Jim Salge Photography Blog

Welcome Spring and THE ‘SuperMoon’

Sometime in the early 1600’s, Johannes Kepler discovered that planetary motion is actually elliptical, and that planets and moons go through an annual cycle of perigee and apogee in their transits. When the moon goes through perigee every year, it grows by as much as (gasp) 12% from its most distant point from the Earth. This year though, with the moon full at perfect perigee, the news cycle caught onto the ‘Super Moon’ phenomena as if Kepler never existed. And, for many folks suffering from Nature Deficit Disorder, it was a good thing, for last night the Super Full Moon rose through a thin layer of haze on an otherwise clear horizon, and the entire New England region, in unison, tweeted about the beautiful orange orb in the eastern sky.

As a nature photographer, I try to get out and shoot every full moon, as it is the only time of the lunar cycle that the moon rises at sunset, creating great photo-ops. And I thought I was going to hit the conditions jackpot this week to finally get my sunrise shot from Mount Adams/Mount Madison over the Great Gulf. I’d been after the shot for years, but my schedule and the weather’s schedule rarely lined up. As the weekend grew closer though, my luck faded as the cold front slowed. Temps forecast below zero, and winds that were slow to slow would keep me off the ridge at dawn.

Plan B. Kearsarge North Firetower. Lower, sheltered, and a gorgeous 360 degree view…a more pleasant experience for stationary shooting.

The moonrise in the far distance, over the Atlantic Ocean was truly a sight to behold. Slowly ascending through a colorful haze, I tried my best to capture it from a wind swaying firetower. I soon gave up and enjoyed the peace of being on a mountaintop, and crawled into my arctic bag for 10 hours as the too bright nightlight spanned the sky

Morning dawned clear and quiet, as the moon slipped back over the Whites to the west. The alpenglow provided at a minimum some mental warmth, and some great scenes to the north as Mount Washington lit up. A experience in the mountains, on a night that so many were reminded of the beauty of the night sky and the natural world!