I love the moon. One of my favourite scenes is the reflection of the moon (in any phase) dancing on the water. I love to chase its cycles in anticipation of capturing a beautiful moon rise or set.

The date of the next full moon is always on my radar. When it is likely to be rising or setting around sunset or sunrise, respectively, I scout possible locations for an interesting capture. The Photographer’s Ephemeris is a great tool to virtually scout angles and times.

So the blue moon occurring July 31 looked like it could be worth trying to capture.

The blue dot at the base of the pin is my location. The blue line running from me to the right is the direction to look for the rising moon. I geared up with raincoat, bug jacket, rubber boots and umbrella. All were essential for comfort and survival this particular evening! Here I am at the site.

What the hundreds of mosquitos and I saw:

 

It poured! Then broke off and threatened more.  And I mean threatened; thunder and all.

So I packed it in and headed home hopeful for a morning chance at the moonset over Agimak.

(Note the time at the top of the screen shot below. Yes, I got up just after 5 to get there and set up.) The dark blue line is the moonset direction from Agimak Beach. The moon should be setting directly between the two islands.

When I got the beach the clouds were starting to move in. It was 14C and breezy.

I’m pretty certain I had the line right. The moon would have dropped exactly where I expected. I just didn’t get the proof. You can bet I will be chasing the moon again when it rises tonight!

Since I didn’t get the shots I hoped for the August desktop calendar, I pulled a moon shot from my collection. This one is a moonrise I posted about in October 2012. Enjoy.