I've always marveled at the illusion of the moon appearing larger near the horizon than it looks when it's higher up in the sky. That was the case this past Tuesday at dawn. I drove around for twenty minutes as the sky brightened, but I was unable to put anything in front of the moon for a photo before the sunrise blew it away (exposure-wise, anyway).
So the next morning I was prepared. I drove to the Camden waterfront intending to shoot the Philadelphia skyline but, as anyone who has ever watched moonrises or moonsets knows, 24 hours makes a huge difference in when each occurs. On Tuesday, moonset was at 7:31 a.m. When I made my second try on Wednesday morning, it wasn't until 8:04 a.m. that the moon went down over Philadelphia. With sunrise at pretty much the same time as the day before (at 7:17 a.m.) the moon was still high in the sky when the sun came up.
The U.S. Naval Observatory is the country's authority for "precise time and astrometry," as well as distributing "Earth orientation parameters and other astronomical data required for accurate navigation and fundamental astronomy." You can find out when the sun or moon set or rose anytime from Jan. 1, 1700 to when it will rise or set anytime up until Dec. 31, 2100 - anywhere in the world at this link:
I had given up on the low-on-the-horizon idea by Thursday, but I was still looking at the moon, and decided to try shooting it with geese, or something, anything along the Cooper River in Camden. That didn't work out either, but I did make one or two frames through the trees - just for fun - as I got out of my car.
Then I forgot all about it. I was't thinking of it even as I walked back from an assignment near Rittenhouse Square later in the day and noticed the Christmas Tree ornament in the forsythia bushes. I shot the bulb, from a couple angles - wishing it were red or green - half-thinking I could make it my "Photo of the Day." It wasn't until later in the afternoon, when I saw the images flash by on my laptop as my card was downloading that I realized both globes were in branches. And the silver ornament worked even better than if it had been red or green!
That's how I ended up with the moon-globe diptych for my Daily Photo yesterday, January 24, 2008.
