September: Supermoon Eclipse
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The Photographers Ephemeris-Super Moon Lunar Eclipse over Half Dome
In August of 2015, I found a listing on the High Sierra Workshops page for a workshop to view the Supermoon Lunar Eclipse over Half Dome. I realized the photo on the page couldn't possibly be real and worked out where/when I needed to be to see the event. I ended up joining HIgh Sierra Workshops for the hike and photography on September 27, 2015.
This is just one of the MANY switchbacks that had to be navigated to hike the approximate 1000ft climb to Columbia Rock. The altitude change was necessary to get far enough above the valley floor so we could see the moon rise while there was still some light on Half Dome. At the time I weighed about 270 lbs. It took me 2 hours to make the approximately 1 mile hike. Oddly, it took me almost as long to get down.
This sculpture shows the trail leading from the parking lot. The large rock next to the trail (upper part of the picture) was where were were headed. Due to time constraints I didn't quite make it. I was on the next switchback down. This model is located on Lower Yosemite Falls Trail. The photo was actually taken in February 2016 but I added a copy here for documentation purposes.
Super Moon Lunar Eclipse over Half Dome
Sadly, the eclipse was unimpressive to the naked eye. The thin cloud cover prevented us from being able to see the moon as it rose. This image is actually a composite of two images. The first was an image of Half Dome while there was still some light. The second is of the moon captured a few minutes later when the clouds thinned enough for some detail to be captured. I used Photoshop to "move" the less fuzzy moon in over the correct place in the first image.