I had sacrificed photographing  a Strawberry moon rising just as the sun was setting for the world cup football, England v Belgium.  The game was basically meaningless as both sides put on only their B teams.  So the next evening from Willingdon hill on the South downs I  intended to capture a sunset and then the moon rising over Eastbourne.

Strawberry Moon Rise

From my previous sunset landscape photography shoot from Wilmington hill I knew at this time of year late June just past the longest day or summer solstice there was still going to be light in the sky around 10:10 when the moon was due to rise.  I would have preferred the day before though when the moon rose at 21:22 just after the sun had set at 21:15.

Just after the football finished I did manage to capture the strawberry moonrise from my balcony just handholding the camera.  Very noisy at an ISO of 6400.

South Downs Way

I hoped to make amends the next evening from Willingdon hill in east Sussex.  I would be parking at Butts Brow at the end of Butts lane which I used when I first walked to Jevington.   From this location I would walk down along the south downs way towards Beachy Head which should give me good views  west pass Wilmington and bopeep and Lewes down where the sun would set.  and then southeast  towards Hastings and Eastbourne below when the moon would rise.  That was the plan.   Planning exactly when and where the sun will set and the moon will rise is best down using the Photographers Ephimeris.

Evening Walk

I wanted to get a couple of hours walking in before these critical  times and capture some evening shots along Willingdon Hill.  We are experiencing a hot dry summer so prefer the evening temperatures.  One good thing humidity was not too high and visibility was very good.  What was apparent was the abundance of Rosebay Willowherb growing along the south downs way.

In America they call it fireweed as its the first to grow back when there has been a wild fire.  What I liked about it was the way its color contrasted will with the green and blue hues of the evening light.  With the sun directly behind me I was having problems not including the shadow of the camera and myself.  At this angle a polariser would not help and would be unecessary glass in front of the lens.  Although shadows were prominent giving depth a graduated neutral density filter was not required for the sky.

Heading back along the south downs way to the highest point on Willingdon hill to setup for sunset west I could not help noticing how the low light caught the posts of the fence and the golden hues of the corn field and the long grass in the foreground.

Wilmingdon Hill Sunset

I had not been happy with my sunset landscape photography from Wilmington Hill the week previous, I had doubled up on my ND filters reducing 5 stops of light from the sky, which was too much and had also softened the sharpness.

The sunset photos from Willingdon hill were a big improvement over those from Wilmington which is the silhouette of the first hill in the mid ground.  But in hindsight while post processing would have been better maybe to have stopped down to F/22 aperture to get the starburst effect of the sun setting.

Eastbourne Moon Rise

So I had already staked out a good position along the south downs way with good views over the town of Eastbourne for a subsequent moonrise.  Having moved I patiently waited for the strawberry moon to rise around 10:10 pm.

As day turns to night sure enough the moon rose over eastbourne on time.  Its a little darker than I would have ideally liked, but quite a spectacle to observe from this vantage point on Willingdon hill.  So named for the strawberries that ripen this time of year, not because the moon happens to be red, this is due to particles in the earths atmosphere aka a blood moon.  Just a coincidence.

I wanted to cut down exposure time so opened up the aperture and increased the ISO to an acceptable level.  A large depth of field is only necessary when you have something in the foreground you want to keep in focus, else you can focus on infinity.

Best time to photograph moon

So the best time to catch a moonrise is a few days before a full moon where it more or less occurs at the same time as the sun is setting, the moon at this stage is known as a waxing gibbous.  The best time to catch a moon setting is a few days after a full moon known as a waning gibbous which occurs around about the same time as the sun is rising in the morning.  This time of year that requires an early rise.  Looking forward to July’s stag moon, weather permitting.