This is a photo I try to capture every year. It is the largest and brightest full moon of the year and is called the Wolf Moon.

Last year I missed the opportunity, but the year that (2009) I captured it, but about 5 minutes after it was at its most dramatic (Full Moon over Barn Bluff).

This year I suddenly remembered it was Wolf Moon time and I jumped in my car and drove all over town trying to find an interesting perspective. I pretty much ended up where I shot this moon 2 years ago. You have to be quick becasue this moon rises very quickly.

Shot in RAW, 47mm, 1/200 second at f2.8 hand held.

I go home and then get to work this same morning when my friend Tim e-mails me the following photos and asks me if I knew who was on the bridge (look close). The first photo was taken within a minute after mine, judging by how his sun seems ever so slightly higher (factoring in the difference in height) and the wake from the fishing boat. The second photo was a minute later (I keep a corner of my eye on those oncoming tractor-trailer mirrors).

Photos courtesy of Tim Alms.

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Back to the barber; we don't know who cuts his hair. It is a self-contradiction.

Does the barber cut his own hair? No, because the barber cuts only the hair of those that don't cut their own hair.

Does the barber not cut his own hair? No, because then the barber would then cut his own hair, because he cuts the hair of those that don't cut their own hair.

Using an even more difficult explanation, the barber is trying to be a part of his own set, those that do not cut their own hair. But the set cannot include the barber because he is the set. This is the contradiction.

Barn Bluff vigilantly watches over Downtown Red Wing immediately from the east. This means the bluff casts a shadow every morning and says goodbye to the sun every day. The bluff is a long and narrow rock and the length of the bluff runs east and west for about a mile. It is an easy hike along the south side to the lookout over Downtown Red Wing. The top of the bluff is about 400 feet above the Mississippi River (immediately to the right in the above photo).

There was an unusual thaw this February and that opportunity was leveraged to get this photo. Once the tree buds start popping out, the details become hidden. If you look closely, our shop is the small triangle of lights in the upper left corner.

As with most mid-winter thaws, it toyed with our emotions, giving us a taste of nicer weather, only to slap us with a cold front and a dump of snow.

Back to muc-lucs and stocking caps.

Last night (Saturday, 01-10-2009) the moon was full and it will be the largest and brightest full moon of 2009.

This month's full moon is known as the Wolf Moon, from Native American folklore. The January full moon is also known as the Old Moon and the Snow Moon.

A full moon rises right around sunset, no matter where you are. That's because of the celestial mechanics that produce a full moon: the moon and the sun are on opposite sides of the Earth, so that sunlight hits the full face of the moon and bounces back to our eyes.

At moonrise, the moon will appear even larger than it will later in the night when it's higher in the sky. This is an illusion that scientists can't fully explain. Some think it has to do with our perception of things on the horizon vs. stuff overhead.

This shot was taken at 5:06 pm. f3.2, 1/320 sec, iso 1250, -1.67 EV, 70 mm focal length, hand held. I used levels to pull some details back into the image, but not so much to destroy the polarized sky. A very modest amount of unsharp mask.

This is my favorite time of year. The vernal equinox season (+/- 1 month) provides some of the most exciting light for a photographer. The early evenings, the long light and the brilliant colors are amazing. The challenge for a photographer is to capture this essence and almost all efforts fall flat. There is no substitute for the real deal.

The above photos were taken from the 'baldy' of Maiden Rock. This is the exposed rock at the bluff top that is very obvious when looking up from the ground. The leaf colors were at full peak and my intention was to collect some seasonal stock photos. I went just before sunset (6:24pm on 10-16-2008) and started shooting. I wasn't really capturing anything inspired (above left) and soon I lost all my light (note to self: bring a flashlight next time).

Then it dawned on me to try some long-exposure shots. The shot on the right was taken at 6:54pm and in about 5 minutes it was too dark to focus. It took about 20 shots before I captured the effect I wanted. This shot was captured at 100 iso, a 30 second exposure at f7.1 and a -1 ev exposure. The light blur in the lake is The Port of Lake City paddlewheel boat on its way home.

I think I actually missed one of the best photo opportunities. As soon as I completely lost my light I headed back to my truck about 1.5 miles away. it was pitch black and I was using the silhouette of a tree as a homing beacon. When I finally got back to my truck I noticed a full moon had risen and an entirely different light, mood and shadow was available. I didn't feel like falling off a cliff, so I summed it up to a learned lesson.