MY Moon Shot and OUR Logo

I am so thrilled to have finally taken my photo of a full moon that I'm proud of!  It took me several years to get it..  For your info (and possible future use) here's how I accomplished it:

Camera:  Nikon D100

Lens:  Tamron 70-300mm

F-Stop:  5.6

Shutter:  1/4000

ISO:  1600

Focal Length:  450mm (equivalent for 35mm)

White Balance:  DIRECT SUNLIGHT (+2)

I went out about 8:30pm that night which was fortunate because by 10:30pm the clouds had completely obscured the moon.  I set my camera up on a heavy tripod (heavy is important because my camera and the long lens are very weighty).  I played around with it and took several pictures before I finally got the settings right. 

I have tried many, many times to get a good moon shot since I got serious about photography.  Success had eluded me until now.  The key for this one was getting the white balance set just right.  It eventually dawned on me that the light bouncing off the moon is SUNLIGHT so it made sense to try that setting.  Voila!  A pretty moon picture with contrast and detail taken by little old me! Finally..

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So what do you think?  I'm playing around with our logo a bit....

We have been receiving many compliments and questions about our logo and our name.  For those of you who are newer to our little corner of the world, my hubby/Mr. MoonCat drew this for me when I first came up with the name for our collaborative endeavor.  The name comes from several things: 

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  Hubby and I have a real affinity for the full moon with many of our important moments as a couple taking place under it
• 
  
  When we first decided to start our business, we had 5 cats - 4 more have found the invisible vacancy sign that flashes over our home since then
• 
  
  We went with "Farms" due to the fact that I am an herb farmer (NOT a cat farmer as some might think), on a small scale now-with the plans to continually grow (pun intended)

He took all of those elements, the need for it to reproduce clearly, the ability to use it as a watermark, and the simple fact that I wanted a heart somewhere in the logo and came up with this great drawing which is now representative of MoonCat Farms and all we do.  I am very proud of him and his creation. 

She's Baaaaack

Abby Sue has returned! 

If you're new to our blog, you can read all about our favorite little tootsie-roll pooper here.  She is my little doggy niece who is once again our houseguest.  My sister and her family have moved home and are in the house-hunting process.  They are staying with us while conducting the search for the perfect place.  So once again, Abby is ruling the roost around here.  The biggest difference this time is that my beloved Porkchop is not the one who has his nose out of joint, this time it is Tory.

 
Not a happy camper....

He hasn't ventured out of the garage since Friday.  He's convinced the little rat dog (aka purse puppy, tootsie-roll pooper, the Princess, etc.) and her people are out to get him!  We're hoping for his sake that Sis finds a house before her hubby arrives next weekend with the U-Haul and their two cats!

Howling at the Moon

Tonight is the first full moon of 2010 - also known as the Wolf Moon.  It can best be viewed about 10:18pm PST.  At 1:04am PST, the full moon will be at it's closest point to the Earth this year. 

This occurrance is called perigee,  when the moon is actually a bit over 31,000 miles closer to the Earth than at any other time of the twenty-nine and a half days of it's orbit.  The reason for this is that the orbit of the moon isn't an actual circle but an eliptical shape.  The opposite of perigee is apogee - when the moon is the farthest from the Earth. 

When the perigee occurs during a full moon such as the one tonight, the moon appears to be just under 15% larger than during the rest of the year.  It will also be approximately 30% brighter tonight as well.  While perigee happens every month, it will only happen once or possibly twice a year during a full moon.  Great photo ops to be had for those with clear skies...

The name Wolf Moon was given to the first full moon of the year by Native Americans in the North-Eastern parts of the United States.  Because the hungry wolves howled about the tribes' villages in cold, wet January the name Wolf Moon stuck.  They had various other names for the full moons during the rest of the year. 

Hope you get a chance to gaze at the moon tonight, wherever you are.