Shayne McGuire captured the Snow Moon in Antarctica this weekend. The name ‘Snow Moon’ has its origin from Native American tribes. Yesterday evening she experienced that everything lined perfectly up. In addition, the moon took on a beautiful red color tone as it hovered above the horizon.
Shayne has a deep respect and love for everything living. As predominately a nature photographer she captures bears, penguins, birds, horses and her husband. The latter often with a humorous wink. When the opportunity presents itself Shayne also shoots landscapes. Her portfolio is rich in wildlife and scenery from the most southern part of the globe. Shayne explains; “I am working in Antarctica all season on expedition ships.”
Shayne shares the story of capturing the super moon with DIYP readers:
We had just finished a great day landing at Orne harbour, then a trip through Wilhelmina Bay (Antarctica) looking for whales on our way back to Ushuaia. The ship headed back out on the Drake to start our voyage home. I knew that a full moon was due the night of the 9th and this was the 8th, so I was hoping for a nice pre full moon shot.
My cabin only has a port hole so it is hard to see the night sky in full. I went up the stairs for a better view and saw a red/orange beautiful moon looming above the water. It was still low in the sky. I ran back down to my cabin, grabbed my Canon 5D Mark IV and Canon 70–200mm F 2.8 lens, and ran back up to deck six to get access to the outside decks. Light was fading rapidly and I wanted the clouds to still show. I also desperately wanted some context to the shot.
I saw a lone iceberg off to the side and hoped everything would line up. In order to gauge the rapidly fading light I took a few more shots. The deck was in complete darkness, and the ship had picked up speed heading out to open ocean. I knew I needed a fast shutter speed from the ship, but I was losing detail or blowing out highlights with a too high ISO.
I threw a Hail Mary pass, meaning, I went with a gut feeling. I knew I needed around 1/125 or 1/160 to nail the moon, but would it be enough to also capture the iceberg? I only got one chance as the ship was moving fast… I was at 200mm 1/160 F 2.8 at ISO 1250.
When I ran outside, I had grabbed my camera, not my jacket and gloves. It was around 34 degrees or 1 C. The serene view was so other worldly that I didn’t feel the cold, only felt the beauty as I stood on the rail in my shirt. All I could hear was the rush of waves next to the ship’s bow. There were a few other people on deck. I didn’t hear them, I was lost, lost in the vastness of the scene unfolding in front of me.
One guest actually spoke to me, I didn’t hear them, they touched my shoulder and I jumped. They laughed and said, you are lost in the scene…I was. I have been working out here for 6 years, and every voyage has new firsts for me and new experiences, but some touch your soul so deep. They will stay with you forever. I drank in the view, with my eyes, my senses and my mind. When I got back to my cabin, I couldn’t go to sleep even though it was after midnight. What I had seen and experienced was still tingling.
Shayne McGuire is a nature and landscape photographer based in Southern California. You can see more of Shayne’s work on her website and follow her on Instagram and Facebook. The image is shared with permission. By adding a Dark Reader extension to your browser it is possible to view the image on black.
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