Another month and another moon rise behind Cathedral Rock. This was an easy setup with the location in Crescent Moon Picnic Area in Sedona. The day before the full moon resulted in this image taken from the meadows near the entrance to Crescent Moon. There were about a half-dozen “moon chasers” there to photograph the moon rise—and there were many others who just happened to be in the right place at the right time to enjoy the event.
Moonrise behind Cathedral Rock.
The previous night (i.e., two nights before the full moon) presented another chance to capture the rising moon with Oak Creek in the foreground. This one was harder because a better position was more to the right (i.e., south) but there was nowhere to go because of trees and heavy brush. Still, I’m happy with the result.
Moon rise behind Cathedral Rock with Oak Creek.
Both nights I was testing a recently purchased lens (Nikon AF-P 70-300mm). So far, the results have been pretty good.
The past two weeks have offered several opportunities for photographing the moon in the evening sky. Beginning on May 16, we had a crescent Moon with just 3.7% of the disk illuminated by the sun. During the months of May, June, and July, the thin crescent Moon lines up with the long axis of Upper Lake Mary. This results in nice reflections of the Moon on the waters of the lake—but only if there is little or no wind. The first two images were taken in the early evening with some reflections over portions of the lake. The image also shows the unlit part of the crescent Moon illuminated with Earthshine, also known as Da Vinci Glow. Yes, that Leonardo Da Vinci. Quite an amazing bit of scientific deduction on his part.
A thin crescent Moon above Lake Mary.Crescent Moon with reflections on Lake Mary.
The following evening the Moon was located near the planet Venus. Capturing both of these objects and getting reflections in the water was a bit more difficult as they were higher in the sky.
Moon and Venus above Lake Mary.
Next up was the day-before-the-full-Moon in Sedona. Using The Photographers Ephemeris it’s not very difficult to determine at what time and in which location to find the Moon rising between the spires of Cathedral Rock. I’ve done this shot before but never get tired of traveling to Sedona to see it happen again. Not surprisingly, I often run into other photographers and friends with the same idea so it becomes a bit of a social gathering as well.
Moonrise above Cathedral Rock in Sedona, Arizona.Moonrise above Cathedral Rock in Sedona, Arizona.A couple watches the Moon rise from Cathedral Rock.
The first image shows the Moon having just risen into the left gap. The second image is a crop and closeup of the Moon. The third was taken several minutes later after adjusting my position a bit to capture the Moon in the middle gap. A couple can be seen in silhouette gazing at the rising Moon.
The International Space Station cross the sky.The ISS and OA-9 Cygnus move across the sky.
Finally, there was a transit of the International Space Station (ISS) and the resupply ship OA-9 Cygnus—both moving near the North Star. The transit is a 5-minute sequence of images while the star trails is a 30-minute sequence. The second image shows the bright ISS with the faint OA-9 Cygnus following behind. A day later, the OA-9 docked with the ISS.
The last few days have provided opportunities for photographing lightning and moonbows. A moonbow, of course, is nothing more than a rainbow that is lit by the light of the moon rather than the sun. Although not rare, I’ve never had an opportunity to photograph a moonbow before. Even better, it was a double moonbow. And, to make it even better, there was lightning to go along with it.
Moonbow over Sedona, Arizona.
A short time-lapse video is available. The video covers a period of 24 minutes compressed into 8 seconds.
The previous evening I was also shooting lightning in Sedona and was able to capture this beautiful cloud-to-ground lightning bolt adjacent to Cathedral Rock. (Minor problem: it wasn’t in sharp focus. Oh, well.)
The North American Monsoon continues across the Southwest bringing thunderstorms almost every day to northern Arizona. Rainfall amounts across much of the state have been well above average with Flagstaff receiving 4.5″ compared to a normal of 2.6″ in the month of July,
Of course, all this storminess brings opportunities for photographing interesting skies, lightning, and sunsets.
I was heading towards the South Rim of Grand Canyon when I decided that Wupatki National Monument might be more interesting. Although there wasn’t much in the way of lightning there was a nice sunset with a thunderstorm in the distance.
Sunset at Citadel Pueblo in Wupatki National Monument.
Another day brought a great sunset with beams of light illuminating the inner canyon.
Sunset from Lipan Point, Grand Canyon National Park.
I found myself in Sedona a few nights later hoping for lightning at sunset. The lightning was there but clouds to the west blocked the light of the setting sun. This spectacular bolt of anvil lightning traveled horizontally for a great distance before terminating above Cathedral Rock.
Lightning over Cathedral Rock, Sedona, Arizona.
Early afternoon cumulus development near Marshall Lake on Anderson Mesa resulted in this small cumulus cloud producing a very photogenic shadow.
Cumulus cloud over Marshall Lake.
And, later that afternoon, we found ourselves at Lower Lake Mary watching another cumulus cloud develop to our east and reflected in the water.
Cumulus cloud reflected in Lower Lake Mary.
I’ve been trying to capture evening thunderstorms and lightning (image) over Grand Canyon with a crescent moon illuminating the interior the canyon. Not very easy to do. I was able to get the moonlit canyon. And there was lightning but it was over 100 km away and resulted in teeny, tiny bolts in the phots. Well, I’ll just keep trying.
A crescent moon illuminated the interior of Grand Canyon. (120 second exposure, f/4, ISO 200, 16mm)
The June full moon is known as the “Strawberry Moon” and will occur on June 9, 2017 this year. I enjoy photographing the moon the day (or two) before the full moon. With the moon rising before sunset, Cathedral Rock is still sunlit and provides a striking contrast with the moon.
Moon rise behind Cathedral Rock, Sedona, Arizona.
The photograph was taken at Crescent Moon Picnic Area on the banks of Oak Creek. The full moon this month is a MiniMoon, the opposite of the so-called SuperMoon. This means that the disk of the moon is smaller than average as the moon is at apogee, or its farthest distance from the Earth. If it had been at perigee (closest distance), the disk of the moon might have been larger than the gap.
Or I could have just shot the photograph from farther away.
