SUPERMOON RISING ABOVE DUBLIN
Photography
As the clock struck 10pm on May 26th there was around one minute to go until moonrise, a perfectly clear night sky and there seemed to be no mist on the sea or cloud on the horizon while waiting for the flower moon.
The light was fading as the sun had set about 30 minutes ago, I stood in the shadow of the Poolbeg Chimneys looking towards Dun Laoghaire waiting for a glimpse of colour in the deepening blue sky above Dublin Bay.
As I waited and the light faded I always wonder "Have I read the charts wrong" or "Is that cloud on the horizon", sometimes a minute can be a very long time but then you see a glimmer of light...
With no time to think about the previous, the wonder turns into a dance between myself, the camera, the lens, the fading light in the sky and the glowing moon rising from the sea.
Focus changes to the lighthouse over 5km away and the moon over 350,000km further, finding the perfect focus and F-stop to accentuate two objects so far apart.
The next six or seven minutes are a blur of movement and composition, waiting for the shot I want but also finding other pictures in between.
The shot you want does not always turn out to be the best picture. I think I prefer the 1st picture below even though the 2nd has perfect symmetry, I suppose it's a personal choice.
There were only a few people scattered along Poolbeg Beach as the tide rolled in, when I stepped back from the shot I wanted a picture framed itself, right in front of me a girl standing on the shore watching the moon rising.
As the supermoon rises higher into the night sky the contrast between the bright full moon and the dark sky eventually becomes too contrasted for any detail of the moon while keeping some background so I decide to leave for home,
As I reach the road with the camera packed away and tripod folded up I see a couple across the grasses silhouetted in the moonlight and everything comes back out quickly for one last photograph.
