Last night we all enjoyed the “super” full moon – ok a lot of us did- as the moon came close to the earth as it passed its perigee in its orbit making it appear about 18% larger than normal. Now here by Lake Michigan I went down to Lighthouse Beach to shoot the full moon over an old pier that is at the north end of the beach. Much to my surprise, and disappointment, I was not the only photographer there and sadly not the first even though I was a good 40 minutes before moonrise. If you have followed along on the blog and the Great Lakes Project you know this is one of my favorite places to shoot, partly because it is less than a mile from my home and partly because it is a great place to make images.
I took my time getting there and thought it was not going to be a great night because it seemed very cloudy and the chances of seeing the moonrise seemed slim to none. Some friends were also there and we talked as I made a couple of snaps of the old pier. Then as it got closed to moonrise time it just seemed really impossible. I packed up the equipment and we started to walk off the beach. I mentioned to my friends Donna & John that this went against every rule I go by – leaving before the event because you don’t think it is going to happen. As we started up the hill I stopped and said to them, hang on I’m going to wait a few more minutes. And sure enough just then I heard someone say, “Look at the glow!” I quickly made my way to a plot of sand which had an unobstructed view and started to shoot.
It did seem bigger, and more golden in color. Because it was about 40 minutes after sunset it was truly dark out by this time and trying to get a good image was almost impossible. The full moon should really be shot the day before it is officially the full moon. Then it rises about 20 minutes before sunset so you have enough daylight left to illuminate the setting without over exposing the moon. But last night was even cloudier.
As the night took over and the clouds moved back in I also thought, hey, there’s always a full moon next month. In the average lifetime we see about 1000 moons. So here’s to next month…and being the only photographer at the old pier!
Happy Spring!
Richard
