse)

When the moon first rose, it was difficult to spot it, but then someone in the crowd shouted "There it  is!"   We had to look really hard to find it because a large cover of mist had moved in over the water and was covering the moon.  It looked sort of pink.  I did the best I could photographing all of this without a tripod.  If you look real hard, the moon is just to the left of the center of the photo near the top.

 

Little by little, the mist began to lift, and the moon, while still pink and fuzzy, was becoming more visible.  Sorry about the noise in the photos, but a lot of that is the mist.

 

It was also getting darker, and some of the folks with their fancy gear and tripods finally left.  We heard someone complain that her photos were coming out blurry.  I looked over, and felt rather bad for her.  Obviously she did not know about continuous shooting.  I take tons of photos because somewhere in the whole batch will be a few beauties.

 

I did learn one important lesson last night.  Never go out to shoot photos at night while on top of a pile of rocks, wearing flip flops and holding on to a doggie carriage when it is dark and you cannot see the dials on your camera.  Not a smart move. 

 

Always take someone with you and make sure they have a bright light with them so that you can see what you are doing.  However, if you should find yourself in this situation, just hang in there.  Eventually, you will find the right buttons to press on the camera, and with a little luck you'll capture a really pretty image.

 

This is a sailboat that was crossing over the moonlight on the water.  I tried to get the moon in this shot too, but the sailboat was quite a distance out on the water, and if I got the moon in the shot, you would not be able to make out the boat.  I've lightened the photo so that you can see it better.

 

Here's a full shot of the moon, with its light spilling out over the water.  As you can see, there are clouds moving in.  Pretty soon they will try to cover the moon from our view.  Can you see the little sailboat on the right side of the photo?  It's that little white speck.  Again, I 've lightened the photo to make it easier to see.

 

These next two shots are what it really looked like.  Darkness has taken hold and its hard to keep my footing on these rocks.  We should leave, but gosh, I want to keep trying for one more photo.

Finally, we packed up and headed for the car in the parking lot.  Somehow this little task is not so easy in the dark.  Again, thank goodness that dwarf Helen was there or Pogo and I would have had to spend the night on those rocks and wait for morning.  Oh sure!!!

Once in the parking lot, I was able to get this lovely photo of the moon behind the lighthouse.  I used a flash here and the "night" mode setting on the camera.

Next, I tried shooting the moon in "manual" mode, while leaning against the car and using the car's roof as a tripod.  Oh my, this one's a beauty!

Now I'm happy and can get in the car and head for home.  There was so much more going on at the beach and I took so many more photos, but I'll save some of that for tomorrow's post.  One little tidbit of fact that I found interesting is that the moon was 190,000 miles (I think) from Earth last night.  It is usually 240,000 miles from Earth.  Wowee!

On that note, I shall take my leave.  I do hope that all of you were able to get some super photos of your own.  So, till tomorrow, Y'all have a magnificent day.

Hugs, Edna B.