The moon, like the stars, somehow mesmerizes me. I love looking up and seeing it rising, setting or just hanging in the night sky. Living in an urban environment has its costs and one of them is the perceived absence of the moon and stars at night. Of course, they’re there – a constant presence – but we’re usually unable to see them.

In the 5th grade I took a field trip to the observatory on the campus of the University of North Carolina. I immediately wanted to become an astronomer. In fact, I first become interested in photography when I was in college studying astronomy. I was learning to take images through the telescope and then develop and print them in the darkroom. With the astronomy club, I traveled by car from North Carolina to Saskatchewan, Canada to photograph a solar eclipse (in February). It was the beginning of my fascination with photographing the stars and celestial objects.

Every now and again the moon is especially stunning and I try to capture it with an ordinary digital camera. This is a gallery that I will continue to add to so check back every now and then. I especially love trying to find the tiniest of slivers when the moon is only a day or so away from new. Usually, the moon is dark for a several days a month, but if you know where to look and what time, you can sometimes catch it a little closer to new.