Don't Forget The Details!

So yesterday I posted on facebook "Looking for a trifecta this evening. I’m hunting bobcats, a full moon and a rocket launch. Let’s see how many I can pull off." I have to say, I put it out there in the universe and the universe delivered. I saw all three. BUT, I really only got one good picture.

I left my house around 3pm. At my destination I rode around on my bike looking for bobcats. It was pretty hot at that time and I really didn't expect to see anything until closer to sunset. About 45 minutes before sunset, I got to my spot I thought could present a bobcat. I've seen a bobcat here before and a coyote. The only thing that showed up was a couple raccoons. One pretty much came up to me. Those pics to come. I was gonna chalk it up to a fail. The sun had set (got some cool pics of that too) and it was getting dark. So I started moving toward my planned spot to shoot the moonrise. It was about 8pm. The moon was rising at 8:30.

As I'm approaching my spot, I see something in the distance. It's a bobcat. But it's too dark to get a decent picture. I watched him for a bit. He watched me and then ran off. He was basically right where I wanted to be for the moon.

My plan for the moon was to catch it as it came over the horizon with a distant lookout tower in the foreground. When you shoot an object that is far away in front of the moon, that object is obviously small, which makes the moon look bigger. My location was spot on, but there was an ugly power pole right behind it. The tower didn't quite rise above the horizon enough. And the pink moon was not bright enough to allow me to get enough light to make the shot with my long lens. Result...terrible. But I did see the moon rise.

While I was waiting for the moon, the mosquitos came out, and they were BAD! So I laid my camera on the ground to mark my location and got on my bike and rode back and forth to try to escape the mosquitos. It's very dark at this point. While I'm doing this, I see, in my bike's headlight, what appears to be the bobcat lying in the grass looking at me. So I kept approaching it slowly. It's not moving. All I really see is ears sticking above the grass. I'm now getting very close to it and thinking those must just be leaves that look like ears. Then I realize, it's a kitten...a very cute one. Of course I can't take a picture. I left my camera back at my moon location. So I shot this very terrible mobile phone pic. But at least I saw it.

Now that I'm technically 2 for 2, I head back to the Jeep, load my bike and all my gear while being attacked by mosquitos, and drive to Titusville to try to capture the rocket launch. My plan is to light up a beached sailboat in the foreground with the Max Brewer bridge in the background with the rocket arcing overhead. Launch time...12:30am.

I arrive on location. Set up my camera. Use my app to try to determine exactly where the rocket will appear and wait. Right on schedule, it lifts off and I capture the picture above. At least I got one decent picture. In bed at 2am.

So at the end of the day (or beginning of the next), I spent 11 hours trying to achieve my trifecta...bobcat, full moon and rocket launch. I said I was hunting these three things. And I did get to see all three. The universe delivered. And just seeing these things is half the experience. BUT, I should have had the goal to capture awesome photos of these three things. SO, the moral of the story is...when talking to the universe, give details!