Marvelous Moons
Welcome to Marvelous Moons! This is a series I’ll do from time to time in which I’ll be sharing some some of my favorite moon photos from various photographers and talking a bit about them. They will be single exposure shots (not composites or double exposures) that have impressed or inspired me in some way.
I remember when I first found Toni on Instagram 3 years ago, I spent the rest of the night looking at and admiring his photos. That same night, I sent him a message to tell him how blown away I was by his work. His style captured the same kind of images I wanted to get more of, with precision planning, and interesting interactions between the moon and subjects on the ground. This one here was one of my favorites of his. I absolutely loved the zig-zagging path leading up to the 10th century castle and later-attached sanctuary, and of course the moon, perfectly centered. Fellow moon photographers will appreciate the timing and experience needed to nail the exposure including the city and lights in the foreground. Toni continues executing incredible moon photos with expert planning.
This one was was very inspirational for me. Even without the moon, this is a view that few people have seen. In fact, a lot of people were confident that the photo was fake. It was quickly spread across multiple social media platforms, and I saw people say that they had lived in Phoenix for their entire lives, or for many years, and that this view does not exist - that Four Peaks is not that close to downtown, or not even visible from downtown. Remember though friends, telephoto lenses and the right perspective can make things appear differently than what we are used to seeing. I’ve seen similar comments on other photos of Jon’s, inevitably from a native of the area who “can’t be fooled”. And that’s exactly why I really love this photo: It captures a unique perspective, and that’s an important part of photography for me. Though most people realize that zooming in gives us a different view than with the naked eye, some people you’d just have to drag out to the spot and hand them a pair of binoculars before they believe. Adding to the scene, Jon got a killer moon alignment, not to mention the fact that often times you wouldn’t even be able to see the moon at this distance and this low to the horizon due to the haze that plagues Phoenix, so fortunately it was clear enough on the day of shooting.
While this particular shot came after the actual shot Andrew had planned, I don’t think I know of any other moon photos that would have required more intense planning than for this expedition. Planning for any photo of the moon lined up with anything on the ground is hard enough, with both a stationary subject and photographer. Here though, Andrew had additional challenges to not only account for a moving subject, but his constant moving as well in a second plane. I can’t even begin to imagine all that went into that. Of course, completely aside from the planning, the execution was flawless. The planned photo was just for the small plane in front of the moon, just as it peeked over the mountain. Moments after that was shot though, a commercial plane made its way into the frame. So this shot may have been unplanned, but it made for another incredible one, and I especially love the visual arrangement between the mountain, moon, and two planes.
