Sunday, March 20, 2011

The Moon that Wasn't . . .

.
.
.
Let me start by saying that for whatever these may be worth, this is my submission over at James' Weekend Reflections, which if you haven't been there lately, is a happening place. There are usually well over one hundred entries each weekend, reflections from all over the wide world to peruse.
.
Having said that, sometimes you set out to hunt a wild and mythical bird of epic proportions, and all you come home with is a duck. The Grenouille and I went out this evening to find a good vantage point to observe, and hopefully photograph, the full moon rising, which if you've been keeping up with your current events, was to be a full moon of grand proportions tonight, if it could be seen close to the horizon. There is an excellent explanation of the intricacies of the moon's exceptional state this weekend over at Travels with Persephone, which is worth a visit more than once in a blue moon.
.
We were out in time to see the sun setting over one of the stretches of water near the Chateau de Chantilly, but the entire eastern horizon was obscured by a bank of clouds and haze rising up so high that there was no way we were going to get a glimpse of the full moon at perigee close to the horizon where it would appear at its largest. Oh well, we came home with a sunset to treasure, a duck, and a duck reflection. So it wasn't entirely a wild goose chase.
.
.







































.
.
.
.






































.
.
.
.


.
.
.

50 comments:

Carmen Troncoso Baeza said...

Great photografies, congratulations!

cara said...

Gorgeous. Haven't visited you in a while but am always glad I came.

Oakland Daily Photo said...

Poetic capture. It was raining here so no moon, no stars, no sky except dense clouds.

Mr. Charleston said...

Over here in Baja Georgia, on the North American continent, the moon was/is spectacular. I'm sorry you couldn't see it. But your sunset is beautiful. Great fall-back position.

Deborah said...

And I missed it altogether!

Beauuuuutiful picture, Owen. It's so pendsive and moody and a little bit sad. Lonely duck. The haze looks so familiar - it doesn't get like that here in the wild Canadian west, but I remember it well from my days in les Yvelines .

Deborah said...

The 'd' is pensive was quite inadvertent, but perhaps appropriate nonetheless.

Pat Tillett said...

Three beauties!
The first one especially...
Patrick Tillett, Extremely Overdue

Yasmin said...

Gorgeous photography.
.. When I saw the photo before reading your text, reminded me of the tragedy in japão.Terra the rising sun.
The red sun in this case .. sunset on the waters.
a Big hugs,
yasmin

pRiyA said...

Very beautiful pictures Owen. I forgot to look at the moon on 19th night but I had a great start to the weekend.
The ripples the ducky made on the water is poetic!

Snowbrush said...

These are great, Owen.

Elisa said...

Aivan ihastuttavia kuvia! Kuu on kaunis, punainen, hempeä ja romanttinen.. Pidän oikein kovasti. Ensimmäinen kuva on kaunis kuin taulu.. Mukavaa alkavaa viikkoa!

Margaret Pangert said...

Well, you didn't really need a wild goose chase, Owen! The duck is incredible--and the ripples it makes in the reflected sunlight--gorgeous! The moon was incredible, but my full moon shot was the same as all the rest I've taken: slightly wobbly white circle in a field of black!

Steve said...

A stellar photograph in more ways than one...

Anonymous said...

these pictures are really marvellous, dear Owen! I cannot find any words for this beauty!

Thank you!

Have a nice sunday!

See you!

Renée

Laurie said...

Great images, Owen. I tried but kept getting two or three different coloured moons in the same shot. Have no idea why. Perhaps, alien planets only visible on film!

Marginalia said...

Hey, you should have been here a few years back. Boy was the moon big! it appeared twice the size it does today. Mind you that was a couple of billions of years ago. And boy was the day short!

mythopolis said...

Very calming and meditative. Thanks...

Le Journal de Chrys said...

Quelle photo!!!! Ce n'est pas si souvent que la lune a cette teinte. Non seulement tu passais à cet endroit à la belle heure mais en plus de magnifiques couleurs s'offraient à toi.

Merci de partager ce bel instant avec nous!

Bon dimanche Owen.

T. Becque said...

Quite beautiful, what a perfect moment!

English Rider said...

I love the photos that you did get, albeit minus moon. The rosy hint in the ripples behind the duck are a capture of a fleeting moment. We were have one of our "It never rains in California" deluges. No question of moon sightings. We could barely see across the road.

Roxana said...

i don't quite get your disappointment, i think you came back with masterpieces! the first two are mesmerizing...

Stickup Artist said...

We had a no show too. Thick clouds and rain for a couple days now. But you recovered beautifully and brought back a sunset like no other I've seen with that strip of reflected pink in the muted surrounding reflections. Pretty awesome.

clo said...

Merveilleuses images Mon cher Owen..un peu de sérénité dans ce monde de brutes..la premiere est divine..:o)
bisoux du sud..:o)

Céline said...

Qu'il est beau ce canard, fendant tranquillement les eaux calmes du lac !! Tant pis pour la lune... Et au fait, n'y avait-il pas quelques canetons ?? ;-)
Have a good week Owen!

-K- said...

