Machen Midnight Moonlight

Just before midnight I looked out the bedroom window and saw the moon was lovely and bright, and it wasn't raining. As I was dressing, the wife woke up and I said I was going out to take a photo of the moon. Without pausing she replied "Are you taking the car?" I think she's trained now.

I chucked a couple of cameras in the car with the tripod and drove to Lower Machen where my favourite Old Oak Tree is, that's gnarled and in half. I thought it would look good with the moon overhead. I climbed over the gate and walked towards the tree. It was pitched black and in the dark I had difficulty sliding the ball head on to the tripod. The clouds were closing over the moon. I managed to fire off a couple of long exposures before it started to rain. I sheltered under the tree for about quarter of an hour, before it stopped and the clouds cleared.

The trouble with the Sony A7s is it has such a powerful sensor that even in pitch black it makes everything look like daylight, even on very short exposures. I couldn't be bothered changing cameras in the dark so stopped down the F stop and played around before I got something acceptable.

Just after an hour after leaving I was back in bed. Blip done for Friday. Anyone watching, unless they're an enthusiast photographer, would think I was barking mad. These nigh time exposures can be quite addictive. I enjoyed it.