Night Walkers

I have a 'bucket list' of sorts for things I would like to photograph. One of them is the moon rise from Blackhawk Rock. 

Another is a photo of the moon reflecting on the beaver pond at KVR. On Friday evening, Olive wanted to know if we could go for a moon walk. She hadn't really ever been on a moonlit hike before.

I decided to take the Old 131 Trail and we arrived at KVR just after sunset. While we walked the wide blacktop trail the western sky was still light and the moon [Gibbous Moon] was rising to the east. 

The Hoot Owls were very talkative and we stopped a few times to listen to them. A raccoon ran across the trail in front of us. Olive was startled and I laughed. Of course there would be night critters. It is the way of the forest.

By the time we reached the beaver pond area the moonlight had taken over. 

Both of us just stopped in our tracks and gazed. It was brilliant and beautiful.

Gibbous Moon 

Here is a photo of the moon reflecting on the beaver pond. 

In my mind, I think there should be a way of shooting the moon so you can see the moon surface and see it properly exposed in the water also. 

I haven't worked that out yet.

But now I can think about it because I know how beautiful it is. 

I tried this last month at a another pond in KVR and it was a bit of a failure due to the heavy fog and the angle of the moon. I got Jupiter's reflection but the moon was like the shot above...blown out and hazy due to the fog.

September Gibbous Moon/Jupiter on the ponds
near the Visitor Center

At the Beaver pond, I turned around and decided to get a shot of the Kickapoo backwaters.

I used LiveComposite mode to catch a bit of star trails and let the camera do its work for 4 minutes. I didn't have a lot of extra time to experiment like I normally do. Olive had a time she wanted to head back home.

This turned out pretty neat and since I was happy enough with it, 

we turned around and headed back.

We were back home by 9PM which fit her schedule just perfectly.

Sunday night I met another friend and her children who wanted to see the full moon on the river and by the ponds near the Visitor Center.

We watched the moon come over the top of the trees and then shine down on the pond.

We took  the grass trail around the other ponds and the bird observation point and then walked to bridge 18. It was a short walk. The kids -- being kids had left home arguing with mom about what to wear to stay warm.

The daughter got really cold and since she was all hunched up inside her fleece jacket looking miserable, I just snapped a shot of the full moon and we headed to the vehicles.

You cannot force a teenager to enjoy themselves if their heart isn't in it. The younger one was more interested in the on/off switch of the flashlight. Mom was frustrated because she wanted the kids to enjoy themselves.

I actually think they did as there were a lot of wows said and we had fun trying to identify the north star. The teen pointed to Jupiter and said it was the north star.

I hugged her and laughed. "I'm not getting lost in the woods at night with you!"

We all laughed. I picked up the youngest one and made to throw him in the pond when he was arguing with mom about a shower. "After getting slimed in the pond, you WILL want to get a shower!"

More laughter.

We wrapped it up and said goodbyes in the parking lot.

I'd told hubby that I'd be back home around 9 so I left.

BUT...

I want to go back tonight without distractions just before sundown and explore ...

Besides, the geese coming in last night were pretty cool. This shot from the parking lot.

[Not a very good shot, but I liked it!]

I know my son thinks I am annoying when I hiked with him and had my camera along. -- Roll of the eyes -- indeed I was on that trip.

Recently I've just put my camera away while hiking with friends. They don't really want to stop and see me take photos. 

And now I realize that unless I am with another photographer. Photography is a very solo sport. 

That is okay. I can live with that. Charlie is always patient with me anyway. If I take too long in the woods, he gets busy by digging a hole nearby. I don't know why, but that keeps him busy and he rarely complains!

Tonight? I'm going solo. Sometimes it is just better that way.

What an experience

I've always wanted to do a night hike/walk on a full moon at KVR. This week, the full moon is on Saturday and Olive said she'd go with me.

Whoops! 
The forecast for the rest of the week calls for clouds, thunderstorms, and rain. 

Darn

Darn

Darnnit!

Instead of scrapping all of my enthusiasm, I decided to text Olive to let her know I was going on Wednesday night around sunset. She couldn't go but I was all set.

I debated going to the Black Hawk Rock, but I'd told Rich that I'd be at the south end of KVR near the incomplete dam. So I stuck to my plans.

First thing I noticed while driving in the dark was that my eyes were bothering me. I am supposed to get my new lenses/glasses in a few days so I was wearing the backups. 

Now I see the moon at night with a halo and rainbow around it. I'd started noticing that probably a year or so ago and I know that is a sign of cataracts. 

The photo below is grabbed from an internet web page that talks about vision. This is the closest I can find as to how I see the moon these days. It ISN'T quite as bad as this photo, but you get the idea.

[at first I thought it was dirty glasses until the truth smacked me up side the head]

My eye doctor confirmed it and just last week he'd stated they were continuing to increase but they still could correct my vision. No need for surgery yet.

However, the moon looked like this when I took a photo:

Gibbous Moon

I parked and got out of the car. Mist and ground fog swirled around me in the moonlight. Suddenly I was really pleased at my decision to go to the south end.

I set up the tripod and tried a few different shots and spent about an hour perhaps just moving around and trying different angles.

Shot of the view just up on top of the dam looking towards LaFarge:

I don't think I had it properly focused here, but I really just like how it feels like a painting.

I really wanted a phot of me standing in the mist. It took several tries and a lot of trotting back and forth. 

I used an interval timer on the camera. I could of used my smartphone as a remote, but I didn't want to fool around with it.

After several tries, I ended up with this:

This is Campsite AA near the Dam Trail in Kickapoo Valley Reserve. It is one of the more open campsites. The ground fog continuously changed and moved while I was there.

For those that might want to know how I did it, here are the tech specs.

Olympus E M1 Mark III
12-40mm lens at 12mm
f 2.8
10 sec exposure

ISO 500

I left the camera on those settings for my walk.

I got to Bridge 18 spending some time trying to do light painting, which really was an epic failure on my part.

Looks like I need more practice and perhaps some tutorials.

I got to the pond area and enjoyed listening to the night sounds. Out in the water there was plops and splashes which I assumed were fish [I thought perhaps it was Jaws, but I didn't hear the theme music, so I was okay]. In the dark with the bright moon shading the pond, it was hard to see anything [or is it my eyes? or was is the heavy humidity?].

The next shot is me... fiddling with my smarty - pants - phone trying to make it take a remote shot. Obviously, it worked so I have lots to learn with this since it wouldn't accept a 10 second delay.

Huh.

Technology!

The pond. This was my goal all along but I didn't spend much time here. My whole goal was to get a nice reflection of the stars in the water. However the water was full of yucky weed. But I did get a tiny reflection!

I checked my time and decided to head back. It was so easy to enjoy the night and quiet time by myself. So much so that I hadn't really thought about time. I told Rich I'd be home between 10 and 11. It was already 10!

My last shot of the evening. I really was lucky that everything fell into place when I walked back. Bridge 18 gave me a chance to redeem my earlier mistakes and the lighting was better. 

Driving home in the dense fog with other vehicles coming at me on the twisted road? Well, that was a bit tense at times. 

The experience was like no other. I was totally comfortable and in my element.

I'll do this again. Maybe I'll go to the rock next time? 
I sure could get lost under the night skies....

"She's lost under the moon again
and doesn't want to be found."

--Daniel Mercury