Sometimes we get lucky and get a second chance at something. Sometimes we get even luckier and are given inspiration. Today was one of those days for me. As many of you know last night was a lunar eclipse and the best time to see the action on the east coast was between 4:30AM and a little after 7AM with the latter being even better, but unfortunately the weather had different plans. I set my alarm to wake up around 6AM. Seeing something interesting in the sky other than a caked wall of clouds was not going to be possible. There will be another lunar eclipse next April, but the rain clouds shut this party down.
Tonight, however, we still had the privilege of clear skies and a (99%) full autumn moon and this is where both my second chance and my inspiration enter. My fiancée, Angie, was going out with a friend tonight and she asked me what I was doing. I told her I was planning on going for a run (the full moon had slipped my mind at this point). She was driving to her friend's place about an hour later and gave me a call and told me how huge and low the moon was tonight and that I should go out with my camera. I still had not run at this point as I had fallen into one of those YouTube rabbit holes where I was watching stupid comedy videos while wearing my running clothes and delaying leaving the apartment. I was happy to get her call, both for the normal reasons of talking to her and for getting a kick in the pants to do what I had set out to do.
I began my run and started to doubt my knowledge of anything. I was running in the dark and looking all around like an idiot, as if being chased by somebody. In reality, I was trying to find the moon. I knew where the moon should be, but it was hiding, and I really thought I didn't understand anything anymore. Angie was right though! It was low and it was HUGE! Finally, as I looked off to my right, I saw the moon almost resting on the roof of a house I was running past and it was enormous. Well, really it's always the same size, it's all perspective, but you get the point. I knew I had to get a shot of it before it rose too high in the sky and got back to a normal looking size. It was then that my running pace tripled and I cut up a few side streets, looped around, and ran a four minute mile to get back to get my gear and go off shooting. Most of that is true. I'll let you believe what you want.
I sprinted up to my apartment, grabbed my camera bag and tripod, and ran down to the car to get to a location. I knew generally where I wanted to create the photo, but not specifically. Fortunately, I was able to find my spot very quickly while the moon had not risen all too high yet. I set up next to a boat house on the Seekonk River on the east side of Providence and made the shot below. It was a fun photo to create and I'm thankful for Angie's inspiration and having a second chance to photograph such a beautiful moon after the clouds ripped the opportunity away just half a day before. I hope you enjoy the image! -Josh
