Places
Red moon over the Santa Monica Pier
Coming back from a play in Topanga, I noticed the moon rising over Santa Monica. I returned the next night to snag photos of the giant red moon above the pier.
June 23, 2024
Background
A full moon low on the horizon looks enormous and goes orange-red — the moon illusion plus the thick air it shines through — and the Santa Monica Pier gives it a foreground worth lining up for. Getting the moon big in frame takes a long lens and a planned alignment from far back.
How to shoot it
The ‘giant red moon’ low on the horizon is atmosphere doing the work — the moon-illusion makes it look huge near the skyline, and the thick air it shines through reddens it. To put it big over the Santa Monica Pier you want a long lens and a planned alignment: an app like PhotoPills tells you exactly where and when the moon clears the horizon so you can set up far back and compress the scene. Moonrise timing is everything.
More: Santa Monica Pier.