Saturday, September 5, 2015

Casting shadows in the moonlight

Over the past week, I took a number of photos at night. After realizing I had a pretty sizable collection of them, I decided to put them together to share with you guys. I'd taken some of the night sky, of the road at night, and of what I saw on foot.

It's interesting to see how the moon changed over the course of just a few days. There's a noticeable difference in size from day to day when you really pay attention. It's also interesting to see the different colors the moon looks depending on the time of night and weather conditions.

These first photos were taken while visiting a local park last Thursday. I kept snapping away from about 7:30 to 8:30.





On the ride home from the park I took a few more pictures. I don't think I'd ever taken photos of this dark street before. For a few blocks this area still feels old. Some old farm houses remain and as you can see there aren't any streetlights on this tree-lined road.


Something I like about this photo is the movement of the tree trunks on the right. They're this blur that shows how fast the car was moving.


Here's one of the old farm houses I mentioned. It's fuzzy because of the movement too, but I like how the moon and the lights in the house show up.


Doesn't this look like a spooky eye in the sky?


The moon had a fuller harvest look by the next night.


Would you believe some neighbors had these jack-o-lanterns over their porch lights in late August? I'd first spotted them August 27 as I recall and took these pics on August 31. I want to make note of the date because of the moon photos that follow.


Isn't this cute and welcoming? At first I thought late August was a little early to have these out, even by my standards. But then I saw them lit up at night, and thought it was super cool.


It's not that I'm not happy to see Halloween decorations year round, it's just that when you live in a climate with a very limited warm season, you also want to hang on to summer. So I'm always stuck between "Oooh Halloween!" and "Don't rush summer."

I got a lot of other neighborhood night shots after passing the Halloween house.


Something I like about these is how there's a bit of color but much of the picture recedes into total darkness.


This weeping willow looks a lot more innocent in the daylight. I think it looks like a big swamp monster reaching down at night.




So here's the moon I saw that night! Although it came through in different colors for some reason, this picture is the closest to what I actually saw. It was really that pink. The sky was hazy too. I'm thinking the haze and pinkness had something to do with the fires out west. I heard the fires and smoke were so extreme that they're affecting even what we see in the sky.


The moon looked progressively darker through my camera lens, even though these pictures were all taken in a row. I'm not sure why that would be.





By the end of the walk it was actually looking more like this typical moon color.




Do any of you remember seeing a pink colored moon late last month? It would be interesting to know, especially depending on where you are.

I pieced several of my moon shots together to form this:

I recommend clicking on this to see it larger.

Follow the bouncing moon!

I'm reminded of this old cartoon I watched many times as a kid. At the end you'll see one of those old "follow the bouncing ball" sing-a-long songs. It's "Shine on Harvest Moon" and starts with the moon becoming the bouncing ball. I think it's worth watching the beginning of this old-time "Farm Foolery" cartoon too.


I would very much like to see some night photos from where you guys are. Seeing what other people see when they go out at night could be pretty cool. I'm sure we're all seeing something different and would have a different perspective on what we see.


So if you post a blog with some night pics you've taken or send me some by email, I would enjoy that!

25 comments:

  1. Hello, dear Lady Justine....Good to see you Posting again....!!!
    (a "sure sign" that Halloween is drawing near...)
    A great Holiday Weekend to you and yours....

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Dr. Theda ~ Hello! Yes, it's probably not an accident that I'm blogging more now that the Halloween season is approaching. A great holiday weekend to you as well!

      Delete
  2. These were super cool, Justine. Shared!

    ReplyDelete
  3. Justine - Really nice moon shots! When I see a moon at night I often wonder if you're having the same moon, and are you looking at it! The gold and pink ones are really cool! I've never seen a pink moon! The collage is really neat. You could do a moon phase calendar. The neighborhood shots remind me of the movie, The Ghoul, with Boris Karloff - very dark, murky, and quaint.

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Matt ~ Thanks! Yeah? I can see why you might think about that since I take a lot of moon photos. Chances are good that I'm looking at the moon and trying to get a good picture of it. :) The pink moon was new to me too! I've seen the sun look bright pink during a sunset or in super hot/smoggy weather, but not the moon.

      Thanks! I was super pleased with how that moon collage turned out too. I ended up with so many pictures of the moon looking different sizes and colors from the very same night. So after looking at all of them I thought "I wonder what they'd look like together?" They could look cool on a calendar. I always enjoy just seeing the little line drawings of the moon that show the different phases on calendar squares.

