full moon rising over the sea in july

we live on the coast in southern norway, around 60 degrees north latitude. we don't get the magical midnight sun here in the summer like they do above the arctic circle in northern norway but in july it never gets really dark at night here. this july the sky was clear for the moonrise so we decided to take in the scene. many times we are too busy or it is too cloudy to see much or something else comes in the way so when we get the opportunity it is a real pleasure to experience the full moon rising from the ocean.

the full moon rises in the southeast in july. we live by the harbor so to get a view of the open ocean where it rises we have to travel out of town. about 4 km away there is a park on the shore called vestre rakke. near the parking lot the elevation is maybe 30 or so meters over sea level and view is splendid when conditions are right. and tonight is such a night.

we arrived around 22.20 and found the perfect spot. there were just a handful of other people present for the event. just after 22.40/10;40 PM a shiny sliver of the moon peaked over the ocean horizon.

i took all these shots with my S22 phone which has a powerful zoom but it is tricky to use it when highly zoomed . the low light conditions made it extra difficult to get decent shots and we didn't have a tripod strong enough to deal with the moderate wind. however there was a flat cement surface that i rested the phone on so that helped somewhat.

the resulting shots are admittedly amateurish and nothing to write home about technically. nonetheless i feel they capture the splendor of the setting in an innocent way fitting for the romantic occasion.

and the scene was indeed enthralling. sitting on the rocks in the twilight overlooking the calm ocean with a few small islets below and the occasional boat, and with sufficient warm breeze to keep the mosquitoes at bay. then suddenly the magical moment of the moon ever so gently emerging from the sea, at first sight glimmering but soon after with a warm soft radiance.

i tried different shutter speed settings on the phone. faster one gives the appearance of it being darker than it was in reality but yields an ethereal glow to the moon. apart from straightening to get the horizon horizontal these photos are for the most part unedited.

when the moon was well above the horizon a path of light started to reflect on the water weak at first. and you may have noticed the moon is now well to the right of the stake in the sea marking a submerged rock. we stayed in the same place the whole time. the moon is not rising vertically but diagonally. from our perspective it is moving horizontally to the south faster than it is rising.

but stronger as the moon gained height

while the main event was to the southeast the whole scene was sublime

a boat was passing quickly by

and it got caught in the reflection

it must have been at least as wonderful being out in an open boat on the calm sea

about 45 minutes after we saw the first sliver of the orange light it was time to go

and here we are back on the harbor just by our house an hour after the show began. not too shabby here either...