Marvelous Moons - June 2022
Welcome to the second edition of Marvelous Moons! This is a series where I share some of my favorite moon photos from various photographers and talk a bit about them. If you missed the first one you can find it here.
Jennifer Khordi’s specialty: The New York moon! Her gallery is filled with breathtaking photos of the famous skyline and of course, Lady Liberty! The moon in many of her images has a reddish tint, so you might think that New York must have a lot of blood moon eclipses, but the red coloring is actually a pretty regular occurrence there. Just as the sun's hue changes when it nears the horizon, most of us have probably seen the same with the moon, though usually it will seem yellow. This is due to the scattering of light as it travels through more atmosphere when low to the horizon. In New York, however, The moon tends to have a reddish hue, due primarily to the city’s pollution. It’s helpful to keep in mind when doing moon photography that the moon will never be as crisp and clear when it’s low to the horizon compared to when it’s high in the sky, and this is exacerbated in big cities. Sometimes this can give a cool effect, such as with the colored moons, or with interesting distortions of the moon’s shape, but it can also be detrimental to your plans, as sometimes the haze can be so thick it’s essentially a cloud, completely blocking out visibility.
Capturing the moon with tree silhouettes has been on my bucket list of shots to get for a good while, and I hope to someday capture something close to this magnificent photo from DJ. Doesn’t it seem like something a graphic designer would come up with for a logo or a movie poster or something? That group of trees is so perfect it’s as if they auditioned for the role. That, combined with great timing for lighting so you can still make out some of the trees “outside” of the moon, as well as the sharpness make this a killer photo. Also, an insider tip here - note the detail on the left side of the moon. On the actual day of a full moon, it will tend to have smooth edges all the way around since it is completely illuminated. In the days preceding the actual full moon though, as well as the days after, you’ll be able to make out some of the edge details where it transitions from light to dark.
Just as Jennifer has perfected Statue of Liberty moon photos, Uwe specializes in shooting the moon with something in his neck of the woods in Germany - a Castle! This is yet another subject on my list to shoot someday because, well, it’s just magical. Immediate Disney vibes, right? In fact, this is Hohenzollern Castle, which is less than a 3 hour drive from one of the Disney Castle’s real inspirations, Neuschwanstein Castle. That one, however, is situated on a mountainside which renders it impossible to capture a big moon with it, so this one will do just fine! I had a hard time picking which photo to use here as Uwe has many impressive ones, but I really love the position of the moon here, along with the glinting windows of the castle. If you look at Jennifer’s and Uwe’s gallery you’ll notice a wide range of moon sizes compared to Lady Liberty and the castle, respectively, and if you’re wondering why, you probably haven’t read my post on the secret to big moon photos. The short version, though, is the farther away you are from the subject, the smaller it will appear, so the moon will then appear larger by comparison. I hope you’ve enjoyed this edition of Marvellous Moons, stay tuned for more in the future!
