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MOUNTAINLIFEBLUEMOUNTAINS
SPRING2016
Words&photography by SarahChisholm
Last September, the night finally arrived for amuch-anticipated rare celestial event—a"supermoon"
total lunar eclipse. (A supermoonoccurswhen themoon is both full and at its closest approach to Earth.
A lunar eclipse results in a shadowgradually darkening themoonwith a red tinge—dubbed a“blood
moon.”)Toany photographerwithan interest in thenight sky, thiswas a chance to capture anawe-worthy
phenomenon, and Iwas ready andwaiting for the show.Withmy kids andmy tripod set upon the front
lawnawaitingmagic time, therewasn’t a cloud in the sky aswewatched themoon rise.Thenat only a
fewminutes to showtime, theunthinkablehappened.Wewatched indismay as the sky betrayedus and
completely cloudedover.We finallywent inside indefeat and I typeda singleword intomy Facebook status;
unrepeatablehere.
Withinminutes a friend commented that she could still see themoon clearly—inRipley, a 20-minute drive
fromme. I instantly hopped in the car, takingbackroads inpursuit of open sky. Finally spying themoon,
I saw itwas almost fully eclipsed at that point, so I pulledover, slammedmy tripoddownon the dusty
gravel road, andbegan taking a hundred shots.When I had amoment to collectmyself, I looked about
and realized I was surroundedby tall corn fields on all sides—something thatwouldnormally be rather
unsettling tome in the spooky, eclipse-dimmed light. Fittingly, coyotes howled at a distance, but otherwise
it seemed for amoment that all theworldwas still, suspendedunder the bloodmoon. I was not afraid,
but almost gladof the vocal company enjoying this lunar eventwithme. I’m soglad I chose to shoot then
and there, forwithin the space of about four or fiveminutes, the cloudsmovedback in, and themoonwas
gone.
SarahChisholm lives and shoots on the LakeHuron shoreline. Seemore of herwork at
BACK
PAGE
Fittingly,
coyotes
howledat a
distance,
but otherwise
it seemed for
amoment that
all theworld
wasstill,
suspended
under the
bloodmoon.
SHOOTINGTHEBLOODMOON
