Uniquely Synchronous

The Sturgeon Supermoon was rising too late on Monday night for me to be induced to go out for photos, especially since I have photographed full moons more than once. When I went looking through former photos to confirm that I had previously photographed the Sturgeon, I thought that this one ↓ might have been it. However, it was the Buck Moon of July 2021.

When I awoke in the middle of the night to you know, I saw the Sturgeon low in the sky just outside the bedroom window. Well it was big and seemed to be almost just outside the window.

I wasn't keen to stumble around in the dark in the middle of the night to find my camera and tripod, so I decided to ignore it and went back to bed . . . or tried to.

But I had slept for about 6 hours by then, so there was a very good chance that my attempt to get more sleep would not be fruitful. Besides, the moon sighting had stimulated my wee brain, so I soon gave up further sleep as a lost cause.

It was just past 4:30 when I grabbed the phone that was right beside the bed.

The extra moon (on the left of the big, bright one) is a reflection resulting from shooting through the window. It doesn't matter, for I mainly took it to share with Sue come morning. The two lights below that are from another light plus reflection in the distance by the hospital which is behind the Day Care Centre. It used to light up a helicopter landing pad, which I suspect may no longer exist. There is new hospital construction there, and I think the emergency pad is gone.

Now to explicate the 'Uniquely Synchronous' of the title. You see, when I showed Sue my photo, she then produced hers, for she had also taken a night photo. She took her photo around 2 o'clock when she saw how the brightly the moon was lighting the room. At first she thought that someone had left a light on. Amazed by the brightness she also took a shot, 2.5 hours before my snapshot.

I have blackened my disturbing sleeping form, for there are scenes
that good people should not have to witness.

What are the chances that we would both choose the same moonlit night to get out of bed to take pictures? It has never happened before, and I doubt that it ever will happen again.

As I again perused former photos, it turned out that the same moon had awakened me on the same night just last year. I was more ambitious just a year ago and actually got out of bed, gathered my gear, and hied thither to search for a good photo location. In my haste to find viewpoints, the photos were not so wonderful, but I am glad that I made the effort that time.

It was at 5:10 on August 01, 2022 that I had actually chased the Sturgeon Supermoon and captured this ↓ photo. If I recall correctly, I had deliberately waited for the car to get into the frame. On one hand, it does end to pull the eye away from the moon, but on the other hand, I think it offers a kind of balance and interest. 

Twenty-five minutes later, at 5:35, it was lighter, and I was in the park, looking across the river and seeing a reflection in our Mississippi River. It would not be long before the moon would descend below the trees in the horizon. 

As I also wrote yesterday, I do try to do lunar photography similarly to how I choose to photograph fireworks. My preference is to show the context if possible. There be photographers with better equipment and skills than poor me, who will concentrate on just the moon and nothing but the moon. But I figure that the moon is the same for everybody everywhere and has been most thoroughly photographed by many, so the unique thing that I can offer is something of my location.