The Faithful Light–Photography of the Moon

adventures in moonwatching

First published in The Study of Light, on Substack, on May 5, 2026

Moonrise over the Mediterranean, a messy selfie of me, Geri, and Luna, through reflections of an airplane window. I envy my pilot friends who see so many lunar and solar events.

I have a monthly date with the rising full moon. Wherever I am, whosoever I am with, when the moon rises, I am outside, looking for it. I relish the thought that my people, wherever they may be in the world, can do the same thing, at pretty much the same time, weather permitting. So while I am sitting with Geri, watching the moon rise over Lake Superior, Leo texts a photo from a bayou in Louisiana, where he sees the same. Ivy sends a photo from Minneapolis, Sylvi from her college campus. And then, tens or hundreds of millions, or even billions of others? We have this mirror to look upon, shining the sun’s light on us, long after sunset.

The January moon pushes hard through snow and grass, over Mahoney Road farms in the Driftless Region.

As the rising/setting sun comes north, as Solstice approaches, the moon heads south. The summer moon rises behind a hill behind my house, but it pokes through the trees and blankets our bedroom in a bright white light.

The same bedroom, beneath the setting moon, last October.

Amadeus Schneeaffe informed me that the Ojibwé call this (the May moon) the Zaagibagaa-giizis, the Leaves Budding, Everything Swelling With Life Moon.

From the front porch

The November moon, 2025