Ludington Light, a Full Moon, and an Ore Carrier

I drove up to Ludington, Michigan during last week’s full moon, hoping to take some creative photos of the moon and the local lighthouses. On this particular Saturday morning, the full moon was setting about twenty minutes before sunrise. When that happens, you get a very yellow moon that turns a deep orange as it hits the horizon. Being on the lake shore, the view as the moon sets is unobstructed. I set up this shot in the dark, and watched as the moon came down. I took many photos of it, some with the moon above the lighthouse, some next to it, etc. I used a long zoom lens to compress the image and make the moon look bigger in relation to the lighthouse.

What I didn’t see at first was the ore carrier ship that was speeding across the horizon. As it passed in front of the moon, at just the right time, I took a quick shot and captured it. The moon and ship are hazy, as they are quite far in the distance. Still, I think this turned out very well. It pays to be in the right place at the right time!