About three years ago, I went to a place in Austria called ´Fernpass`, to watch the rise of the Crescent Moon two days before New Moon. This year, the same event has been scheduled on the morning of the 20th of November. Unfortunately, we have had some nasty weather the days before, with clouds, fog and rain. I was checking the weather forecast, again and again, and the radar said it would clear around the foothills of the alps. So I got my stuff packed, but hesitated again. Driving 3 h/250 km one way, just to photograph the rise of the Crescent Moon, is one thing, but having to show up at work the same morning is another. And how many times have I been to locations and the forecast had been not so satisfying? So I called my boss (which by the way is a good friend of mine), just to make sure it would be ok if I would show up for work at 10 am the next morning. After I got that ok, I sat back and waited, until I got that final signal: “Go”. It rained along most of the drive, and by arriving there around 8pm, I couldn´t even see for more than 20 meters. Shit. What about the forecast? my intuition? what am I doing here? I prepared something to eat and thought about going to bed (in my van) and to give it a try the next morning. But, I don´t know how or why, I packed my stuff and hiked up the gravel road to the lookout, I had known from the years before. Haven´t seen that much yellowish glowing eyes of roe deers through the fog since I´m out at nights. Arriving at my spot, I took some images to document the ´disaster`, not seeing a halfway clear sky. Though, I still had my vision of a clear sky in mind, but I took my camera of the tripod, folded the tripod, put my down cloth back into the bag and arranged everything heading back to the car. As I lifted my backpack and turned around, I could not believe my sight…
Time difference of those two images: 7 minutes!! Same settings, just 7 minutes apart!! Fog is gone, just some clouds left down at the valley floor and some vehicles driving along the summit road. All images taken at Fernpass, Austria. Winter glory is showing up, feat. the rise of Orion, Hyades and Pleiades. I have been so overwhelmed at this sight/to come up here and to wait, that I almost forgot to set up my camera again and to take pictures. LOL. Its been clear all night and the next morning. After the Crescent Moon rose in its glory, the sky got overcast again, so I could leave this place before sunrise and headed back another 250 km to work. Testing my intuition has been successful. A night to remember! Enjoy!
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Orion rising above Mieminger Kette, Fernpass, Austria…
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6-verts-pano, Fernpass, Austria…
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Rise of the Crescent Moon, 4-verts-pano…
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Crescent Moon, two days before New Moon…
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Crescent Moon @ predawn, Fernpass, Austria…
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“The only real valuable thing is intuition.” (Albert Einstein)
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Read more at http://www.brainyquote.com/quotes/keywords/intuition.html#ub7h1l1se4Rm6UBW.99
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…just to hit the horizon haze a few minutes later.
