Total Shots taken	247
Number Acceptable for Future activity	47
Number of 5 star ratings (5* yield %)	6 (6.9%)

“Perigee” is the technical term;  it is commonly called  a Supermoon.    According to Wikipedia, a supermoon occurs when a full moon or a new moon coincides with the closest approach the Moon makes to the Earth on its elliptical orbit.  When this happens,  the moon appears visibly larger.  This happens about 1 in 14 moon orbits (again, according to Wikipedia), and most recently, the period of June 21-23, 2013.  What’s an aspiring photographer to do on a Supermoon-lit night?   Why, set up her tripod, and start snapping, of course!

At first, I focused on the moon (nice), then on  the reflection of the moon on Lake Michigan (exquisite), and lastly, the southern Lake Shore Drive view, with building and street lights, reflected moonlight, and moving cars (WOW!).  Well here are some of my 5* shots culled  from this effort:

• All Lit Up — This view of the south end of Lake Shore Drive has lots of light.  The lake is glowing from the reflection of the moon — trust me, you’d NEVER see the wide, bright orange glow on the lake otherwise — Lake Shore Drive is  brightened by the street and car lights.  The buildings in the background further accentuate the dark landscape with their lights, even showing up as a reflection on the lake.
• Car Light Streaks: Left Turn – This show shows the light from the cars as a streak, as they move around the curve on Lake shore Drive.  I love the fact that you can see the pattern of the curve, but not the individual cars.  The red truck sitting at the light also draws the eye to it.
• Car Light Streaks 2:  Heading North – In this picture, the cars are heading both  north and south, and the steaks of light indicating where they are show a bright pattern in the brightly lit street.  I love the clarity of the stopped cars, the people hanging out at the park field house  and the trees.
• Car Light Streaks  3:  ‘Rounding the Curve – Again, the streaks of light marking the paths of the cars as the turned the corners from Lake Shore Drive heading west.  This time, though, they are wavy lines — squiggly lines adding texture to those otherwise straight streaks.  This is a favored part of the Drive for Chicago motorists,  and I was only disappointed that a group of motorcyclists didn’t come through.
• In Its Stark Beauty – Wow!  The moon just seemed to pop out in the night sky.  And it seemed so close that I was able to get a shot that seemed to show the texture of the moon.  You can almost see this in the close up shot.  (Right — so nice, I had to show it twice!)
• Clouds Over the Moon – And it just wouldn’t be right without having one shot showing the clod formation as the mood rose through the clouds in the night sky.

Hope you enjoy these 5* selections!