Full Moon Rising..

A full moonrise has always been way more magical than a good ol’ sunset, imho..

For starters, a full moonrise only occurs once a month, barring the presence of clouds. Sunsets, as glorious as that time of day is, rely on some cloud to make it less pedestrian and monotonous. A bit of useless information, but if you lived on the moon, almost the opposite would occur, ie, you’d only experience a sunrise every +-29 days.

The Full Moon has a further significance for me, as it’s when a special group of long-time friends, aka The Full Moon Association (FMA), gather at a suitable setting or venue, weather permitting. At +- 13 yrs, I’m a relatively new inductee, but they started the FMA about 33 years ago, and have never missed a Full Moon since! Well, at least enough to hold a quorum, depending on who’s in town.

Hey, start an FMA with some of your closest friends! :) Meet somewhere, go for a swim, a hike up Chappies or Elsies, a dinner at Harbour House or The Brass Bell or Kalkies, just do it!

I’m no astrophotographer, but I take more photos of moonrises than sunsets. This scorching quote on sunset photography gave me some pause, and a good chuckle!

Annebella Pollen, writing for The Guardian, said: “Sunset photographs have a low cultural status: they are characterized as sentimental visual confectionery indicative of limited aesthetic vision and an undeveloped practice.” Ouch, lol!

Here’s a compilation from over the years. All photos are hand-held, so pardon a bit of blur and/or noise ie grain.

Across False Bay

While hanging about on OKW waiting for the moon to rise, I hijacked this group shot..

.and this chap later asked me to take a shot of him.

View across Muizenberg to The Strand, from Ou Kaapse Weg, a favourite place to watch a full moon rise.

Rising above the Hottentot’s Holland range. Taken from Kalk Bay harbour, another great vantage point.

I parked on the side of the road, let some dodgy characters walk past, waited for an oncoming car to add some dimension, quickly darted into the middle of the road, lined up the moon with the broken lamp pole light, and took the shot. Near Imhoff’s Gift and Ocean View.

From Boyes Drive, looking over Lakeside, Marina Da Gama and beyond.

Sometimes the moon doesn’t show its face until it rises above the clouds on the horizon.

Sandvlei, while taking my dog for a walk.

My neighbour’s house, taken from mine. St Helena Bay.

And again, the following month.

The last two were taken from the same place as these, but now there’s this newly-built house between us.

These were taken on the same evening..

.. but with different cameras. My almost dead one that I can no longer change the settings on (above), and my new second-hand mirrorless, that unfortunately has the wrong mount for that lens.

The moon, following its own trajectory..

..and me standing as still as I possibly can.

A fuzzy moonrise over Muizenberg. I remember it was really windy, had to brace myself up against a pole..

The moon, sometimes a mere eyelash..

Moonrise over Muizenberg. A surfer girl reluctantly leaving the water, once it became a bit too dark to surf. Or take photos.

An old cellphone pic. Kalk Bay.

Not quite a full moon, but whatever..

Full moon rising between Cape Hangklip and Roman Rock lighthouse.

We got on this a little late, heading to the spot below. Full moon in the Wilderness, taken while driving.

Did you know the moon shrinks the higher it rises? ;)

I gave this photo quite a painterly makeover.

As a friend commented, this was a Howling Wolf Moon.

Full moon in St Helena Bay, photobombed by a seagull.

The day that never was! Not my Photoshop, I don’t know how to use that tool, but I love this fun image.

St Helena Bay harbour, complete with cheesy seagull.

Kalk Bay harbour, by the light of the silvery moon..