I had been planning this shot of a Christmas moon for nearly a year and everything came together perfectly tonight to capture the view of the full cold moon rising above this Christmas tree at Doliber Cove.  The planning began last December when I spotted this perfectly lit tree at the end of the pier on Doliber Cove. I used a moon planning app to figure out where the full moon would rise and realized I would have a perfect vantage point from Crowninshield Road.

As it turned out, the moonrise wasn’t due until January 1 and I had assumed the tree would be gone so made other plans to capture the moon near Marblehead Light. But I set up a reminder to alert me for this year’s moon.  I scouted out the tree last week and found it in the usual spot. Then I just had to hope for perfect weather and lucked out when the recent rains and clouds dispersed completely after sunset. I was all set on Crowninshield Road tonight when I spotted a larger than expected flash of yellow above the horizon and adjusted my position as the moon quickly rose in the sky.

This image of the full moon nearly centered behind the tree was my favorite of the series. I had said last week that I ‘probably’ wouldn’t share any more images in 2018 but had held out hope this view of the Christmas moon might pan out. Hope you enjoy it.