I have been looking forward to the New Years Supermoon for two weeks now and kept hoping the predictions for clear skies would hold.  I had everything I needed to capture the first moonrise of 2018 – new camera and a longer lens – that could offer me reach I never had before and the dynamic range to balance the brightness of the moon against Marblehead Light.

As it happened, the perfect vantage point for the moonrise fell right in the backyard of my Wednesdays in Marblehead book designer. I sent her an email a few days back to see if she would mind having me back there and got the go ahead.

I showed up at 4:05pm for the 4:15 rise and thought I was dressed warmly enough.  I had everything I needed except for the hand warmers to go between my gloves and oversized mittens.  That would turn out to be a painful lesson after 20 minutes of shooting.

The sunset was subtle but nice with the calm water of Marblehead Harbor and then I caught sight of the first hint of yellow cresting over the clouds.  Before long, the New Years supermoon appeared in its entirety and created this perfect scene.  Thankfully, Marblehead Light still had its holiday lights in place and the green beacon had turned on only a few minutes earlier.

Between last night’s sunset helping end 2017 and tonight’s moonrise to welcome 2018, it’s been a fun 24 hours of shooting. (check back Wednesday morning to see an aerial image I captured mid-day today as well)