Photo Challenge #19

(Click for larger image)

Tonight's full moon was the biggest and brightest of the year. There is a wonderful article about it on Space.com that explains why it is bigger and brighter.

I had hoped the clouds from the snow storm would pass and I'd have a chance to photograph it. That opportunity came about 1am. I grabbed my camera and tripod, explained to my husband what I was doing, endured looks of "you're crazy!" and headed to the garage. I figured that the moon had past far enough that I'd be able to shoot from the pseudo-warmth of the garage. Nope. Not wanting to waste time going in to change, I trudge through the almost foot of snow in my: tshirt, jacket, pajama pants, socks and....pink crocs. Yes, I am that stubborn (read:stupid).

Several minutes later, I'm soaked from the mid-calf down, my fingers and hands are numb, but I have pictures. I trudge back through the snow, into the garage where I leave my tripod and camera because I can't feel my fingers to take the camera off the tripod, and go inside to take everything wet off. I load the pictures onto the computer and...my settings were off. So, I have about 10 pictures of white blobs. Great! Take two...

Now that I know that I can't shoot from the comfort of the garage, I opt to go to the front yard this time, because at least half of the sidewalk got shoveled and I can set up the camera there. And I put regular clothes and shoes on. Oh, and I fix my camera settings inside the house where it's warm. Of course, the moon is directly overhead and the tripod won't tilt far enough so I have to trudge into the snow again but at least this time I have real shoes on!

I played with the settings a little while outside shooting, and this was my best shot. I used the settings of: ISO 200, f/11 @1/1000th sec. with a focal length of 250 mm. I cropped in post to position and zoom a bit.