On Tuesday, we were blessed with a full moon. I was already packing up the camera and tripod when I spotted a brilliant orange glow coming from behind the mountains. (Looking at a map, it is roughly in the direction of Mission Peak). I will have to take a closer look during day time. Unfortunately, the evening was quite overcast. I only caught a brief glimpse of the moon before it disappeared behind the clouds.
I’ve been wanting to photograph a full moon rise over the San Francisco Bay for some time. Usually, the idea comes to mind as I am driving and I see the glowing full moon rising over the horizon. However, to do this properly would require some forethought. Fortunately, with the internet, all this planning should be quite straightforward.
The appearance of a full moon is quite predictable. All that remains is checking against moon rise times.
| Date | Moon Rise |
| March 5, 2015 | 6:23 PM |
| April 4, 2015 | 8:02 PM |
| May 3, 2015 | 7:48 PM |
| June 2, 2015 | 8:32 PM |
| July 1, 2015 | 8:11 PM |
| July 31, 2015 | 8:27 PM |
| August 29, 2015 | 7:43 PM |
| September 27, 2015 | 6:54 PM |
| October 27, 2015 | 6:51 PM |
| November 25, 2015 | 5:13 PM |
| December 25, 2015 | 5:43 PM |
This table lists the remaining full moons for 2015, as well as the corresponding moon rise times. These times are location dependent, so consult the Old Farmer’s Almanac or some other online source for the correct times for your location.
Camera: Nikon D800
Lens: Nikkor AF-S 24-70mm f/2.8G ED
ISO: 100
Focal Length: 70mm
Aperture: f/2.8
Shutter: 1/1.25s