For several months now I have made the attempt nightly to photograph the moon.  I have been able to do so without fail except for a few days for total cloud cover.  Part of this comes from the attempt to learn astrophotography.  So While I shooting Nebula and planets and learning how to process those photos, I figure I might as well get better at shooting the moon.

This photograph would be way easier to recreate in Photoshop.  For one, lining up on the moon is not as easy as it sounds.  Google Moonrise and you get the time for the location but you usually get a degree direction.  If you can use a compass, then you should just point it to the horizon and viola know exactly where the moon is coming up?  I have discovered things like I can't be inside my truck and use the compass, I guess the electronics mess with it.  My camera will totally goof up my compass if it is around but my camera has a GPS inside it.  Also, I have discovered it is very easy to be off a degree or two and that can mean I run especially if I am trying to line up a specific object like this windmill.

Most people assume when they see my moonrise photos that they are composite images (where you blend a moon and subject, in other words not straight). I have no issue doing composites, I love making art.  But nailing shots in-camera is also a lot of fun and rewarding.  Such shots are called forced perspective.  

To start with I have to be a good distance from the windmill.  The farther the distance to the windmill or whatever object the small the object appears and the bigger the moon appears, forcing the perspective with a zoom lens thus the term.

This image is of the cross at Groom,  Texas which is on old Route 66 and I 40.  The cross is a record-breaking 290 feet tall.  So while the moon appears littler than the cross think of how huge that crossbeam is.  Had this been a small windmill the moon would be double the size of the windmill.  This image has issues technically but it was so much fun trying to do in-camera.  One issue is the moon doesn't come up in a straight line, it arches south.  So while I started with the moon at the center of the cross I kept having to run to keep the moon centered.

A photo of my camera and the LED screen on the back as I was shooting the sequence of shots.

On Halloween, we had a Blue Moon.  The term refers to when there are two full moons in one single calendar month.  I got serious about doing another windmill shot.  While I liked the first one, I wanted more practice and I wanted a time-lapse.

You can watch that time-lapse of the moon rising on my YouTube Chanel  HERE

Earlier last month I caught the moon rising over the iconic Santa Fe Building in Amarillo.  

Catching the moon rising and putting it in the landscape that you want is a challenge but wow, the results can be amazing.  Just remember I am using a really long zoom lens. 

Until Next Blog stay safe!