Moonbow....FAIL :(

Good evening to everyone.  Tonight, I want to share pictures that I took...well...tonight.  I went out to see the Moonbow at Cumberland Falls outside of Corbin, KY.  Last month, I went to take pictures for the first time and received some really good advice for a Photography Friend and Sensei, Angi.  She provided me a mini tutorial on the settings that she recommended to get a good picture of the Moonbow.  I used her advice tonight as I took these pictures, but the weather conditions were not the best with capturing the Moonbow tonight as the skies became cloudy while there.  However, I want to share the pictures that I did take.  Why am I calling this blog "a fail"?, well, I know that it is still a learning process for me in capturing the Moonbow.  I would be the first to say that this is not a good picture of the Moonbow, especially compared to the others that I have seen.

In order to capture the Moonbow, I feel that it takes some skill and practice.  When weather permits and conditions are right (clear skies), viewing the moonbow can be seen with the naked eye.  The Moonbow at Cumberland Falls is a predictable phenomenon set on the full moon schedule.  It is absolutely gorgeous and if I wrote a book about amazing places in Kentucky, it would be in the top 10 (if not top 5 things to see and visit).  If you have the opportunity to go...I would recommend it.  Also, it really is not far for most people in Kentucky.  From Louisville and Bowling Green, you are looking at 2.5 to 3 hours.  For more information on dates for the Moonbow, go to http://www.2geton.net/martin/moonbow/cumberlandfalls_ky.html. 

In capturing the Moonbow, most sites recommend people being familiar with time-lapsed photography.  For the images taken tonight, I used a 2-2.30 minutes exposure.  The long exposure allows for more light to enter into lens.  If you look closely, you can see the stars moving due to the natural rotation of the earth that occurs within the 2-2.30 minute exposure.  While I was there, there were a few people that were trying to take pictures using a flash, but were disappointed when their picture did not turn out.  Also, the use of the flash messes with people trying to take long exposures.  I took the pictures at 10mm (another thing that I noticed Angi used when she was taking pictures last month) with aperture settings ranging from f3.5 to f9.  I was using the different aperture settings just to learn more about my camera, but also to try to experiment with the end results so that in the future I can take better pictures.  :).

Anyways, I hope you enjoy the pictures below.  The first two pictures were taken at the overlook and the third picture was taken at the Lower Level.  Normally, you can walk closer to the falls, but due to the potential hazardous conditions with the rising waters near the falls from the recent storms, they had this section blocked off...and well, I really did not want to risk getting a fine for crossing over the fence.  In the third picture at the Lower Level, I hope that you can see the Moonbow on the right side of the picture.  I was not expecting to see this when I initially took the picture.  It was a surprise for me because this Moonbow you could not see with the naked eye (at least I could not).  The last picture is more of a bonus.  I took a picture of the moon tonight and the ring that appeared around the moon as I was leaving Cumberland Falls.  I wanted to show the cloud cover, but also capture the ring around the moon.  Well, anyways, enjoy.  I am tired and going to head to bed before a busy day of travel.