West Canada Creek

This morning is/was the full moon. Commonly known as the Sturgeon Moon, but this one happens to also be a Blue Moon. Blue moons are an infrequent occurrence and typically can be one of two types of full moons. They can be the second full moon within a month, or in this case, the third moon within a “season” with four full moons. Summer started in late June and the first full moon was a few days later setting up this season to have a blue moon.

Rather than repeat my typical images at Delta Lake I took a chance and ran up to Hinckley to capture the moon setting over the West Canada Creek. OK, chance might be a little misleading… I checked the Photographer’s Ephemeris to see how the moon will be setting and it lined up well with the access landing along the creek and the dam diverting water toward the power plant.

To capture the moon and actually see it, you need to have quite a bit of light from the sun. The moon against a black sky is very bright and exposing for the moon darkens everything else. This is OK if you are after the moon and all its details, I was looking for the moon in a landscape setting. I didn’t quite get enough light. The moon was setting quicker than the morning light was approaching. So, I captured a bright moon over the water… still happy with it.

It was a good morning. The sounds of the water relaxed me as I was working the scene. We have had an abnormal amount of rain recently. All the rivers and creeks are over-flowing. I could hear the water rushing over the Hinckley Reservoir spillway behind me as I was capturing the moon. I’m having a hard time remember the last time water flowed over the spillway. I could also hear the water flowing over the spillway in front of me filling the bypassed section of the West Canada with water. It was a little early for the birds but I did catch the sound of a coy dog or coyote (not sure which, didn’t want to find out).

After the moon slipped behind the few thin clouds I drove up to the reservoir for sunrise images. Those will be processed later and hopefully find their way into a post…