The Man in the Moon and I

Ok, I know this is a diversion, but I've just got to post it and then get on with life.  True confessions, here.  I am obsessed with the moon.  Pure and simple, I've been trying forever to capture it's grandeur and beauty with my camera.  Unfortunately, the moon has not been too cooperative.  Here are some of my attempts:

March 25, 2005 - Ft. Juachuca, Arizona - the moon was incredible, trust me.

Dec. 2, 2006 - from the Gun Range - this was early evening, still quite light outside. I had to do a lot of photo shopping to pull the detail out of the picture.   If you view at full size, it's grainy, but at least you can see the markings on the moon, right?

The next three shots were all the same morning:  Oct. 25, 2007.  This was from my bedroom window.  I saw this early and decided I'd track the moon down this day.  I had to get a better shot!

Oct. 25, 2007, later.  So I got in the car and tracked the moon down as it was heading for the Western Horizon.  A jet airplane sliced the sky with its contrail, leaving an interesting photo as the sun was coming up in the east.

Oct. 25, 2007 - and as the sun kissed the low hills above Camp Williams, the moon waved goodbye.  It's a little faint, but at least looks like the moon.

Sept. 5, 2009 - We were at a Jon Schmidt Concert at Thanksgiving Point, and the moon upstaged everything.  It was incredibly bright and beautiful.  Just not too friendly with the camera lens.  Too bright?

Oct. 3, 2009 - At Bill and Stephanie's.  We had just finished a batch of salsa that took all day, and I stepped out the door and saw the moon rising over the corner of Mt. Timpanogos.  Oh, how I wanted this shot to turn out.  It did not.

 I did some research after that last shot.  I knew there had to be some way to capture the moon.  And I found some advice on the Internet that I printed and I saved.  Maybe not the most professional advice, but terminology I could understand.  So last night, I pulled out my camera and my tri-pod, and my remote control, and I adjusted the manual settings and I focused carefully with my zoom lens.  And finally, this is the shot I got:

I know, still not perfect, but much better and in the middle of the night.   I'm in love with a full moon.  I confess.   Feb. 18, 2011

Heather at her birthday lunch at Carls Jr.

And not to be overshadowed by the moon by any means (I said I digressed, so sorry) we took Heather to lunch yesterday as an early birthday celebration.  It was greater than all the moons in the world, by the way, to be with those who could make it.  For the rest of the pictures (I didn't take very many, though) click here.
We'll get more at her real birthday party on Sunday, I promise!