Glastonbury Supermoon

Tuesday 13 - Wednesday 14 June 2022

There’s something special about a plan that works……………

The full moon in June was one of the largest full moons of the year - called the Strawberry Supermoon - because it coincides with the picking of the summer fruit. Glastonbury Tor in Somerset is a rather iconic setting for a moonset and attracts photographers who attempt to take images of the setting moon just above or behind the tower.

To achieve this requires planning and the photographer has to be positioned in just the right spot at the right time. Balancing the relative sizes of the moon and the Tor requires standing the correct distance away from the tower and alignment of the two objects requires standing in the correct direction from the Tower. Fortunately there are a number of phone apps that can help you work all this out - I use Photopills. It’s always a good idea to go to the site during the day to familise yourself with it and check that there is a clear view of the subject.

Wednesday 4am - second attempt.

I had another chance the following morning, still the Strawberry Supermoon it would be setting approximately 1 hour later this morning closer to sunrise and a bit lighter making it easier to balance the exposure of the moon with the Tor. The previous day I did some scouting around and found an ideal location in an open field with lots of space for any last minute re-positioning. Feeling confident, I set off on the 30 minute drive across the Somerset Levels but soon realised that the mists were out in force this morning and from the shooting position both the moon and Tor were completely hidden from view. I did have a ‘Plan B’, a second site higher up above the mist where I would see both Tor and moon but the they wouldn’t be fully aligned. It would have to do.

Tuesday 3am - the first attempt

Unfortunately my calculations were about 100 metres out and we needed to be much further to the right. Normally we would have re-positioned ourselves but the way was blocked. Very embarrassing as I had been responsible for planning and organising, and had arranged to meet 2 friends here at 3 am. All we could do was watch on as the moon slipped down behind the hills as the Tor looked on.

I was soon set-up and ready to take some shots, the moon was going to pass quite close to the Tor, I just had to hope that the mist wouldn’t get any worse. It was light now and as I waited for the moon to get lower, a deer came across the field and stood about 20 metres away and watched me for a few minutes. It was going to be a beautiful morning.

The moon came down pretty close to the Tor passing just above it, fading in and out of the mist.

The images weren’t the ones I’d envisaged but I thought they turned out alright…….after all.