Snow Moon

I guess it comes as no surprise that all the full moons have names (see this) and in the case of February, the name is “Snow Moon”, actually amongst others! The Snow Moon is the one that appears during the European Freeze that we’re all experiencing – coincidence or magic, you decide!

So during last night’s full moon, I wandered off into the freezing cold, windy night for yet another photography session. In complete contrast to previous sallies, I decided to photograph a little chapel that I’d recently seen, Ermita de Torregarcia (Chapel of Torregarcia). On the second Sunday of January, there is a procession of La Virgen del Mar (Our Lady of the Sea) to the Ermita. La Virgen del Mar is a Marian devotion of Catholicism in the Virgin Mary, patroness of the city of Santander and Almeria. Her picture (an anonymous Gothic style carving on walnut wood) was found on the Torregarcía beach by a lookout called Andres de Jaén on 21 December 1502, probably from a shipwreck.

The night was indeed cold and extremely windy at times which didn’t help the production flow. Please bear in mind that each exposure by moonlight can be between 20 – 25 minutes duration and a sudden movement of the tripod due to gust of winds can ruin a potential photograph, hence ending up with only three useable images from the evening – better than nothing I say!