Where is a tripod when you need one?

Last night just before retiring to bed, we looked out of the French windows and there, in all its lunar glory was the moon, peeking through the clouds and the trees at the bottom of the garden. After a few wet and miserable days, to see this was wonderful. Very uplifting. Indeed very mysterious having the garden bathed in moonlight.

So of course before heading off to bed I had to try and capture that image with the camera. Changing the auto settings to starry skies, I had a choice of 15, 30 or 60 second exposure. I chose the middle of the trio and set to work. Now this is where having a tripod with me would have been beneficial. Holding a camera steady for 30 seconds, even if wedged between bricks, old newspapers or plant pots may have provided the effect I craved, namely, slightly blurred sky, but in focus trees. But not last night. Even propping the camera on an upturned broom didn't help. It's amazing how much one shakes when trying to be absolutely still.

However although they may not be sharp, these photographs do give the feel of the wonderful mood last night, not a breath of wind, a tawny owl and pheasant calling somewhere and apart from those two birds, no other sound in this most rural part of the Wiltshire countryside.

I thus retired and spent a night dreaming of how to improve the next moonbeam pictures, a tripod would definitely help.