Moon Shines Bright, photo by Harold Davis. View this image larger.

On Saturday I knew the full rose moon was coming up at 9:29PM. I decided to try for some photographs of the moon rising from below the Golden Gate Bridge, so I headed for Kirby Cove. The beach at Kirby Cove faces the channel of the Golden Gate on the north shore, with the bridge to the east. My thinking was that I would be in a good position for the moon and bridge.

At about 8:30PM in the gathering dusk I headed down the trail for Kirby Cove, and by a few minutes after nine I was in position. The moon came up right on schedule. I made this exposure with the shutter open for 10 seconds (ISO 100, f/5.6), with the moving lights of the small cruise ship centered under the moon an unexpected bonus.

Looking at the lights of the bridge, city, and cruise ship you can figure out that the photo must have been taken in the dusk. If it had been the sun, there would have been more ambient light. So this is the moon, not the sun. But this moon shines bright. This moon shines bright as the sun.