      I can see what you mean - my neighborhood photos are both dark and quaint at the same time. I like images that walk that line. "The Ghoul" Hmm... I'm not sure if I've seen that one. You're making me want to see it if my photos are reminding you of it. I looked up "The Ghoul" and it's not ringing any bells. I should go find it. I love watching Boris Karloff in anything he's done!

      Delete
    2. Justine - you're neighborhood pics also remind me of Grimm as well. These pics would make great backgrounds for text. The Ghoul is in B&W and is consistently dank and murky. The guy who plays Dr. Pretorius in The Bride of Frankenstien is in it, and the guy who plays Dr. Frankenstein in The Ghost of Frankenstein is in it. It has a couple of gals in it who cut-up and add a comedic edge - not too scary!

      Delete
    3. Matt ~ I can see that! Especially the photo with the sidewalk that disappears into darkness. I'm looking at that thinking that something is about to jump out, and I'm the one who took the photo! There have been so many scenes on Grimm where a character is innocently taking a walk at night or walking to their car and some creature leaps out. I'm so missing that show! I wonder when it's coming back? You're all caught up with Grimm, right? They left us with a real cliffhanger.

      OK, "The Ghoul" should be my next spooky watch then. I wonder if it's on one of the Horror movie collections I have. I've hardly watched any of the many movies on those discs.

      I watched a good black and white movie the other night! That movie was "The Night Walker" and it had me on the edge of my seat! It's pretty twisted plot-wise, so I'll just say it's got a lot to do with nightmares. I recommend it!

      Delete
    4. Justine - Ok, I'll look up the Night Walker - sounds good. Yeah, your neighborhood pics look spooky, looks like there aren't too many street-lights, just porch lights. It also reminds me of a kind of middle-aged housing track like in Grimm and the movie Halloween -perfect! No, I'm not all caught up with Grimm, I guess I'm saving it - as much as I enjoy that show I know I'll catch up. I re-watched the earlier episodes so much I needed to take a break. However, the previews of Once Upon of Time look exciting! I hope your careful in that spooky neighborhood, we would'nt want a Grimm character to get you!

      Delete
    5. Matt ~ I'd be interested in discussing "The Night Walker" once you've watched it! I didn't have any luck finding the entire movie online, although there are plenty of trailers and clips on YouTube.

      Yeah, it's pretty much just porch lights as a light source around here with the occasional street light. That road I took pics of from the car had virtually no light! There are times that my neighborhood reminds me of the "Halloween" movies too. Especially this set of high shrubs I walk through some times. There's a part in "Halloween" you might remember where Jamie Lee Curtis walks by some high shrubs and it seems like someone might be behind them. Actually, the shrubs around here are scarier because they're on either side of you as you walk down a path. I'm always waiting for some animal to leap out of them at the very least!

      OK, then I'll wait to discuss some of the latest Grimm episodes with you. Things really got crazy by the end of last season. Not that the plots aren't always crazy, but there are some shocks in store for you!

      I haven't actually seen any previews for Once Upon a Time, but I've been thinking about that show lately. We were left with a disturbing cliffhanger at the end of that show's last season too!

      Haha! Yeah, I'll be careful. :) Pretty much the scariest thing I see walking around at night is a raccoon or a possum!

      Delete
    6. Justine - Yeah, raccoons are cute and interesting, but they are also scary because they are dangerous and can have rabies. A skunk wanted to join me for morning coffee awhile back - looked beautiful with a great tail - I got nervous and walked away. There's nothing like a friendly skunk first thing in the morning, Ha! As soon as I get back to work I'll get these movies!

      Delete
    7. Matt ~ I'm not sure how cute they even are! I'm slightly ticked at the raccoons now, because of the shiny things that have gone missing around here. Painted pieces of glass I had in a planter and I suspect some missing pennies. Yeah, not to mention the threat of rabies! No thanks. I see them on late night walks as they pop down the sewer. It's pretty creepy to have a big lump of a critter like that walk across the street in front of you at night. The possums are even creepier with those eyes!

      Aww, your skunk story is actually cute. I wouldn't have stuck around either, but it's a cute image. They are actually attractive enough looking creatures if you just see them online and don't have to worry about the smell! You know, some people actually keep them as pets!

      Delete
    8. Justine - Yeah, the raccoons come out at night and they are big enough to be intimidating. One stopped about ten feet from my chair one night and just starred at me - you know, with that stare! I couldn't believe how beautiful the coat and giant tall of the skunk was - looked just like a well groomed show-cat or something.

