Behind the Shots: Racing the Moon
When I saw this climber, I rushed to get into a position so the moon would be nearby and at the same elevation. Now it’s a race to the top! Single Exposure: 250mm 🔹 F/10🔹1/400 sec.🔹 ISO 100
While I usually have most moon photos planned out days if not weeks or more in advance, other times a good photo opportunity presents itself when I wasn’t even intending to be shooting the moon. Such was the case the day I arrived to Arches National Park in Utah and saw some rock climbers and I was able to capitalize on the moment when I saw it. Today I want to talk a bit about how this went down, and certain things which can help you to take advantage when opportunities like this present themselves.
I had planned this shot of the moon in Arches National Park, but happened to see the climbers in the other photos beforehand. Single Exposure: 240mm 🔹 F/6.3🔹 25sec. 🔹 ISO 400
Above is the photo I was actually planning, which as you might be able to tell was after sunset. I arrived a few hours early though, just to hike around and look for other landscape compositions. When I pulled up, I could see a climber ascending the rightmost tower. I hurriedly parked and pulled out my gear, already thinking of where I would need to be in order for the moon to be closer to the climber. With practice, changing your position on the ground to “move” the moon in relation to a subject can become second nature. “Move” is in quotes, because of course we aren’t actually moving the moon, we’re simply changing our position compared to our subject on the ground, be it a mountain, a building, etc., so that our perspective places it in a desired alignment with the moon. I ran to the position where I knew the moon would be about level with the climber - we’ll call her Carmen, since that’s her name. The distance to her and the rock is also important, because it determines how big the moon appears in comparison. For more on moon size and distance, check out my post on the secret to big moon photos.
The moon takes a slight lead over Carmen in the race to the top. Single Exposure: 270mm 🔹 F/10🔹1/400 sec.🔹 ISO 100
Rules for “moving” the moon:
⚫ If you want to move the moon left, you move left.
⚫ If you want to move the moon right, you move right.
⚫ If you want to move the moon up, you move backwards, away from your subject on the ground. By moving away, we’re actually making the subject on the ground “shrink” down to match the same level of the moon.
⚫ If you want to move the moon down, you move forward, towards your subject on the ground. By moving towards our subject, we’re making it “grow” to match the level of the moon.
Almost there and the race is pretty even! Single Exposure: 300mm 🔹 F/10🔹1/400 sec.🔹 ISO 100
Now, in addition, you could also move the moon up by getting yourself higher vertically, or down by moving down, but you’d rarely be in a scenario where this will work well for you. For example, if you were in a parking garage, you could quickly move from one level to the next if you needed the moon to move up or down, but it would have to be super fast to be effective. This is something to keep in mind if you are moving on a slope though, regardless of which direction. Another thing to note is that the farther away you are from a subject on the ground, the smaller difference the changing of your position will make, so these tips are most helpful when you are within a couple miles.
Carmen won…at least from this perspective! Single Exposure: 300mm 🔹 F/10🔹1/400 sec.🔹 ISO 100
Knowing how to reposition the moon is also helpful in maximizing how many photos you get. For example, as Carmen ascended, I did some adjusting so that when she arrived at the top and stood up, the moon would be right behind her. Then, after she got to the top, I noticed they had a rope dropped off another edge where her and her partner, Marco, would be descending. If I could move the moon down and to the right, I could be ready for when they made their repel. So, using the rules above, which direction did I move on the ground? I moved closer to them, and to the right some. Of course, making it a bit more difficult is the fact that the moon is moving on its own at a rate faster than we realize so it’s important to compensate for that as well. When repositioning yourself it’s helpful to know that it moves its own diameter across the sky in about 2 minutes. And it does not rise straight up, but at an angle, which will vary depending on the day and your location. If you’ve been observing the moon for several minutes though, you can know that it will continue on that same trajectory. Judging that movement will also become somewhat second nature if you’re shooting the moon often and in the same area. To complicate things even further, you’ll rarely be in a place where you can freely move in any direction without any obstacles. Cliff edges, bushes, and property lines have all prevented me from getting to a desired position, so that is something else to plan ahead on when possible.
I had to move to a new position to “move” the moon down for when the climber’s repelled off the rock. Single Exposure: 300mm 🔹 F/10🔹 1/250 sec. 🔹 ISO 100
Some of these concepts may seem trivial, but in these situations you are often racing against time and every second counts. The more you practice repositioning yourself in order to move the moon to a particular alignment, the less you’ll have to think about it, and the more photos you can come home with. If you have any questions on “moving” the moon let me know in the comments. Happy shooting!
