The full buck moon was due to rise tonight and I had been struggling with a location from which to capture the moonrise.  After nearly six years of shooting photos in Marblehead, I feel like I’ve explored most variations of the moon rising near the lighthouse and other iconic spots.  I checked my favorite app (the photographer’s ephemeris) and found that I could capture the full buck moon over Ram’s island if I headed toward Bass Rock Lane.

I’ve tried this exact shot once before but the moon rose later in relation to sunset and haze at the horizon meant the sky was fairly dark by the time the moon finally appeared in the night sky.  When I arrived at Bass Rock Lane, I noted minimal haze at the horizon (just enough for some nice color) and crossed my fingers while I waited.

It wasn’t until 10 minutes after the official moon rise that I finally spotted the full Buck moon – it turned out the haze was thicker than it seemed.  I already had my composition set and so i spent the next 15 minutes making slight adjustments as the sun set and the evening took on the soft hues of civil twilight.  When all was said and done, I was thrilled with the final result of capturing the full Buck moon over Ram’s island.