Beauty of Arizona #4 - Elvis Chapel

After seeing a photo of the Elvis Chapel with a Full Moon, I wanted to go out and see if I could and photograph the scene like the photo I saw. The photo I referenced was a shot of the chapel at night, from the side, and with a detailed full moon just on the horizon above the Superstition Mountains. If I had to guess it was probably a stacked image given the detail of the moon. Even though the image wasn't a single shot, it inspired me to get out and see what I could capture.

After a 1 hr and 15 min drive from Peoria to Apache Junction, we pulled in the drive way of the museum. Originally I anticipated shooting within the fence of the Superstition Mountain Museum property. We found the museum closed at 4 pm (on Sunday) and the gate is locked up. I ended up making my first adjustment of the night shooting from the fence line along side Hwy 88.

While I waited for the moon-rise, I took advantage of the golden hour and shot sunset versions of the scene (sunset picture is at the top of the article). Due to a large bank of Monsoon clouds, the full moon didn't appear until an hour after the stated moon-rise time. This caused the second adjustment of the night. Considering that the moon might never escape the thin cloud cover, I took advantage of it and created some moody black and white shots of the chapel with the cloud covered moon. It ended up being my favorite photo of the shoot (see black and white image above). Sometimes you have to be prepared to go with what Mother Nature presents to you.

There are a couple important tools that a photographer might need for shooting moon photos. Having tools that will tell you the moon-rise time, rise location, and cloud radar will make your shoot easier because it takes the guess work out it. I strongly encourage photographers to prepare and trust their own research. If you are one of those photographers that like to rely on other people to give you information, be warned. Most photographers are more then willing to share information, but most don't do the proper research to be successful on a shoot. This particular night, there were people who thought the moon-rise time was suppose to be 1 - 2 hours before the actual time and others did't even know that it was a Full Moon night.

Tools I use to prepare for my Moon shoots

The Photographer Ephemeris aka TPE (Phone Application, Web Application)

Maps, Sun / Moon information, Milky Way information, among a ton of other features. Probably the best tool I've found to plan my trips on the computer with their Web App version. https://www.photoephemeris.com/

MoonSeeker(Phone Application)

Moon Phases, Rise/Set times, and Moon path information

weather.com (Phone Application, Web Application)

Weather information, cloud radars and storm radars

Lessons Learned on this adventure

• The day before a Full Moon is actually the best time to photograph the moon with a well lit landscape.

• Sometimes you have to be prepare switch things up and go with what Mother Nature and the situation presents to you.

Until next time. Happy adventures!

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