The Full Snow Moon on February 26th 2021 (six hours before full)

It’s been a minute since I’ve done a Moon Monday post – in fact, the last one was about a month ago, and I still haven’t finished editing the photos for the Full Wolf Moon Part Two I planned to do! I’d hoped to get these photos of the Full Snow Moon on February 26th and 27th ready in time to post earlier this week, but got busy both on and off line and I just finally got them set today. I decided not to wait a few more days and share them today instead and who knows – maybe I’ll have that Part Two ready for this upcoming Moon Monday… a girl can dream, right? 😂

Speaking of Part Twos, while I originally planned to do all the pictures I got over two nights in one post, I realized pretty quick that was an overly ambitious plan. I have close to 150 captures, including a handful from my phone camera, plus a couple of videos I want to gif-ify. So once again, this will be a two-parter – the ones today are from the night before the moon was completely full, but since I took them about six hours before it turned (at 3:17am EST), these are actually more full then the ones I took the following night (when the full moon was about eighteen hours old).

Last thing before the photos – I’ve reduced the file size, and in some cases tweaked the exposure and/or sharpness a bit, but I haven’t filtered these pictures. The difference in the color of the moon (and the clouds around it) comes from zooming in and out, and bumping the exposure up and down, not from tinting it. It still amazes (and frustrates…lol) me that what I see in the sky isn’t always what turns up on my camera. These were taken with my Samsung phone camera in the parking lot of a local grocery store, as well as my Nikon affixed to my tripod), in my Durham New Hampshire yard.

Now on to the photos!

The Full Snow Moon on February 26th 2021

Okay, I said on with the photos, and immediately start “talking” again…lol! I decided these first few needed a bit of a setup first. A week ago today, the eldest asked if hubby & I could run up to the local drugstore to pick up her prescriptions. After we agreed, she added, “and since it’s in the same plaza as Rite Aid, would you mind swinging by Market Basket for a few groceries too?” which was basically a formality because at this point we pretty much assume any time we walk out the door, we’ll end up at the grocery store before we come home (yes, our three adult children are still living at home and are not currently working because of health & other issues, so perpetual shopping has kinda become our thing).

*deep breath*

Where was I? Oh yes, setting up the picture. Back a couple of years ago, any time I left the house, I’d have my camera with me but I’ve gotten lazy about it, especially when going anywhere late in the day or at night. So when we were heading out, a little voice in my brain reminded me that the moon might be rising soon, but a nanosecond later I’d completely forgotten that thought so I hopped in the car as the light was fading from the sky (it was around 5:30pm) and off we drove.

Most of the short trip was down roads that are fairly surrounded by tall trees, and given the time of day (as well as since I hadn’t checked for what time the moon would be rising), it didn’t occur to me to look for La Luna. It wasn’t until we started down a fairly long access road in an area mostly cleared for all the businesses, that we were treated to the sight of the biggest, brightest, and seemingly closest full moon that I’ve seen in forever! Like, my husband and I both gasped when we saw it hanging in the cold, almost completely cloudless sky. It was like that scene in Bruce Almighty when Jim Carrey pulled the moon in closer for Jennifer Aniston…

And of course I immediately started bemoaning the fact I had no camera while we headed for a place to park. Hubby kept insisting I give my phone a try, and after a moment I stopped pouting (well, mostly) and tried to get at least one decent shot. These three are the only ones I’d even consider sharing publicly (because yes, the rest were much, much worse)…

 
 

 
 

 
 

 
 

 
 

 
 

 
 

 
 

 
 

 
 

 
 

 
 

 
 

 
 

 
 

 
 

 
 

 
 

 
 

 
 

 
 

 
 

 
 

 
 

 
 

 
 

 
 

Have a great weekend, everyone!

 
 

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My photographs are taken with my trusty Nikon,
sometimes utilizing my handy dandy tripod.
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