Super moon night expedition

17th May 2012

The sunken sun adds bright crimson highlights to the underbelly of the dark violet clouds of the evening sky. As it dips below the horizon it releases a final blood-red shaft which is replaced by an orange wash that sets the still leafless branches of the silver birch into sharp silhouette.

Sunset, 10.25pm, 10th May 2012

The snowplows were replaced by street sweepers whose steady slow progress left behind clear roads, collecting the grit to be used again next winter. The wind no longer blows up mini sandstorms and the cars are now free of the grey dust that made it impossible to read their rear number plates.

...

On a recent walk, my footsteps puffed up clouds of dust as I walked along the grassy verge of the country road. Once deep with snow, these verges are now deep green, washed clean by two days of rainfall.

The grass fields are now mostly green with just a few remaining patches of dead brown blades.

...

Perigee Moon, 3.00am, 7th May 2012

A night expedition to catch some shots of the Perigee Moon resulted in cold fingers and out of 150 exposures only a few good pictures not to mention a severe state of exhaustion the next day. Sometimes referred to as the Super Moon, this is when the celestial body is at its closest to earth and can appear to be up to 18% larger than normal.

Horizon looking north at 1.00am, 7th May 2012

With a small flexible tripod which I managed to balance on the saddle of my bicycle, I did, however, manage to take some interesting experimental photos (here) including this one of the horizon looking north at 1.00am. Using the delay function and keeping the aperture open for as long as possible I was able to take some interesting shots. I also added a few creative flairs by waving the camera around while the aperture was still open.





I feel now that a proper camera is in order; one that would allow me more freedom unlike the point-and-shoot digital camera I have at the moment.

I found a foldable 1950 Voigtländer Perkeo I in my local flea market that might do the trick. Worth from $90 for an average example to over $200 for one in mint condition, this one is 25 euro and looks pretty tidy to me.

People have the impression that all of Scandinavia is expensive - I have a feeling that Norway and Sweden may be more so than Finland but I shall find out for myself when I go to Sweden at the end of next month.