Dave Bell: Shooting The Supermoon Over Wyoming's Cirque Of The Towers

Famed Wyoming photographer Dave Bell went out and shot the supermoon Tuesday as it rose over the Cirque of the Towers — something he has always wanted to do.

Here's Dave in his own words:

I shot the “supermoon” Tuesday night. It is not technically full, as it is 98.4% and not 100%. But, the concurrence between sunset and moonrise is better.

In other words, one was setting as the other was rising. That gives me better light and color. That will not be the case Wednesday evening when the sun will set at 7:57 p.m. and the moon will rise at 8:15 p.m.

But given our proximity to the mountains, the sun is gone earlier and the moon doesn’t crest the mountainous eastern horizon generally about 15 minutes later than the forecast.

Part of what I liked is the “belt of Venus” was also rising on the eastern horizon as the moon was. The “belt” is the usual purplish/pinkish color which accompanies a sunset. It is the fading light in the atmosphere.

I scouted locations all day and visited several, but could not find the one which gave me what I was looking for, until I found this undisclosed location. I used two iPhone apps for this work — The Photographers Epheremis and PhotoPills.

For years I have wanted to photograph a full moon rise over the Cirque of the Towers and tonight my hard work paid off. It rose dead center on the jagged edges of the peaks which comprise the famous Cirque in the southern Wind River Mountains.