Astro-photography intrigues me and challenges me.
My skill level is low, even though I do time lapses of the stars and always pursue the next big event. Location is everything when it comes to shooting astronomical images. The news photographer in me has to put the moon over a local landmark.
A week ago, my location was the Cuyuna Country State Recreation Area near Crosby. After some thought I scouted the fire tower just east of Pequot Lakes. Then I thought of the new water tower on Pillsbury Street in Pequot Lakes, which I scouted Saturday night, Jan. 19, with my wife offering advice on what would look good. The same night we ventured over to the antique shop Northern Treasures, housed in the former Grace United Methodist Church. The steeple would line up just right-but it was not illuminated.
And yes, there is an app for that. I use The Photographer's Ephemeris. It is a very sophisticated application that will show you the moon track over your location. The key is to know how to use it. When placing the object in front of the moon, you have to know the track of the moon.
I ended up choosing the original bobber water tower, because the light was balanced-the amount of light illuminating the tower and the light from the moon were similar in intensity.
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The Pequot Lakes water tower is illuminated until 11 p.m. and the blood moon occured before the lights went out. Lucky.
Special thanks to Pequot Lakes City Administrator Nancy Malecha, who sent an email to a patrol officer from the Pequot Lakes Police Department to reassure them the man wandering around with a long lens in the middle of the night for five hours was not a suspicious person. And thanks to the kind folks who offered to take me in from the 20 below zero temps. It takes a village to photograph the super blood wolf moon.
I used a Nikon Z7 camera and a 24 to 70mm lens to capture the shot.
