Well, as if it wasn't obvious, I continue to be lazy with posts. However, I did make sure I got out this weekend to get some photos, so that's at least a step in the right direction.

In case you didn't hear, this past Saturday night was a Perigee Full Moon, which basically means it was the largest and brightest possible moon because of its closeness in its orbital path.

Anya and I went up to Mt Washington above the Pittsburgh skyline to catch the moon as it rose to the east. My hope (and apparently the hope of many other photographers who swarmed the overlooks) was to capture a looming large full moon over the iconic skyline. Unfortunately, things didn't work so well in that respect, and after frantically switching lenses a couple times, I settled on hooking up the largest rig I could and captured the following...

Technical Data: Canon EOS 7D, Sigma 150-500mm f/5-6.3 APO DG OS HSM with Kenko Teleplus PRO 300 "DG" AF 2x Teleconverter at 1000mm, 1/100th sec at f/12.9. ISO 800. Dolica AX620B100 tripod and Satechi TR-A Timer Remote Control. No post production. Mt Washington Overlook, Pittsburgh, PA.

At full size, you can even see that the moon is not perfectly round, and you can see the difference in topography along the perimeter of the moon. I also took some photos in RAW format so I can begin working with photographs in that respect, but I have not yet done so, so this jpg version will have to suffice for now.

- Bill