Moonrise at Fox Hunter's Paradise

I love a crescent moon. 

Back home the evening crescents over the Beartooth Mountains in a rich blue sky were something to sit and be amazed by.  Watching a moon rise or set is a wonderful experience, it appears as if the moon is slowly making its way up or down... photographing the moon is a different story, you don't really get a feel for how quickly it moves until you are trying to compose it in your frame.

In my earlier days of photography and a smartphone with no apps, if I were to photograph a moonrise, it would most likely be by chance that I was out and about already shooting. 

Nowadays everything(well, almost) is planned.  I know exactly when the sun and moon are rising and setting, I have a solid idea of where they will rise during different times of the year, and I plan around this accordingly. 

This particular trip was one that the gf probably didn't like.  The moon was set to rise at about 3:30am(give or take a few minutes depending on whether there is a mountain in your way).  Which meant getting up at 2:45am.
 I only live about 10 minutes from the Blue Ridge Parkway, and the Parkway is my current photography focus so I went to a place called Fox Hunter's Paradise.  It's a busy place during the day with motorhomes and motorcycles, but tonight I didn't see a soul.

I tried at first to use my Pentax K20d with it's 135mm 2.8 lens, but that cameras dynamic range and limited usable ISO quickly had me using my Canon 5d ii with the Sigma 50mm.

And I think it turned out just fine:)

The planet Venus accompanies the moon on her rise into the sky...

Panorama of Fox Hunter's Paradise

What makes the Blue Ridge Parkway awesome, is that there aren't any stops. Any intersecting highways are avoided by bridges over the parkway(or the parkway over the highway)

Here is one of the bridges.  This highway connects Galax, VA with NC.

Two images used here, one to focus on the bridge, the other on the stars.

I'd better get some sleep:)  Thanks for stopping by...