Moonset Over Mt. Whitney, Feb 16-17 2014

by Sue Craft
Wednesday, February 19 2014 @ 01:29 PM PST

David Wilkins

Yes, it was magnificent! David and Chris Wilkins led us on a field trip to capture the full moon setting behind the tallest mountain in the contiguous United States, Mt. Whitney (14,500 ft.). February's full moon is traditionally called the Full Snow Moon because usually the heaviest snows fall in February. Even though we are in the midst of yet another drought, Mother Nature provided a light dusting of snow on the High Sierra peaks the night before we arrived.

Sue Craft

Our group of 14 met on Sunday afternoon on Movie Road, in the Alabama Hills, so that David and Chris could lead us to a prime location for capturing the moonset over Mt. Whitney. David used The Photographer’s Ephemeris (free download for desktop computers and inexpensive app for smart phones/tablets) to calculate the “prime” location and time the sun would hit the mountain peak, and the location of the moon as it would drop behind Mt. Whitney.

Once at our location, David talked about lenses, camera settings, and suggested various locations to capture the “big event” the next morning. One needs to do a bit of preplanning to capture this type of event. In addition to paying attention to sunrise, one needs to know that the sun takes a while to pop over the Inyo Mountains before lighting the Sierra. Also, the moonset time is effectively earlier than listed since it is calculated for a normal horizon that is not obstructed by mountains.

David Wilkins

We ended the evening at the Pizza Factory. Over pizza and beer, we got to know some of our photographer friends a little better, and talked photography!

On Monday, everyone met at our special location at 615am, well before the sun came, with hot drinks in hand. Tripods were set, with long lenses attached to cameras, and information was shared on camera settings. We were quite lucky since the temperature was much warmer than normal (it was well above freezing). The view to the west, for moonset, was crystal clear! The sky behind us had clouds, which started to glow pink, yellow, and orange as the sun started to rise and created that amazing but short lived alpenglow that photographers dream of. The huge moon was still well above Mt Whitney, and looked like it was going to set as planned. As the moon neared the crest of the Sierra, everyone was silent, and the only sound to be heard was the rapid clicking of shutters. The moon appeared to drop right on top of the highest point on Mt Whitney, looking like a round blob of ice cream on a brown sugar cone! The moon then sank out of sight and the ooohs and ahhs came, and we all felt so lucky to have been there to capture such a special moment.

David Wilkins

After the moon dropped out of sight, we quickly lost the beautiful alpenglow on the Sierra, and headed for the Alabama Café for breakfast.

Capturing the moon falling behind Mt Whitney, and getting the balance of light from the moon and the ambient background can be a challenge, and can be photographed from a convenient spot in the Alabama Hills only once or twice a year. We did it!!! Thank you David and Chris for planning such a special photo opportunity for us!

Check out our photos in the LPA Gallery.