The first full moon of March is the "Worm Moon." This year, the smallest-appearing full moon was also something even more special: a "Blood Moon." A total lunar eclipse is only visible from the Pacific Northwest every few years, so I knew this was one I wanted to capture. More on that in a bit. First, a few shots from Seal Rock!
The moon and Jupiter
Last week, the moon and Jupiter came in very close proximity. I was in Waldport that evening and brought my camera in case I was able to witness it. Although the clouds never fully cleared, I could see both Jupiter and the moon. I pulled into Seal Rock Beach and caught a bird's eye view of the conjunction. Literally, a bird's eye view. (I had no idea about the sign until I processed the images later).
The clouds did their best to hide them, but they shine so brightly that it just made the scene appear more magical. Then, turning left, I realized that Mars was also right there, glowing a brilliant orange.
I'm not sure what to make of this next shot. I felt like there was an odd shape in the sky, so I took a long exposure that revealed it was a strange cloud.
Chasing the blood moon
The forecast read "nothing but rain." My cloud app showed the worse possible color and there were ominous, dark storm clouds in the sky. Call me stubborn, but I knew this wouldn't happen again for years, so I made a compromise. Instead of setting up in the street, the moon would be low enough for me to shoot from the edge of my garage. The overhang of the roof would protect me from the rain, and I could it all in quickly if things got bad.
The moon rose bright and crisp in the clear skies. My astrophotography camera was so zoomed in that I couldn't capture the whole moon! I took this one shot, then switched to my Sony camera.
The Sony camera turned out to be the perfect sensor size and easily captured the full moon before it slipped behind the clouds.
Satisfied that all was set, I went inside to take care of some other things while I waited for the eclipse to begin. At 10:30pm, the eclipse had begun, and the moon was buried in clouds. I took a long (20 second) exposure to capture it through the cloud cover. By the time the moon was halfway engulfed by the earth's shadow, the skies had cleared again.
At some point, my neighbor noticed that I was out with the telescope. He asked what I was doing, and then asked if he could join me. I said, "Yes" and we listened to music and chatted while we watched the clouds come, and go, and come, and go. Eventually, the moon was down to a sliver.
At this point, the sky was clear again. I decided to take a longer exposure and see what would happen.
The longer exposure revealed the moon was already taking on the characteristic red of the blood moon, it was simply the sunlit crescent was too bright and washed it out. The moon was fading fast, and by the next exposure I was able to clearly see details of the lunar surface.
This was it. The moment we had been waiting for. I was ready to shoot another sequence when the moon simply disappeared. Almost simultaneously, it began to rain. The rain wasn't falling hard enough to put my equipment at risk, but it meant I wouldn't be taking any photos of the sky. Disappointed, I waited for the rain to stop and a hole to appear in the clouds. It didn't happen. My neighbor was about leave when he asked, "How much longer will it be in totality?" We had 20 minutes left. It didn't look good, but that reminder made me determined to wait until after totality to begin packing up.
5 minutes passed. Then 10. Then, the unthinkable happened. The rain stopped, and the clouds began to dissipate. The sky literally cleared right in front of our eyes. I captured this photo of the blood moon. Then, I observed it directly with my naked eye. It was a very beautiful and surreal site to see a clearly deep red and small moon hanging in the sky.
After going through my camera roll and with the benefit of hindsight, I identified my favorite exposure in the group. I call this "Luna Spikes."
Speaking of my camera roll, here is a video of all of the images I took from that evening!
...and a collage:
Putting the pieces together
A few updates on pieces! Congratulations to the owners who found new homes for these pieces:
I have a few pieces up for display:
Pacific Maritime Heritage Center (PMHC) - "Impressions of the Oregon Coast"
The Visual Arts Center - "OCCA Member Show 2025"
I also have two new pieces that haven't been displayed yet! This is a sneak preview of the 3' x 3' hologram print of Thor's Helmet:
I can't wait to find a space to hang this one! It's an incredibly detailed 5' tall (60" x 40") print of the moon on brushed metal. How detailed? See for yourself.
The full images (Thor's helmet is cropped to a square for the print)
I have many more unique projects planned, so stay tuned! I am planning several free, public events at various venues in the Newport area. To stay informed, subscribe to email updates at the top of this page!
Until next time,
Jeremy
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