October 2022 Full Moon Over Okinawa

 The Rabbit Showed Up Again

A few months out of this year the monthly full moon was hidden by clouds and rain.

Last night we got to see the lunar event and the rabbit was sitting upright, as well!

Just in case there wouldn't be any lunar events visible that night, I had a plan.

Early the morning before the full moon, I could try to catch the moon setting.

And, just in case I don't get around to posting again this month, HAPPY HALLOWEEN!

Chasing the June Full Moon

3 Favorite Images

When the weather cooperates three days can be spent doing moon photography.

Sometimes rain or clouds will ruin an evening shoot so, it's best to shoot every chance you get.

This military helicopter passed in front of the rising moon on June 27th at 7:05 PM.

The pilot should contact me if, he or she wants a print of this photo.

Scientists claim the full moon has no effect on the behavior of humans or animals.

Well, I think they are all crazy. 

When the full moon is scheduled, my wife goes crazy trying to figure out if, I'll ever come home.

This is a photo of the moon setting in the west at 4:52 AM on June 28th.

In this photo, the moon is setting above Ishikawa, Uruma, Okinawa, Japan.

It was 5:21 AM on June 28, 2018, and, would be my last shot before heading home.

When I got home the wife told me she had woken at 4 AM and was worried.

It seems like the dog and her husband had been missing and, left the front door open.

The scientists, who want to learn about lunar effects, should come and talk to me!

Year of the Dragon Chinese New Year Coming Soon (Photo Essay)

DRAGON OF OGIMI

That's right folks, the Chinese New Year,  Year of the Dragon (龙) is coming soon.

It arrives January 23, 2012 so, this Sunday will be New Year's Eve, all over again, for those of us who happen to go by the Lunar Calendar.  Sounds fair enough, to me.  Two New Years are better than one.  Dontcha think ?

CORONATION PARADE NAHA

Along with a few photos of dragons I shot on the island of Okinawa I want to tell you some of the things about people born in the Year of the Dragon.  These tidbits of information may come in handy, someday if you have any dragons living in your house or somewhere in your neighborhood. 

Dragons are flamboyant. Look at all that gold on the dragons above.  That's one of those people-powered contraptions that Chinese envoys hauled royalty around in when they visited the Ryukyu Kingdom years ago.

ONNA SON DRAGONBOAT NIGHT REHERSAL

Dragons are also pioneers and water has a calming effect on their spirit.

DRAGONBOATS OF ONNA SON

Dragon people are brave and self-assured.

SHURI CASTLE NAHA

And, they are smart but, have a wicked sense of humor.

DRAGONBOATS OF NAHA

They have good luck and are someone you'll want on your team.

THE DRAGONS OF GINOZA

Yellow is the dragon's lucky color probably, because it's close to gold.

DRAGONBOATS OF OGIMI

They are a big attraction to the opposite sex.  I wonder if that has anything to do with gold ?

A HATAGASHIRA IN NAHA OKINAWA, JAPAN

If you were born in the year of the Monkey, Rat or Rooster you should hook up with a dragon.

DRAGONBOATS OF NAGO

They might be stubborn but, they make lots of money.  Two of the Beetles and Al Pacino were born in the Year of the Dragon and they easily make twice what I do.

IRIS FESTIVAL

Some folks in Japan believe the Iris Flower looks like a Dragon.  They throw the flower petals in the bathtub with their sons.  I guess that's to scare away evil spirits.  Or, maybe they figure the dragons will make them strong and wealthy, like the Beetles or Al Pacino.

A GODDESS OF KOURI JIMA I'M STILL STUDYING UP ON

Oh, I almost forgot.  Dragons (龙) are the people to ask about the latest fashion trends, too.

They keep their eyes open for those sorts of things, I guess.

See, I'm not really into fashion.  I was born in the Year of the Rat.  Wife's a cow.


