Behind the Shots: Moon, Towers, & Planes
What a weird day for 2 planes with some towers, immediately followed by Explosions in the Sky. It was September 11th, 2019, and while this might seem like a setup for some sort of morbid joke, it’s just the facts. If you haven’t heard of the rock band Explosions in the Sky, there’s a good chance you’ve actually heard their music, since it’s made its way into many movie soundtracks, TV shows, and commercials. I had already seen them once in concert a few years earlier, and was excited to be seeing them again. Right before the show though, I would have the opportunity to capture the moon rising behind some towers not far from my home.
The 2nd of two planes that passed in front of the moon this evening. Single Exposure 🔹 450mm 🔹 F/9 🔹 1/250 sec. 🔹 ISO 200
I was a bit worried that the timing may not work out, so I did the math. A short hike back to my car, then a more than 30 minute drive to the concert venue. The show was starting at 7:00. The moon would appear at about 6:20, so I could shoot the moon rising for about 15 minutes, then head to the concert and make it time before the music actually started. Ok then, I better look into the details for getting the moon with these towers. I use 3 separate phone apps for planning moon photos, though I rarely use all 3 for the same outing. Which one\s I do uset just depends on a few different variables, one being how precise of a shot I’m going for. In this case, I just wanted to get the moon coming up behind the towers, not that I had to get it perfectly aligned with any of them or anything like that, so I was able to just use TPE (The Photographer’s Ephemeris). Step 1, I set the red pin on the map at the location I’ll be at, step 2, I set the gray pin at the location of the towers. The towers sit atop South Mountain, one of the highest points in the Phoenix Valley, and are primarily for radio and television broadcast. The data available in the app allowed me to move the time slider to see both when the moon would begin to emerge from behind the peak with the towers, as well as see the alignment visually. From there, I could tweak my position to make sure it would work out.
The photo planning app The Photograher’s Ephemeris allows you to map and plan out shots of the moon.
When the day arrived, I still debated whether or not I should go out for the moon photos. There was no way I wanted to miss meeting up with my friends for the Explosions in the Sky concert. In the end, I reminded myself that I should be good on the timing so I headed out to the spot. The moon emerged at the expected time and place, and I began taking photos as it rose behind the towers. I soon noticed a plane flying behind the towers and it looked like it might pass in front of the moon. It’s especially for moments like this that it is a good idea to have your camera in continuous shooting mode. I was sure to shoot several shots when the plane approached and sure enough, it flew right in front of the moon! Lucky moments like those get me excited, so I’m glad I was able to keep my composure since a little more than a minute later a second plane passed in front of the moon. Apparently this was a flight path for small planes! For the second one you can make out the FedEx logo on the plane. I later found out that this is the route they use from Tucson to Phoenix.
Just a closer crop of the 2nd plane photo. You can make out the FedEx logo. Single Exposure 🔹 450mm 🔹 F/9 🔹 1/250 sec. 🔹 ISO 200
As always I was happy I decided to go out and shoot, even if I was in a time crunch to make it to the concert. If you aren’t familiar with Explosions in the Sky, do yourself a favor and give them a listen, here’s some good ones for an EITS Starter Pack: Waking Up, The Ecstatics, Your Hand in Mind. Some people would place them in “post-rock”, and I don’t know if I’d agree with that. Most of their music is extremely chill, but it takes you on a journey. If you know them or do listen to them let me know what you think!
The 1st of the two planes crosses in front of the moon. Single Exposure 🔹 550mm 🔹 F/9 🔹 1/250 sec. 🔹 ISO 200
