quote – Seite 2 – by GG – Fine Art Photography

‘Sun and Moon’ Cover Reveal

“A book cover is a distillation, a haiku, if you will, of the story.”
Chip Kidd at TED2012

I had a hard time with this cover, more specifically with the cover image. As the title of my book was going to be Sun and Moon, I naturally wanted both the Sun and the Moon on the book cover. While we usually observe the Sun during daytime and the Moon during nighttime, it is actually possible to see them both during the day. However, at and around new moon we most of the time cannot see the Moon as the Sun is not able to illuminate it. And at full moon, the Moon only rises at sunset and sets at sunrise. So I was hoping to catch a Crescent Moon and the Sun together. But I had to find out that either when both orbs were visible they were too far apart for a cover image or it was too cloudy to even see them.

Then I thought an aurora picture with the Moon in it would work too as the solar wind causes the polar lights. If you have followed my aurora adventure though, you know that this did not happen either. I missed the only chance I got for this picture on my first night in Yellowknife as I had traveled since the early morning hours and was simply too cold and tired to stay up any longer for the shot. The next night was too cloudy for any picture and afterwards the Moon was too far away from the lights for a cover shot.

I started to get desperate. Unexpected help arrived, however, in the form of my foreword author Daniel Reisenfeld. Dan is a professor of physics and astronomy at the University of Montana and an absolute expert when it comes to the sky. I am deeply grateful that he not only wrote the foreword for Sun and Moon but also provided a lot of insights and thereby helped making the book more accurate. In his foreword he shared what profound impact the first solar eclipse he observed had on him, back when he was still in high school. When I read his foreword, it just hit me: a solar eclipse image! That was to be my cover image.

So what you see on the cover of Sun and Moon is an image from the August 21, 2017 solar eclipse over North America. The bite taken out of the Sun in the lower left corner is the New Moon partly covering the disc of the Sun at the end of the eclipse. I am really happy with this cover image. Experts on Sun and Moon will know right away what they are looking at and people not so familiar with these two orbs will hopefully get a little curious and take a closer look. Open the book. Read Dan’s foreword, look at the pictures, and maybe want to follow me on …another inspiring and informative journey through the world above.

A Farewell to Summer

“Summer gathers up her robes of glory,
And like a dream of beauty glides away.”
—Sarah Helen Power Whitman (1803-1878), A Still Day in Autumn

Meteorologists say it’s the first day of fall tomorrow. Though I have to say, it has almost felt like November already a couple of days ago. But I am not complaining; this summer has been so much better than the last one. Warm but not hot and accordingly a lot less wildfires and smoke. There still was, and every now and then is, some smoke from fires north and west of here, but breathing has been so much easier this summer!

Though for me every season has its own charms and I do love them all, I am nonetheless sorry that summer is over. I still cling to my flip-flops and avoid socks and real shoes whenever possible. I wonder if it’s because we wear so much less clothes in summer than in winter that everything seems lighter and easier when it’s nice and warm outside? And with the Sun shining from a deep blue summer sky, the world looks so much friendlier and …well… warmer. So, farewell to thee fair summer and until next year!

Crescent Moon

“I with borrow’d silver shine,
What you see is none of mine.
First I show you but a quarter,
Like the bow that guards the Tartar:
Then the half, and then the whole,
Ever dancing round the pole.”
—Jonathan Swift, On the Moon, 1853

One rotation of the Moon around its own axis takes as long as it takes the Moon to orbit Earth once. From Earth therefore, an observer at any given location always sees the same side of the Moon. The side visible from Earth is called the near side and the unseen side far side.

The Moon does not glow by itself but is only visible when illuminated by the Sun. As Earth orbits the Sun and the Moon orbits Earth, visibility of the Moon observed from Earth varies. The shape of the visible part of the Moon is called the phase of the Moon or lunar phase. A full moon is when an observer from Earth can fully see the near side of the Moon and a new moon is when the Moon is completely invisible. In between these lunar phases, the visible part of the Moon either increases (waxing) from new moon to full moon or decreases (waning) from full moon to new moon.

Lunar phases occur at slightly different times depending where on Earth they are observed. The shapes of the waxing or waning Moon also differs depending on from what hemisphere it is observed: in the northern hemisphere the Moon waxes from right to left and in the southern hemisphere from left to right and wanes vice versa. Near the equator, the moon waxes from bottom to top and wanes from top to bottom.

July Moon

“Thou reigning Beauty of the Night,
Fair Queen of Silence Silver Moon,
Whose gentle gentle Beams and borrow’d Light
Are softer Rivals of the Noon.”
—Isaac Watts; Sun, Moon and Stars, Praise Ye the Lord; 1742

The Moon is the second-brightest object in our sky after the Sun, but unlike the Sun, the Moon does not glow by itself but is only visible when illuminated by the Sun. The Moon is Earth’s sole natural satellite, a roundish mass orbiting Earth. It takes the Moon about thirty days to reappear in the same position again when observed from Earth and we accordingly use the Moon’s orbit around Earth to calculate our months.

The darker areas on the Moon’s surface are lunar plains consisting of solidified lava pools and the brighter areas are lunar highlands. There are also darker and brighter spots on the Moon’s surface. These are craters caused by collisions with asteroids and comets.

The Power of Doubting

“…music, that real moonlight in every gloomy night of life.”
—Jean Paul Friedrich Richter, Titan: A Romance, Vol. II, 1862, 125. Cycle, p. 375

It seems that especially artists tend to question themselves and their art constantly. While this can make going through with creative processes difficult, it also helps getting better and better and creating magical moments, for the artists as well as for their audiences.

Those of you who have followed this blog know that I am a huge fan of Aaron Howard. You can in fact listen to a few songs of his when watching some of the gallery slideshows here on this website. He has recently released a new album called Who I Am and I just love it! The album has some beautiful ballads but also some songs rockier than those on his previous album Heart on Fire. I’ve always loved Aaron’s music, but with his new album he has once again managed to surpass himself. Aaron simply sings wonderful songs full of deep lyrics with a voice alive with emotion that comes from the depths of his heart and soul.

Who I Am is also a true example of the power of doubting and full of magical moments. Listen to the songs on Aaron’s website, on Spotify, on Amazon, or on iTunes and hear for yourself.