What is it about the moon that tugs at our creative souls? Is it the romantic imagination of George Bailey‘s lasso dragging it to earth, or Cosmo’s moon hanging over NYC? Perhaps it’s the scientific engineering dream of reaching out to explore our closest celestial neighbor. Or maybe it’s the horror/supernatural aspects we’ve all grown up with where creatures of the night come alive and stalk us mere humans. For me it’s probably a little of all three; and as a photographer, shooting the moon presents challenges, not the least of which is finding an interesting narrative in the image. With that said, here is my image of the Super Blue Moon that rose on August 30th.
Knowing this was going to be the last opportunity for a Super Blue moon for the next 14 years, I started scouting for image opportunities days ahead of the event. I really wanted an interesting foreground for the moon and that is not as easy as it sounds. I had several locations in mind, and using The Photographer’s Ephemeris (TPE) app I was able to check for site lines from various shooting locations. After narrowing the options, a scouting mission identified how it is nearly impossible to find locations around Ann Arbor with a clear sightline to the horizon and with foreground interest.
Planning ahead but always staying open to opportunity knocking on the door, I spotted the Saline Community Fair being set up with their opening day coinciding with the full moon. Would the carnival lights provide an interesting foreground for the moon? And could I deal with the exposure challenge with the super bright moon and the much less intense carnival lights? I was able to locate a shooting spot where the carnival was in sharp focus without losing too much sharpness on the moon itself. All in all, I think the image turned out quite nice.
Below is an alternative image that highlights much more of the carnival, but minimizes the lunar impact. After staring at the images for far too long I couldn’t figure out what I didn’t quite like. My wife walked up and immediately saw the issue of two competing focal points – the moon and the ferris wheel. It’s great having 2 artists under the same roof! I think my final image above really puts focus on the moon; after all that was the goal of my photo journey. What do you think?
Obtaining a nice image of the moon is technically not that challenging. It becomes a matter of remembering that the light is basically reflected sunlight and very bright, and that the moon moves very fast through the sky. The moon orbits the earth at 2,288 mph, so it does present a challenge keeping it centered in the camera frame, especially when using a longer lens. I’ve found that keeping the shutter speed at a minimum 1/125 sec will freeze the moon in position for a sharp image.
The greater challenge is finding a way to place the moon in the environment in order to generate interest. In 2018 I challenged myself to capture every full moon throughout the year; mission accomplished, but creating interesting compositions was a killer and I don’t think most of those images are very interesting. Below are some of my favorite lunar images from past photo shoots where I believe I was able to capture both the moon and an interesting composition.
I hope you enjoyed my lunar journey, and will take the time to get outside after dark and enjoy the wonders of nature! If you enjoyed this Journal entry, please drop me a comment below, feel free to share with your friends, and visit my website Terrance Alexander Photography.
Terrance Alexander