On February 24, 2024, a good friend and fellow photographer called me to tell me there would be a full moon and clear skies that evening. I had to decide where and how to capture my image.
I used the Photographers' Ephemeris to plan the shot to see the moon's position after moonrise. The app showed that Bellerive Park would be a good location and that 7:00 p.m. would be a good time. I was already familiar with this park; in October last year, I captured an amazing double rainbow at this location.

I arrived at the location at 6:30 p.m., walked to the edge of the St-Laurence River shoreline, and was happy to see the frozen shoreline. I wanted the moon's reflection on the water as the main subject, so I walked along the icy shoreline, stopping where the light reflection was heading.

My 'magic lens' creates beautiful star effects.

I set up my tripod, camera, lens, and cable release. I composed the image using a 22 mm focal length and an F/14 aperture. Once again, I used the live-time feature on my camera to perform a perfect exposure (ETTR). It took 76 seconds. During that period, I triggered the flash a couple of times to light the foreground icy shoreline. The sky was crystal clear, and I could see stars.

In post-production, I saw the star trails. Not knowing the 500 rule to freeze the night sky (500 divided by the lens focal length for maximum exposure time), my sky showed star trails, but I loved the effect.

I published another full moon image taken last November. The moon can be a lovely and dramatic landscape element, but a successful shot requires planning and gear familiarity.