In a very perfect photographer’s world, the photographer would be the only one to capture an image, to witness a scene, or experience a setting, thereby allowing that photographer to share that one of a kind shot… well, we all know that as photographers we live in a far from perfect photographer’s world! Even if in the moment we stand alone, we tend to trend the same hallowed ground as our friends and compadres. Therefore, to truly “own” an image, especially of iconic places, we have to try to find a way to “see” it differently.
Last year, I had the privilege of shooting the moonrise over Washington, DC with many close friends and at least a hundred acquaintances ;-)… We all saw the same stunning, crystal clear, huge orange moonrise over some of the most iconic monuments in the country, if not in the world. Within hours, many people had posted their images and at first I felt there was no need to add mine to the bunch… but I had finally gotten to see this seldom scene alignment of moon and man, and I wanted to work on my images and share them… so I spent some quiet time contemplating… how I can do this differently… then it dawned on me… the color of the moon it what took my breath away… so that would be my focus. The resulting images can be seen below.
It took me time to “see” these images in this way, but I like the result and I appreciated the challenge. Even though I fantasize about the perfect photographer’s world, I will always choose to go out shooting with friends, as the companionship, encouragement, and down right ribbing is a gift; and the challenge of creating images that are competitive with their talent and art keeps me trying!
To see the rest of the set from the moonrise, please via my Flickr set by clicking here.
This opportunity is presenting itself on March 5, 2015. The full moon will rise over the monuments at 6:18pm. The alignment shown here is from the Netherlands Carillon in Rosslyn, VA. RRPT will be holding a Meetup at this location that evening. Click here to learn more about this and other Meetups we have schedule.