      Delete
    9. Matt ~ I do know about that stare! What's extra freaky about having an animal approach you at night is how the light gleams off their eyes and gives this glowing effect. I had that happen with a possum years back. I was outside late at night talking on the phone and felt like something was looking at me. I looked down the porch and saw these two big eyes gleaming in the dark. As I remember, I screamed and it went away. But yeah, those raccoons can get really big! They must be eating well or maybe that's mostly fur?

      Yeah, skunks are kind of cat-like. Now I'm thinking of that old Pepe Le Pew cartoon. :) He couldn't tell the difference!

      Delete
    10. Justine - yes, those possums do have glowing red eyes, I can see why that would be startling, especially when they look like a big rodent. Pepe Le Pew is exactly what I thought of, truth is, he was so cute I did feel like petting him - he was totally unafraid of me - but they have such a bad reputation, you know! Well, I'm glad you have animals around your house, although I realize they can also be troubling, I was a city kid till around 40, so when I finally got around bigger animals I really thought it was awesome - it's a lot more commonplace for me now but I still think it's neat.

      Delete
  4. Some great pictures! More people need to just take the time to enjoy the wonders around us and there natural beauty. We have a house down the road that has been full blown Halloween decorations already as well.

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Bob ~ Thank you! I couldn't agree more. I think a lot of people aren't even aware of what's going on around them, let alone taking the time to really study what they see. It's worth it to take the time. There is a lot of natural beauty all around us, and it's interesting to observe it at different times of day/night.

      Oh yeah? What kind of decorations does the full blown Halloween house near you have going on?

      Delete
  5. We had some beautiful sunsets last week when we were being asphyxiated by the smoke from the fires in the US. All the way up here in Canada - the air quality was the worst it's ever been! But it sure made for some pretty moon shots, didn't it? The red ones are definitely my favourites. :)

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Insomniac's Attic ~ Oh really? So you guys were feeling the effects too? Where in Canada are you? If you're on the western side of Canada you might have been catching more of this than we did. I like those red moon shots too! The darkest red one seems like it should be in a vampire movie. So did you see any pink or red moons in addition to those beautiful sunsets?

      Delete
  6. Your photos are wonderful Justine! I have yet to get a decent photo of the moon, or any night time shots. What are using to take your photos? I like the jack o lantern house decorations, but I agree with you, it is a tiny bit early...lol!

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Ali ~ Thank you! :) My camera is a Canon PowerShot SX260. It's a great camera and does an amazing amount for a point and shoot! I have no complaints. I certainly couldn't have gotten these clear and close shots of the moon with my last camera! I'd like to see some night photos from where you are if you end up taking some.

      I've been surprised to see Halloween decorations out this early. I also saw a door with a jack-o-lantern on it at the end of August. It could be that the weather is also making it seem early for Halloween decorations. It's been in the upper 80s to 90s here for the past week, so it doesn't feel that much like fall is approaching. Much as I said that I don't want to rush into cold weather, I could use a little of that fall breeze right now!

      Delete
  7. I read a few article on how some people believe the world to end this month due to some rare moon phases going on in September

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Gatekeeper ~ Is that right? I hadn't heard any of those theories. I should look up what's so unusual about the moon activity this month. I can understand how seeing this red moon might make a person think the world was ending! The darkest red one, that for some reason only came out like that through my camera. Anyway, I'm not too concerned about the world ending this month or any time in the near future. How about you?

      Delete
  8. Just the same stuff some when some rare events occurs someone is scream its the end of the world. Like in this article

    http://www.express.co.uk/news/weird/584602/Rare-Blood-Moon-September-huge-earth-destroying-earthquakes-prophets-warn-USA-pope.

    All I know is no human being on this planet will ever know the exact day when everything goes to hell. And when it happens you will not see it coming.

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Gatekeeper ~ I took a look at that article. I can see why the kind of person who would predict the end of days would have these ideas on their mind lately with all the turmoil in the world. That and it is interesting how the blood moons have coincided with biblical and massive world events (depending on who you ask). We've heard several of these predictions fairly recently, but we lived to see another day. I always wonder if those who made the predictions are embarrassed when they wake up the next day and realize the earth is still inhabited. I imagine they stay quiet for a while and hope that after enough time passes people forget about their predictions. :)

      I have a hard time accepting that the world will ever end. Well, we might as a human race eventually damage the environment or start enough wars that we lose a lot of the population. But I still think the planet would go on, maybe in a state we wouldn't recognize now. I think some creatures would still be crawling around. Probably the insects.

      I don't know about seeing it coming, but I would hope that we wouldn't! I'd hate to know months in advance and then be living in dread.

      The site that article is on looks interesting. Lots of paranormal stuff here! I'm already finding other articles I want to read on the side of that page.

      Delete