The Photo That Almost Wasn't

On my way home from photographing a concert at Red Rocks last Friday, I saw this crescent moon hovering over the foothills. What initially struck me was how clearly the "dark" side of the moon stood out against the early evening sky. I also loved the small tree on the lower part of the horizon line.

When I pulled off the side of the road, there were some trees in the way. So, I had to climb a short way up the hill next to the road to clean up the composition. (Fortunately, I had on my snake-proof boat shoes).

I captured this image with a 300mm lens and Canon 7D camera on a Manfrotto tripod. My entire shoot for this photo lasted about two minutes, when the moon began to drift behind the hillside.

This is my favorite image of the half dozen or so I made. The others are nice as scenics, but I love the playful quality of this photo, with the moon just touching the horizon, making it appear like a giant ball rolling down the hillside, soon to trample a poor unsuspecting little conifer.

As for the sky, I took some artistic liberties in Photoshop. The image is nice enough with its natural bluish-grey sky, but I really like the feel it takes on in the red sky rendition.

It's worth mentioning that I nearly didn't stop to make this photo. It was the end of a long day and I was really tempted to keep driving. Thankfully, I did turn around and put the five minutes into this picture that I did.

Experiences like this one are great reminders: When the photo gods come bearing gifts, don't ask for a rain check!