Harvest Moon on a Football Friday Night

Coughlin v. Pocono Mountain East

 

A full moon created a fitting backdrop for the upcoming Halloween season last Friday night at Pocono Mountain East. It was homecoming, it was Friday night football, and it was a Harvest Moon!

Coughlin v. Pocono Mountain EastI always enjoy capturing the exciting atmosphere of a high school Friday night in the fall. The anticipation is high and enthusiasm streams through the air like no other time of the year!

Coughlin v. Pocono Mountain EastThe referees were aware of the moon in the background. At first, it was very low in the sky and it appeared to be so close you swore you could almost reach and touch it! At the very least, it provided a very interesting added feature to the football photographs.

Coughlin v. Pocono Mountain EastEven the routine shaking of the hands before the coin toss had a different appearance with the Harvest Moon in the background.

Coughlin v. Pocono Mountain EastEven as the game progressed into the night and the moon rose higher in the sky, it still provided some fascinating photographs.

Coughlin v. Pocono Mountain EastCoaches, referees, and players are the typical subjects on a Friday night under the lights. Add another light–a Harvest Moon, and the sky is the limit! Well, not literally of course, but at least figuratively!

Coughlin v. Pocono Mountain East

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Supermoon May 6, 2012

The full moon last night was gorgeous!

It required patience for me to even see the moon through all the clouds here in the Poconos of northeast Pennsylvania, but the wait was more than worth it! These two images were captured at 2:44am and 2:46am respectively. I was hoping and waiting all night for the moon to break through the clouds and I had almost given up completely. I was actually upstairs just about getting ready for bed when I thought, “Let me open the blinds and take another peek out the window.” Sure enough, I saw a break in the clouds. So I moved quickly downstairs, grabbed my tripod with camera already attached, and headed out the door. I had about 20 minutes to shoot before the cloud cover reappeared.

A supermoon is becoming a popular term now that describes the situation when the moon is closest to the earth in its oval orbit. Last night the moon was 221,802 miles from the earth and appeared brighter and bigger due to this closer proximity. According to LiveScience.com it was 14 percent bigger and 16 percent brighter than a typical full moon.

Which of these two photos do you think is better? There is a slight change in camera settings in my attempt to try to show as many moon features as possible. The first photo is brighter and helps depict the bright site in the sky last night, while the second photo is slightly darker to show more of the details on the moon’s surface.

And, yes, I will confess; this full moon made me feel like howling!