I parked the car just at midnight, as planned. I put the car further up the street than I had initially thought to, so the path to my objective was longer. The neighborhood was quiet, with a few cars on the road here and there. I got my bag and started walking.
I remember a tall gentleman on his phone in front of me the entire time. I can’t recall where he came from, but I remember not feeling alarmed, like it was natural. He walked and talked, not sure if he even noticed me. Eventually, he took a right into a house just before the overpass.
Arrival
I had planned to give myself 45 minutes to get from the car to my first shooting position. I made it in 18 minutes.
One of the things that I noticed right away was that the moon was less bright than I had hoped. Visible help, but dim. The graffiti was visible, but I was not confident it would make a good image.
Two hours before leaving, I had been running around to find a battery to power my meter, but everyone was out. So, I would have to rely on my meter app, which I’ve never tested before.
Nosy Neighbors
While sitting and waiting for the moon to get into position, I noticed a pair of small animals to my right. They came from the tree line I had just placed myself near and were heading directly at me. They kept coming until, at 15 feet away, I felt the need to stand up and let them know I was there.
They stopped in their tracks, now close enough that I could see it was a mama and kid raccoon. I took a step toward them to push them back a bit, but the mom went down the bank a little, crossed in front of me, and disappeared into a hole in the bank I had been practically sitting on. My left hand had been maybe 12 inches from it.
The kid didn’t just go around but stayed on my right side. There was an uncomfortable moment where I had to keep looking at one, then the other, to be sure I wasn’t going to be bitten. The mom was doing this thing where she stood up on her hind legs as if to threaten, but then went to all fours and popped back up, over and over again. The kid kept slowly walking at me, which surprised and worried me.
Things calmed after 30, maybe 45 seconds of that. The kid just comes right up to me, starts sniffing my bag, and makes pretty cute little sounds, which is not what I’d expect a rabid animal to sound like (as if I know). It was close enough that I could have just picked it right up. The kid smelled something in my bag it didn’t like, pulled its nose back in disgust, then casually walked around me, dipped into the hole with its mom, and they were gone for the night.
Started Shooting
At 0100, the moon’s path was scheduled to be North to South, and the objective I was shooting was mostly Northward. However, it turns slightly east, so for the next hour, the moon’s path will traverse east to west, gradually aligning with the object and pouring light into it.
I take the lens cap off. The black plastic disk immediately rolls into the dark river—same as it ever was.
At some point, I note what looks like a gentleman in the dark. He’s walking with a phone to his ear. I keep shooting. Reposition, shoot. A minute later, he walks by again, the vivid brightness of a smartphone screen flickers in the dark as he moves, headed in the opposite direction. In the moment, I didn’t like that at all. I soon found my body picking up and folding the tripod as I walked away.
REACTIONS {1-10}
- {3} In between the racoons, not wanting to hurt them but being freaked out about being bitten.
- {1} Phone guy deja vu.
