On July 23rd, I decided to go on hiatus. This was largely driven by my feeling that I was going out to shoot the same scenes driven in part by the positive response I was getting on social media. I felt that I was no longer shooting for myself and started feeling less excited about going out and less satisfied with the images I was capturing.
In the past week, I have continued to go out to shoot but found the excitement has come roaring back (to the detriment of my family whom I forced to join me on one outing). I’m not ready to end the hiatus quite yet as I have something planned for the 5 year anniversary but what is it they say about the best laid plans?
Last night, the blue moon was set to rise and I was without a single piece of camera equipment. I had sent my camera and lenses to Canon to have them cleaned and serviced as I do every year. It seemed like great timing except I forgot about the blue moon and found the conditions were promising to be perfect for capturing it. Luckily, it only took one phone call and a quick drive to borrow a camera and super telephoto lens from a friend for the night. With that in hand, I headed to Fort Beach.
I found myself in the company of many cameras and tripods and a number of familiar faces standing on Fort Beach and gazing over the harbor at the lighthouse. At 8:07pm, the first hint of the blue moon shone and I was surprised to see it having assumed the haze would hold it back for a bit. The moon brightened and I took advantage of the extra reach from the borrowed camera and lens to get closer than I ever have before.
I composed the image to include the people gathered at Chandler Hovey Park watching the blue moon rise while keeping the entirety of Marblehead Light in the frame. I was thrilled with the result and couldn’t wait to share it.