photoartflightApril Pink Moon Super Moon
It was a welcome break from Coronavirus Stay at Home confinement as a super “pink moon” rose in the sky Tuesday night. So I opened my back door and photographed it from our sunroom. It was the largest supermoon of 2020. This full moon coincided with the lunar perigee — the moon’s closest point to Earth in its monthly orbit, which gives it the appearance of being bigger. When it became a full moon at 10:35 p.m. ET Tuesday, it was just 221,851 miles away from Earth. Despite the name, the moon won’t actually turn pink. The name is linked to the spring season and a wildflower native to North America called moss phlox that blossoms in beautiful pink colors. The Featured Image, was shot with a Canon R with a Tamron 150-600mm lens with a Sigma 2X Teleconverter for a final focal length of 1200mm. I then cropped into the image to fill the frame more. I then switched to a Canon 7D with a 1.6x crop factor so the Field of View was 1920mm with the same lens & teleconverter. The image below was with the 7D and is the full uncropped image. On my monitor the Canon R, even cropped into somewhat, has much more detail, but then again it is a 30 megapixel sensor. These are downsized images here for the blog so the detail difference is not as apparent.
photoartflight 
Beautiful shots, Reed, though I chuckled a moment at the slight irony when you noted that you photographed the moon from your sunroom. It boggles my mind a bit to read that the field of view for the 7D was 1920mm. Wow. Did you shoot these on a tripod or did you handhold? When you added a teleconverter, it seems like you were moving into a range in which a tripod (or monopod) would be required and/or a high shutter speed.
Thanks Mike! I used a tripod. At that focal length any little movement is noticeable! Plus getting older it is just easier to frame your shot. I was also waiting to see if any clouds would go by, but none did. With the Tamron 150-600mmm it is harder to find a 2x teleconverter that will fit on the lens. Out of my 7 teleconverters only the Sigma 2x teleconverter will fit on the lens and work.
Thanks, Reed, for confirming what I suspected was true. I am not sure what amazes me more, that you could use a teleconverter with the Tamron 150-600mm lens or that you have seven teleconverters from which to choose. 🙂
I seem to collect Teleconverters! I think they follow me home! Some work better than others on certain lenses. I even found a 1.7x teleconverter for Canon lenses. For dragonflies my favorite lens is a Canon 300mm f/4 with a Canon 1.4x or 2x teleconverter. Or a 400mm DO lens with a 1.4x, then a extension tube then another teleconverter. You need to use some fill flash and loose metering but you can get closeups from 6 to 10 feet away for those subjects you cannot get close to. You can search my blog showing that technique. Thanks again!!
One of the challenges with shooting the full moon is good detail since it is front lit. This looks pretty nice, Reed.
Thanks Steve! Yes, I tend to pull out more detail from my moon images by adding a little more texture in Camera Raw and then adding a very slight amount of high pass sharpening in a layer over the moon only.
I do the same although instead of high pass I am using Topaz Sharpen AI.
I have tried various methods including Topaz, but use Nik software more now or just my own effects in Photoshop. Topaz was on my at home iMac and when I retired from my studio I took my bigger iMac to my home and gave my smaller iMac to my granddaughter.
Such great clarity– you can easily see the uneven terrain at the edges and the effects of the impact craters. Nice work, Reed!
Thanks Eliza! It was fun to do! Plus in today’s staying at home orders, it came to me! Stay Safe!!
Great shots, Reed!!!
Thanks Donna! Plus I did not have to leave the house. Here they closed all the parks and outdoor areas because people did not obey the outdoor guidelines.
Wonderful photo, Reed! Interesting background too.
Thanks Belinda! Plus not not have to travel to photograph it!