After a year and a half of including a ‘pic of the week’ at the end of my weekly training summary, I’ve decided to let it stand as a post of its own.  I’m also implementing a rule that the Friday Foto needs to have been taken sometime in the last week.  No recycling.  I am doing this to keep me engaged in building my photography skills, and to make me work harder to get fresh shots.  Click here to see my previous Friday Foto posts.

Mark your calendars!

Full moon party on September 19th, 2013.  At 7:08PM the rising full moon will be perfectly timed with the setting sun to appear directly behind this peak from this vantage point I have staked out.  I think it would be cool to have a bunch of people up on the summit that I can shoot from below.

This is 13,795′ Mt. Arkansas which sits at the head of the Arkansas River just north of Leadville, CO.

I shot this photo last Sunday night as I was driving home.  When I left Leadville, the sky was bright and the moon appeared to be quite high in the sky, but as I drove further up the canyon everything darkened and I could tell I might be able to get in a shot of the moon rising above a ridge.  The rich alpenglow was a nice bonus, and the fact that the moon was coming up right over the summit was cool.  It was one of the cleanest skies and most brilliantly white moons I have ever seen.  Magnificent!

I used a 300mm telephoto and figure that I will have at least a 450mm setup for this time next year, and possibly even more if I go with a teleconverter.  The sunset will ensure that there is enough light for the foreground and should make for some dramatic portrait opportunities.  We’ll have to be quick, though.  The moon moves by its entire body width in only 2 minutes.  Not very noticeable when it’s overhead, but smoking fast when rising from behind the horizon.

Arkansas Moon
1/100, f/10, 300mm @ ISO 200