After the drama of yesterday's Storm Doris, I was out early again this morning to capture the waning crescent Moon rising over The Muglins and the Forty-foot in Sandycove near Dun Laoghaire in Co. Dublin. Unlike yesterday's spur of the moment trip, today's shoot had been planned well in advance with The Photographers Ephemeris and it was facilitated by a brief period of calm clear weather between yesterday's gales and the weekend's rain. These moon shots are part of my long term moonscapes project - mainly around Dublin Bay - check out some previous posts here, here, here , here and here. However, the project has flagged a little recently, so this this spring I've reinvigorated it (translate: given myself a kick in the arse!) by doing it as a Shoot With Me project with a small group of fellow Offshoot members. If somebody else is going to be there, then you have to get out of the scratcher :-) Here are my two favourite images from the morning.

01-Sandycove-Crescent-Moon-©-2016-John-CoveneyCalm after Storm Doris - a crescent Moon in the dawn sky over The Forty-foot at Sandycove & The Muglins Light in Dun Laoghaire Rathdown in Co. Dublin 24 February 2017

Three of us met at 5.50 am on the East Pier in Dun Laoghaire just as the first hint of dawn was appearing in the eastern sky. The westerly gusts of yesterday had dropped to a moderate breeze but we were glad to use the top wall of the pier to shelter ourselves from the chill and to minimize the risk of tripod vibration. The crescent Moon was due to rise at 6.14am but the usual bank of cloud on Irish horizons meant it did not break through until about ten minutes later. We got several shots over the next half an hour or so, as it rose over The Muglins, the Forty-foot and the distinctive silhouette of Joyce's Tower & Museum in Sandycove. Then the sky brightened so much that the thin crescent was barely visible and that was it!

02-Sandycove-Crescent-Moon-©-2016-John-CoveneyCalm after Storm Doris - a crescent Moon in the dawn sky over The Forty-foot at Sandycove & The Muglins Light in Dun Laoghaire Rathdown in Co. Dublin 24 February 2017

Irish news site The Journal.ie used the second shot to illustrate its morning article on the aftermath of Storm Doris.

Crescent-Moon-Dun-Laoghaire