Rising with the Sunset

"When I look at your heavens, the work of your fingers, the moon and the stars, which you have set in place, what is man that you are mindful of him and the son of man that you care for him?" - Psalm 8:3-4

The amazing thing about the moon is that it does not have any light of its own, it reflects the sun. It's incredible to the think that when it is full, it gives just enough light to see by, to light your path, yet it is not produced by the moon, it is given by the sun. This is how our relationship with God works in this world. None of our good works, our love, is our own, but a reflection of God and his great love for us.

This evening of the picture was particularly beautiful. It was a staircase to the moon evening, which normally entails watching a full moon rise over mudflats creating a visual effect of a staircase leading to the moon. On this night however, the Moon rose as the sun set. This created a beautiful golden orb shrouded in a coat of colour.

Canon EOS 50D f/6.3, 1/250, ISO 1000, 100mm (Macro lens)

So, the photo quality is not great due to the high ISO creating noise, but it's a start. I had hoped to capture the colours more than anything - there were too many people froliking to do anything to serious. Or at least, that's what I keep telling myself when I experience the photography dread that occurs when you return home to eagerly look at your photos on the laptop only to discover Betsy's LCD had lead me into a false sense of security regarding the quality of the photos! The lesson here - never trust the LCD, and never use an ISO over 800 until you know what you are doing!

I do want to share a (relatively) successful experiment I had on this fine evening. This was the split filter experiment. Would you believe it is only the second time I have used it, only this time I held them against my lens rather than mount them, as I don't have an adapter ring for my Macro yet. Check out the differences:

Without filter

With Filter

Ok, so maybe I didn't quite master the whole "keep the filter still" technique, but you can see the effect of the neutral density quite nicely. Definitely something to continue investigating...

All in all, regardless of the photo quality I wouldn't trade that view for the best photo in the world. It has left an indelible impression on my soul. As a famous Christian band once said: "I want to be the moon, because it reflects the sun. Don't want to be the star that shines on everyone. I want to be with you, because you're the only one...who heals my lonely soul."

"Praise Him, sun and moon,
             Praise Him all you shining Stars!
Praise him, you highest heavens
             and you water above the heavens"

      - Psalm 148:3-4