Moonrise over Morgan Point

I could not help but read all of the complimentary Facebook and other online comments about this morning's front page photo of last night's moon rise photo over Noank. Let me quickly say that I am very grateful for all your kind words. In several cases, online readers of The Day commented about how they had always wanted to take that image, but for one reason or another had not. I figure a little back story is in order.

First of all, I originally wanted to photograph the moon rise over the Avery Point Lighthouse as seen from Pequot Avenue in New London. The Day's Multimedia Director Peter Huoppi tipped me off to a neat computer program that pinpoints where the moon and sun will rise and set on the horizon, from any given point on the map. Upon driving down Pequot and seeing that the Avery Point lighthouse is surrounded by trees and not separate from the horizon, I quickly decided to try Morgan Point in Noank, which as seen from Groton Long Point stands out against the sky with no obstruction. This was with roughly 50 minutes to go before moon rise.

I orginally wanted the moon directly behind the lighthouse, but alas, there was too much haze and the moon did not appear until it was off the horizon. The happy surprise was the setting sun behind me reflecting off the windows over in Noank. The most interesting part for me however, is that I knew where to stand before the moon even rose, and the program was accurate to within 20 feet. For a photographer, that is awesome.