Moon sets and camera settings

So after last night's attempt to capture the moon in all it's glory...with little success, I decided to get up early this morning and catch the moon before it sets into the ocean. I got up at 6 am and it was still dark when I reached the beach, ready for that award winning picture. Someone once told me that what the eye can see the camera can see, but there's a catch. You have to know the camera settings. Easier said that done.

So, all saturated from the information I gathered from the internet last night, I was ready to put my skills to the test. It was a bit scary on the beach so early in the morning, and I was wondering if a story about how my bike got stolen and I got mugged would not have been better than the one I am about to tell about my photography skills...or the lack thereof. I can sum it up in once sentence. No, let's make that one word. Frustration. It is obvious that I don't know the settings yet and the other way around if what my eyes sees correlates to what my camera saw this morning them I must be blind as a bat...or at least in need of a thick pair of glasses. I did most of my shooting on Manual mode, playing with aperture, ISO, etc. But somehow I just cannot get that prefect setting. I took about a 100 pictures before my battery ran out, and all positive thing I can say about the morning is how beautiful Cape Town is today. As the moon was setting, the sun coming up and the traffic starting to build up behind me, at least I could appreciate what Cape Town had to offer this morning. It was one of the most stunning mornings I have seen in a while. Some of the motorist passing greeted me with hoots and waves just to tell me that they are also aware of the beautiful moon set.

At around 7 I decided that enough is enough and that a photography course might be the way to go. Not wanting to go home I headed straight for a breakfast and coffee at my favourite restaurant hoping that I can still absorb some of the fresh morning. My coffee was just put in front of me when my wife called and told me that she is stuck in traffic and that a lift on the bike at that point would be very appreciated. I finished my coffee, skipped the breakfast and went home to fetch her. There was a gas leak in Montague Gardens and a broken down bus on Marine Drive, so the only way one could get to work in Montague Gardens in less than 15 minutes was on a helicopter, which I don't have, or a bike, which I happened to have. I took her to work and felt yet again sorry for the motorists all stuck in their cars. I still cannot understand why everyone does not considering biking as an option. Anyway, I guess we all have our reasons for doing what we do, or what we don"t do.

So, back to my photography. More disappointing results. I wish I had some friends with good camera skills that could take me for a quick crash-course on photography. I seem to take better pictures when the sun is shining and I use Auto mode. Unfortunately I can do this with my point-and-shoot as well, and what"s the fun in that. Although my pictures will not make the National Geographic, at least it gives an idea of how stunningly beautiful the morning in Cape Town was. All I hope for now is that Windguru's prediction of some afternoon wind comes true. I can do with a kite session on a sea that looked like a mirror this morning. For my photography...it's back to the books.