This is Page 1 of 3 - the best of September 2012!
posted: September 30th, 2012
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This page actually begins with August 31st and a trip to, and climb of, Mt. Takao to witness the sunset and the rise of the Blue Moon (2nd Full Moon in a given month). Then there are 2 photos of the, Powderhorn Knot project, which I have been working on for a couple or 3 months now. Click on any thumbnail to begin.
Begin August 31st
  As the header says, on August 31st I went out to Mt. Takao and climbed to the summit to watch the sunset and the rise of the 2nd full moon of August, 2012 - a Blue Moon. The weather was amazingly clear for the final day of August, very little haze. These first 2 shots give you an idea of how haze-free the sky was. These 2 shots were taken looking towards the southwest.
  It was so very clear that one could quite easily see all the way to the Pacific Ocean - about 42 kilometers (25 miles) distant. These 2 shots were taken looking to the south-southeast. They don't show Enoshima (Eno Island), but Enoshima is a little ways off to the left from these 2 photos.
  Here are 3 shots which show sun rays from Mt. Takao. These shots were taken looking approximately southwest. The 2nd shot was taken using Vivid Mode and the 3rd shot was taken to only show a limited shade of blue and all other colors were changed to black and white.
  This SINGLE shot shows the Shinjuku area of Tokyo. The 2nd image is precisely the same as the first photo, but it has been Auto-Toned with Photoshop. Coincidentally, this is about the same distance from Mt. Takao as the Enoshima Area is - about 42 kilometers or 25 miles.
  These 2 shots are specifically of Enoshima (Eno Island). You can easily see the Observation Tower on Enoshima. I went to Enoshima (Eno Island) for New Year's 2004 and took a photo of this Observatory. You can find that photo HERE (new window or tab).
  Okay, now we get to the photos that I specifically came here for - the Blue Moon Rise! It was hazy enough along the horizon so that I could not see when the moon first rose, but I knew that it was supposed to rise at a 96° azimuth, and I had my compass with me. The first shot shows it when I first saw it at 6:05 PM. The 2nd shot is, of course, zoomed in and was taken at 6:09 PM.
  These 2 images are also from the same photo. The first image is the original photo and the 2nd image has been Auto-Toned with Photoshop. This one was taken at 6:14 PM.
  These 2 images are from the same photo as the previous ones. The first shot in this row has been Auto-Toned and had the Exposure Adjusted using Photoshop. The 2nd image has been Auto-Toned and had the Levels Adjusted using Photoshop. I stressed the blues in the 2nd rendition - it is, after all, a Blue Moon!
  Again - the same image! For one set of shots I used the maximum zoom of my Canon PowerShot Sx40-HS and it took 2 shots to get the entire moon, so I had to create this Panorama of 2 photos. The first image in this row has not been manipulated beyond stitching the 2 photos together. The 2nd image has been Auto-Toned with Photoshop and also cropped a bit. Oh, the 2 shots were taken at 6:18 PM.
  The 1st and 3rd images are the same as the ones in the previous row. The first image has been cropped, Auto-Toned and I also adjusted the Exposure. The 3rd shot has also been cropped, Auto-Toned, had the Exposure Adjusted and for this one I also played with the Levels. The center shot, out of sequence for balance, was taken at 6:19 PM. It has been Auto-Toned with Photoshop.
  Two month's ago I showed you some photos of this Powderhorn Knot HERE (new window or tab). I thought that the project was finished when I showed you those photos, but some people on the woodworkingtalk.com forum thought that the base shown in those photos was too plain! So, I asked a friend to send me a nice piece of wood. Here is the new result. The first image shows 4 shots face-on and the 2nd image shows 4 shots kind of from above. The first image really shows the knot and the 2nd image shows the beautiful grain of the base.