Cloudy Night...

There is a peacefulness to the dark...to the night. At first all seems to be enveloped in stillness, but on closer scrutiny one finds that the world is very much alive after moon rise. Just calm. Relaxed. In deep contrast to the bright and bustling day, it instills it's peacefulness in me. How I would love to have a week of that calm.

The last couple of days brought us much needed rain, and a full moon. Both of which rank very high on my favorites list. On a number of occasions, I have tried to capture some photographs of the lightning lit night sky. Good reflexes are a must, but trying to gauge the knife like flashes to the thunder rhythms...well, good luck with that. In my experience, it's just a matter of pushing the button and hoping for the best.

The thunderstorms we had on Wednesday...at least I think it was Wednesday. I get my days mixed up at times. It started in the afternoon and raged into the night. It was so lovely. I snapped a lot of pictures on the screened in porch with the flash off...but then I usually have the flash off. I stood in near pitch darkness with the camera to my eye, and my finger on the button, just waiting for the right moment. The bulk of the pictures were black rectangular photos of nothing. The photo above is the best of the bunch. I dig it. It kind of looks like the world in negative. I'm not 100% sure how clear it will appear on my blog. It looked really good on my computer. Knocking wood...

Then there is the Capricorn Full Moon that was at it's peak at about 2:40 this morning. Didn't happen to catch it in it's full glory, but I did catch it tonight. Yes, it is a tad on the wane, but beautiful nonetheless. The couple of days past, and the next few in the future are threatening the possibility of thunderstorms (which is the usual order for this time of year), so a cloud cover of varying thicknesses is pretty much at a constant. The gauzy film of it covered the moon tonight giving it a hazy ring. I tried to snap a few pictures sans tripod, but with my carpal tunnel issues in my dominant hand (my right one), holding still just wasn't achievable. I grabbed the tripod from just inside the front door, and set up shop in a spot just this side of some tall trees between me and the moon. With the flash off (per usual), I fiddled with the macro settings a bit and got several pictures I absolutely love. A bit out of focus, but so expressive. I really dig the way the small chaotic web of naked branches gives them an air of mystery. I can almost feel a cool errant breeze curling by, and can almost hear the hooting of an ever watchful owl from high up in the trees. Yeah...just brilliant. I love it when this little digital camera captures what I see with my own eyes, but improves it. It shows me the 'unseen'. Stuff below the surface of the apparent elements of an image. Very cool.