The Strawberry Supermoon Over Purdue

Last night the heat left me with a little time on my hands. My daughters softball game was cancelled so I thought it was just going to be a night at home out of the heat. Just about when her game would have been over and we would have been heading to the concession stand (the highlight of softball night for most kids) I remembered the full moon. In reality the night before would have been the night to make a photo, but the sky was not cooperating. With no clouds in the sky it was worth a try to photograph the supermoon. I quickly tried to find a spot where I could line the moon up with something. With where the moon was rising from in the sky the only place that I could come up with was on Slayter Hill looking at the Purdue clock tower. I have been here before for fireworks and another failed moon rise photo. This time I was lucky and it worked out.

Moving Fast

When I arrived at Slayter Hill I had a feeling of where I needed to be, but I tried to stay a few feet over because I had a better view of the sky. While I was waiting I found two holes in the large trees with a view of the clock tower. I marked the spots so that I could find them better in the dark. Of course the smallest hole in the trees was where it seemed like the moon would look the best. My friend Trevor Mahlmann would have had the precise spot to stand figured out, but I had to rely on my ability to move quickly. At the end of the day my spot with the best view worked for the initial few moments with the moon. I then moved over to my second spot for a photo, and then of course the photo at the top of the post was from the small window in the trees that I hoped that I wouldn’t have to use. Luckily for me the wind was not bad so I could make the photo. Below are photos from my first two locations on the hill. The wind was putting branches in the way, but I really lucked out with the final photo that I had a clear window to make the photo.