Gregg D. Kemp

Back again. Work was hectic this week. Didn’t get away from it on Tuesday until too late to set out cameras. So on Wednesday I set out two cameras. I didn’t travel far, just to the Manteo waterfront. The sky was perfectly clear, and the forecast was for clear skies all night.

I set out both cameras facing the Roanoke Marshes lighthouse. This one was on a monopod I jammed into the ground off the boardwalk. Although it was clear most of the night, it was a bit cloudy by early morning.

This one was only a few feet away, taped to a post

After setting out the cameras, I walked down the street to Gallery 101. The gallery had been closed since December, but the owner was there, working on getting ready to open this weekend. It was nice to see him again, but he was pretty busy, so I wandered on after a brief visit.

By the time I got back to the cameras, the moon was just over the horizon. It was a brilliant orange, and once again I asked myself “why didn’t I load these pots with color film?”. That happens a lot. Every light in the scene was white, so I’m thinking “great, black and white”. But then that orange moon comes up. Anyway, I just sat there a while, watching the moon rise, not thinking about too much. I like that.

The timeline

2006-3-15:

Sunset 6:10 p.m.
End civil twilight 6:36 p.m.
Open cameras 6:55 p.m.
Moonrise 7:00 p.m.
2006-3-16:

Begin civil twilight 5:47 a.m.
Close cameras 5:58 a.m. (approximate)
Sunrise 6:12 a.m.

Phase of the Moon on 15 March: waning gibbous with 100% of the Moon’s visible disk illuminated.

The cold moon was now in its last quarter phase. I wasn’t sure it would be visible enough for my camera and film. But I wanted to determine the right location to set the camera for a future shooting at the Manteo waterfront, so I headed out around 8 o’clock or so. I was in no hurry since the moon would not come up until after midnight.

The next morning, I closed the shutter around 6:48 a.m. The ground was covered with frost as was the camera. This cold moon shot would live up to its name. I wondered if the film itself, inside the camera had a layer of frost on it. That would be interesting, to shoot the cold moon through a layer of frost. But, apparently there was no frost in the can. I would have to think more about that for the future.

Cold Moon, Stone Cross

The scene for this shot was an old stone cross that is on the southern edge of the Manteo waterfront. The cross was discovered years ago when the county excavated an area to build the new high school. I’m not sure exactly when that was, but would guess it was in the 1960′s.

Data:

 Friday, 23 December 2005 Eastern Standard Time
Sunset                4:54 p.m.
Start photo           9:00 p.m.
Moonrise             12:25 a.m. on the 24th
End photo             6:48 a.m. on the 24th
Sunrise               7:11 a.m. on the 24th  

Last quarter Moon on 23 December 2005 at 2:36 p.m. Eastern Standard Time.