First attempt follow-through

I know there's nothing really remarkable about this photo. There are better moon photos all over the place. The only reason it's here is that is a follow-through from a previous post – the one about the avant-garde evening. That evening began with the nerve-wracking purchase of a camera lens. Well, this is the first attempt at using it. I had to chase the moon all over the neighborhood for two evenings in order to get a photo in focus. but here it is.

The uninitiated may think what's the big deal about finding the moon to shoot. It's obvious the questioner doesn't live near mountains. You see, the moon here this time of year goes behind the mountain in the front yard not too long after it rises. If you miss that window, it doesn't come back until about 4 in the morning. Plus from different angles the moon has varying degrees of visibility during that time. 

The first evening I spotted the moon high in the sky and well to the east of the mountain. That was

from town. As I drove home along a highway that starts out in an easterly direction and then curves around to the south as it approaches home and the mountain, at first it looked like I had plenty of time to get home and gather the camera. However, the farther I went the closer the moon came to the ridge line and then to the mountain. By the time I got home it had disappeared into the trees in front of the house and I had to walk a ways to find an opening where could see it. The speed with which it was moving, I didn't even have time to load stuff into the car and chase it.

The second night I used the Jeep and drove to a couple of more open areas and managed this photo. Unfortunately in that rush I had thought I had dressed warmly enough. That's one problem with photographing the night sky in winter. When it's warm in summer you can't see them celestial bodies in all the sunlight. In winter it's cold, and  I hadn't dressed well for it. With the temperature in the low 30s, maybe high 20s and a wind blowing it didn't take long before I my resolve became severely compromised.

So there it is, an unremarkable photo of the moon, but, the first with the new lens and I hope it's nowhere but up from here.

An avant-garde evening: The saga begins