Once in a blue moon
Have you ever wondered what that means? Well, a blue moon is a rare event, and the expression means that it happens rarely. So in essence I can honestly say that you only get to photograph a blue moon, once in a blue moon!
Sadly, despite the cool name, the moon isn’t actually blue. It refers to a time when there are two full moons that happen within one calendar month.
In 2018 we’ve had two. The first one was also a triple whammy that coincided with a supermoon, when the moon is at it’s closest to the Earth, and also a lunar eclipse. This happened on January 31st. Frustratingly, I wasn’t able to photograph that one as it was too cloudy.
Last night, on March 31st, there was a second blue moon. This is also a rare event, to have two in one year. The next one won’t be until 2019.
I had intended to photograph the blue moon rising over a church at dusk, but a huge rainstorm blew in just at the opportune moment and thwarted my plans! Thankfully I at least got it as it burst out of the clouds after the storm passed.
The two photos below were achieved by blending two exposures. As the dynamic range of a scene like this is so big, and vastly beyond the capability of any camera, it’s the only way to do it. You can read more about how to achieve something like this in my other blog: How to Photograph the Moon.
Both images were shot using a 400mm lens, but have also been cropped.
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