Eye of Moon
Image Credit & Copyright: Zachery Cooley
Explanation: Who’s watching who? The featured image of the Moon through a gap in a wall of rock may appear like a giant eye looking back at you. Although, in late October, it took only a single exposure to capture this visual double, it also took a lot of planning. The photographic goal was achieved by precise timing — needed for a nearly full moon to appear through the eye-shaped arch, by precise locating — needed for the angular size of the Moon to fit iconically inside the rock arch, and by good luck — needed for a clear sky and for the entire scheme to work. The seemingly coincidental juxtaposition was actually engineered with the help of three smartphone apps. The pictured sandstone arch, carved by erosion, is millions of years old and just one of thousands of natural rock arches that have been found in Arches National Park near Moab, Utah, USA. Contrastingly, the pictured Moon can be found up in the sky from just about anywhere on Earth, about half the time.
月之眼
影像提供與版權: Zachery Cooley
說明: 誰在看誰？這幅以石壁巖縫的明月為主題之影像，呈現一隻看似在凝視眾生的巨眼。在10月底拍照時，雖然只用單曝光就拍下這片雙主題景象，然而事前的規劃卻頗費周章。要拍下這種景觀，需要精確計時，讓張角半度的盈月正好位在眼形的石拱裡，拍照的位置也要定位精確，讓月輪和石拱搭配出標誌性的眼形。其實，要拍下這個並置景觀，共動用了3個智慧手機APP，才得以完成這個壯舉。不過，讓拍照計畫能按規劃達成的好天氣，則純屬好運。影像中的沙巖石拱，是數百萬年來因浸蝕而形成的景觀，也是美國猶它州摩押附近的拱門國家公園內，數千個自然形成的石拱之一。相較之下，影像所示的月亮，在地球上幾乎任何地方，大約有半天的時間可見到這輪掛在天空的明月。