Birthday Moon



The moon shown here is 12% of full. Time is EST. The shots in this series were all taken at f/4.5.

From top to bottom:
5:56 AM, 1/30-second exposure
5:55 AM, 1/20-second exposure
5:54 AM, 1/13-second exposure
5:49 AM, 2"5-second exposure
5:53 AM, 4-second exposure -- with Earthshine.
6:56 AM, 0"60-second exposure

And then the sunrise....



Photographed at 6:55 AM, using a 1/3-second exposure at f/3.2.

I don't always stay up for my birth-minute at 2:23 AM, but I managed to do it this time (complete with a serenade from Mary) . Then I stayed awake long enough to mosey onto the driveway and take these shots, followed by a few hours of shut-eye.

My other present to myself is an order of whole-bean Indian Malabar coffee (yet to arrive), which I haven't had in over a decade. It's a very pungent, heavy-bodied variety that people tend to love or hate. I used to be able to get it at Coffee Connection in Harvard Square, before the place became a Starbucks.

We were thinking of taking a day trip but decided to just stay in and relax, partly because tomorrow through Sunday will be jam-packed.

Today I plan to get started on (and maybe even finish) the last scene of my first draft. A lovely present indeed if I can pull it off!