There's just something about a photo that has a reflection in it.

English Rider said...

I have a couple of moonscape photos in my new post. I included them as a small consolation to all who missed the Big Moon.

'Tsuki said...

Tout simplement superbe... Et je pèse mes mots autant que mon émoi...

Bravo.

Lynne with an e said...

Totally tickled pink by these images and your punnery.

We were speeding along the Malahat Highway on Vancouver Island when I was stunned by the sudden sighting of an amazing, orange moon as we rounded a bend. My companions couldn't believe its size and brightness. As we'd been away in the wilds (ie. a resort area) hot tubbing and such in various tsunami zones, we hadn't heard about the coming of this wondrous moon, so it was a remarkable gift that found us out on that dark highway home. It was great to play peekaboo with it, behind the tall cedar tree tops, and see its reflection in the unruffled Pacific. I actually thought of you as I looked at that moon, knowing how fond you are of that orb and its phases.

Anonymous said...

No wonder that the bird did choose the peaceful water to be - probably a role model for current human life.
Impressive photography.
Please have you all a good new week ahead.

daily athens

Anonymous said...

Nice

Mary Ann said...

Ducks make excellent consolation prizes.

Dee Newman said...

Nice sunset shots . . . the coral in the pale blue is very soothing.

Unknown said...

What a great shot! Just beautiful.

Yeah, we've been overcast for weeks now, so no chance of seeing the moon here either. :(

Lulu archive Availles said...

C'était la plus belle pleine lune depuis 1993 ! Et tu l'as magnifiquement photographiée.
Je l'ai admirée du coin de l'oeil sur l'autoroute, quel spectacle !!!
bises.

Owen said...

Au cas où, le texte en anglais explique qu'en fait, bien que je cherchais la lune, tout ce que j'ai trouvé était le coucher du soleil, donc l'image en haut c'est bien le soleil, et non pas la lune en maquillage rouge. Même pas la lune en Chanel #5.

Et il n'y avait pas un caneton en vue non plus... c'est peut être un peu tôt dans la saison pour les canetons. Par contre, si ce canard nageait tellement vite qu'il faisait des vagues dans l'eau, c'est parce qu'il poursuivait une canne, bien mignonne en plus... A un moment je pensais qu'il allait la submerger, mais la photo n'était pas décente...
:-)

=================

Just in case there was the least doubt, this was the sunset that night, the moonrise was not visible, obscured by clouds and haze in the east... tough turkey, as they say.

There is one song that came to mind, which is this :

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=6E3hkKDHg2U&feature=related

The line in particular I was thing of in this goes :

"Momma killed a chicken,
she thought it was a duck,
put it on the table
with its legs sticking up
ain't it crazy, ain't it crazy..."

Best to all, you are wonderful...

Actually, another song has been in my mind this week :

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=o9htLZr7DcU&feature=related

*******************

Mouse said...

I was disappointed too. I was really looking forward to heading out with my camera. But it was overcast at moonrise here in Colorado, and when I could finally see the moon, it just looked like a regular full moon. Pretty, but not extraordinary. Poop!

Lovely photos, thank you for sharing.

Amanda Summer said...

ah, maybe no moon, but your duck images are peachy good!

(and thanks for the shout-out my friend♡)

The Sagittarian said...

Wonderful shot! I wonder if the duck saw you peeking?

Dianne said...

Lovely soft reflections!

Lydia said...

OOoooooh, beautiful! That reflection is the strongest I've ever seen.

We had clouds when that super moon was coming up, but I saw it later and it did look larger than most even hanging over the house.

Pastelle said...

Toujours le même humour. La poésie et les couleurs en prime. Merci. :)

Virginia said...

What wonderful photographs, as always. I didn't get a single moon shot. I"m terrible at that, or late or something!!
V

Plum' said...

J'ai honte Owen...je n'ai même pas essayé de voir cette lune aux proportions incroyables...mais tu proposes une alternative tout aussi intéressante avec ta chasse aux canards :)
J'aime bien l'idée de récréer ce que l'on ne peut voir. C'est du moins ce que j'essaie très modestement de faire au travers de mes publications.
Amitiés :)

Plum' said...

J'ai honte Owen...je n'ai même pas cherché à contempler cette lune aux proportions exceptionnelle, un événement unique semble-t-il. Tant pis ! En revanche, tu proposes une alternative tout aussi intéressante en réinventant ce phénomène. Bravo, c'est très réussi :)
Amitiés

Nevine Sultan said...

Stolen moments... to come and see the most beautiful sunset... the most beautiful ducks... swimming on the fringes of the earth and sky. Oh, what beauty! Oh, what peace for my soul!

Thank you, Owen! :-)

Nevine

PeterParis said...

... and that "big moon" happens only every some 20 years. I guess I missed my last chance! :-)

But I'm quite happy with a nice lakeview, a duck...

Hevia said...

Beautifull photos ;)

Anonymous said...

OMG what gorgeous photos!

The Poet Laura-eate said...

Luv a duck! Great moon too.

Cryingbear said...

wow! what a red moon! très belle série de photos!