The Year of the Dragon is almost here.  So, if you want to see where I got most of this information and be ready for the Chinese New Year, look here:


CHINESE NEW YEAR 2012:  YEAR OF THE DRAGON

Eclipse of the Full Moon Jun 16, 2011 From Okinawa, Japan

                                            FULL MOON PHOTO 3:10AM JUN 16, 2011

Here's a blow by blow account from Okinawa, Japan concerning this month's full moon.

For me, it all started at 7:15PM last night, the 15th of June.  Ryukyu Rusty sent me an instant message, or whatever you call those emails that come through your cell phone.  It said "Lunar Eclipse at 0300".  I replied, he could come by the house and get my 500mm lens.  No way, was I going to be awake at 3AM.

Well, he was so excited about the full moon, he never came by and went with that girl of his to shoot reflections of the full moon over the ocean, somewhere. Hope he got some.

Anyway, I walked back to my office and Googled the full moon Jun 2011 and came across this article in the HUFFINGTON POST.  They were talking about a "moment of totality" and this hasn't happened this good since July of 2000 so, I said "The hell with it".  Then, went home and asked the wife to look outside at 2:30 in the morning and see if she could see the moon.  I told her it was a special event, where the moon turns red.  I'd get out of bed for that. I didn't want to get out of bed if it was so cloudy you couldn't see the moon.

At 2:30AM, I was awakened.  Groan.  "Did you see the moon, I asked her"?  "Yes, she says.  It isn't red".  Groan, gripe, get coffee, put lens in camera, mount everything on a tripod and stumble up the stairs to the roof of the house to see what the moon looked like and there it was.  It didn't look any different than any other full moon I ever saw.  Why am I doing this after only getting 3 hours sleep?  Groan, again.

After shooting about 50 frames of the moon at different camera settings, I called it a night.  I was starting to think Huffington and Rusty were full of crap.  Maybe there was some confusion about the date between when the eclipse takes place over Japan vice the USA. 

So, I groaned some more,  took the big lens off the camera and put all my toys away.  Wide awake, full of mosquito bites and coffee, I decided I might as well take the SD card out of the camera and go to my office, uptown, to download and see how my moon shots turned out.

It's a few blocks walk to get to my office.  I stop at a machine close to the place and grab a few iced coffees to drink while the PCs are doing whatever they do warming up everyday.

Well, just as I turn the last corner, to get to my hangout, the moon appeared.

It looked like this around 4AM.  I watched for awhile, to make sure it wasn't just clouds.  It wasn't clouds.
Sonovagun, the moon was going to have an eclipse at 4AM instead of 3AM.  I was sure.

So, I emailed Rusty's cell phone to let him know it was SHOWTIME !

This photo was taken at 4:11AM using  Pentax K5, Tripod, Cable Release and the Sigma 50-500mm lens.

     It was 4:19AM when I took this shot and I'm still waiting for that "Moment of Totality" to happen.

At 4:39 I took this photo and was starting to feel somewhat totalled but, wasn't sure if it was quite there, yet.  This isn't the way I'm used to getting totalled so, some scientist will have to be the judge on this eclipse of the full moon thingy.

A bunch of clouds rolled in and blocked my view several times so, after I took this shot at 4:45AM I called it a day.  I'm really not sure if I witnessed the totality, or not. 

The other thing I got wondering is what the heck is that thing at about ten o'clock just outside the moon.  Somebody spyin' or did we leave space junk up there awhile back ?


NOTE: THE SIGMA 50-500MM, ONE OF MY FAVORITE LENSES IS AVAILABLE FOR CANON, NIKON, SIGMA, SONY AND PENTAX DSLRS AT ADORAMA CAMERA A COMPANY, I AM PROUD TO SAY, I AM AFFILIATED WITH AS I HAVE HAD SUPERIOR SERVICE IN MY PAST DEALINGS WITH THEM.  THEY DELIVER PROMPTLY.


SEE A 15 SHOT SERIES OF THE LUNAR ECLIPSE HERE

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