Howling at the Moon!

The moonlight shining in the window was so bright that it woke me at 3:30 am. The full moon the night before was one of those huge glowing moons that is accompanied by a sharp deep cold that takes your breath away. I had heard that the moon's position would be closest to the earth that evening so I knew that it would be a full snow moon! However it was also to be the coldest night of the winter so far, the forecast being -15 Celsius, so I wanted to stay in and cozy up with a book!

I love a full moon in the winter. We live in the woods and the moonlight throws strong shadows of the trees across the snow, gleaming in the bluish light. One of my favourite things to do in the winter is to go for a walk with only the moonlight to guide my path. Sometimes you can see the frost hanging in the air like suspended glitter. Everything has a blue tinge and sounds travel for a long way in the clear cold air. Often, I can hear the howl of wolves or coyotes and once heard the whoosh, whoosh sound of the wings of an owl as it hunted its prey in the almost-day light.

So there was no way around it, but I had to get up and sleep would not return as I restlessly churned through the thought that this is an opportunity that should not be missed even though it was a brisk -15 outside! I got out my tripod and 300mm lens, set up my camera, with flashlight tucked under my arm and well bundled against the cold, headed into the back yard shutting off any lights as I went. The dog came out of his Igloo doghouse stiff legged with surprise, wondering why I was venturing out with so many hours to go until breakfast. Finding a spot in the well treed backyard that gave me a clear shot took some time, but I took a few shots first with the trees in silhouette against the huge aura surrounding the gleaming orb. The dog sat and shivered violently as I set up my tripod and focused the camera. He could not understand the reason for this late night visit but was not giving up the pleasure of company despite the cold! I had to return to the house several times with my Flash card to check the results on the computer. There was actually a haze of cloud but the pictures seemed very crisp in spite of it although I did go back out an hour later to find the clouds gone but the moon too dangerously skimming the tree tops for a clear shot. I used the flashlight to focus the lens on the pattern of shadows among the trees but was not very successful-this would need a 500 watt halogen painting light to be dragged from the garage to light the area while I composed the shot. Still it was a good experience-with the shivering dog at my side-and there is still much to be learned but I did capture the moon with all its mysterious shadows and craters.

The whole experience brought back memories as a child of being outside in the winter. We lived on a farm and had livestock to take care of, so on winter evenings I was often outside during those cold frosty full moons. A huge snow bank would drift in behind our house and I loved to lay on it while my father and brother were busy in the barn with chores (which is also where I was supposed to be) and contemplate the winter sky. From the barn came the sound of lowing cattle and the pigs scrapping over their trough of feed. Occasionally in the deep blue winter sky the faint gleam of Northern lights could be seen, but most often it was a huge moon rising over the horizon that captivated my imagination. I tried to take photos with my Kodak Instamatic camera but the picture was always a disappointing tiny white blob on a dark background. The Milky Way would gleam in its sweeping arc and the Big and Little Dipper were always there waiting to be found. Finally more than 30 years later I am able to capture that huge gleaming orb in all its mysterious glory!

My Final Shot of the Moon

My first shot taken through the trees-only the moon and its hazy aura showed through the trees

I decided to capture the shadows of the trees on the snow by setting the camera on bulb-it was a long exposure but needed a bright light to focus the shot first.