The Best Laid Plans…
For almost one year I had waited for last night. The last time I tried for this I was snubbed by fog at the coast. The vision: photograph a rising full moon over arch rock at Natural Bridge State Beach in Santa Cruz. I had everything planned out except for one thing. To actually see the arch way in the rock and get the the full moon over it on a true full moon night is impossible. A slight oversight on my part. To capture what I had truly envisioned, I would have had to photograph it the day before, albeit not a full moon but close enough, at least I would hope so.
Beyond Blue
Nonetheless, with a full moon at its perigee, closet point in its orbit around the Earth, and the atmospherics present in the coastal environment, the colors were somewhat surreal. I concentrated on that and came away with what I could. At the time, I had two tripods set up, one carrying the large format 4×5 camera, which I used to expose 4 sheets of film, and the second tripod carrying the digital camera which captured the two photos presented here. Had I only used one tripod, I could have been somewhat more mobile to find other compositions with the moon set in different locations among the rocks.
Full Moon Over Arch Rock
The search continues for the next date when the full moon will rise over Arch Rock. I will be a little more careful in my planning and time things for the moon to be in a position that the arch will be clearly visible. For now, I hope you enjoy these. I’ll keep you all informed of the next attempt.
It was a lesson in planning and preparation. I considered the day before but for some reason I was too caught up in the moment the moon broke the horizon, rather than when the moon would actually line up with the arch. When the moon actually did break the horizon, the marine layer all but obscured it making it incredibly faint. Its vividness, as shown, did not appear for nearly 15 to 20 minutes later. A mistake that I will not make in the future with this subject.
I hope you all at least had the good fortune of seeing this full moon from where ever you happened to be. Was was a stunning moon.
Peace.
