Coromandel Life Magazine 2018 Winter

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Mark Gee Captures Breathtaking Image...
“Full Moon Silhouette ”
Mark Gee’s video begins with a sliver of the top of the moon appearing through
the scrub. The orb rises to the left, as people arrive and set up their gear.
As the moon finally centres directly over the crowded platform, the observers
had no idea they were being filmed by Mark. Many were later thrilled to know
they were not only featured, but central to the show.
Mark Gee’s short film, ‘Full Moon Silhouettes‘
gained him international acclaim after going
viral online, and has been broadcast all over
the world by the likes of CNN, The BBC, NASA
and various other main stream media.
He admits he had been wanting to photograph
this full moon scene for a long time. “The video
is a real time capture of the moon rising over
the Mount Victoria Lookout in Wellington. On
the evening of the 28th January 2013, after
many failed attempts,
and a lot of planning, I
finally managed to pull
it off.”
And he got his footage
using a long telephoto
lens, zooming in to that
tiny hilltop (see right).
“There were numerous factors I had to
consider – the weather, moon phases and
finding a suitable location where I could
actually get the moon rising directly over the
lookout. Then it all came together – I found the
perfect location, and the weather was amazing!
And luckily there were even people watching
the moon rise from the Lookout.
“I didn’t know what to expect with the
performance of everyone up there, but I
couldn’t have directed it better myself, even
though they had no idea I was filming them. I
shot 8 minutes of footage between 9.14pm and
9.22pm and the finished edit shows about the
first 3 minutes of that.”
Even for Mark, who knows his moonshots,
shares, “Technically, getting the shot was quite
difficult. I was 2.1km away from my subject,
and there was no room for error. I only had one
chance of getting the shot right on the night.
Thankfully it happened, and what I ended up with
was this wonderful performance of total strangers
silhouetted against the full moon as it rose above
the lookout.” And so it is that Mark captured a
view of the viewers – as well as the moon.
“The video is as it came off the memory card
– there has been no editing or manipulation
whatsoever.”
Mark quickly posted the “Full Moon Silhouette”
video online at
and enthusiastic comments flooded in, some
even expressing how moved they were by the
simplicity and majesty of his clip.
34 COROMANDEL LIFE 2018 WINTER/EARLY SPRING
Mark Gee with his moonshot telephoto lens.
“I shot it on a Canon ID MkIV in video mode
with a Canon EF 500mm f/4L and a Canon
2x extender II, giving me the equivalent focal
length of 1300mm.” His full sky photos,
however, would be shot with a short lens.
How did Mark
know the moon
would be full,
in perfect
position, at
that desired
location? And where he would have to be to
frame that event so perfectly?
Answer: a smartphone app called PhotoPills.
See
So how is the moon so big and people so small?
Mark explains: “Well it’s all about optics and distance from the subject. I shot this video on a DLSR
camera with a super telephoto lens, so it’s just like looking at the moon with binoculars or through a
small telescope.
“The people in front of the moon are small in comparison because I was 2.1km away from them. I
couldn’t even see them with my own eyes as they were so far away, but when looking through the
camera, they look exactly as they are in the film. If I was to move closer to the subjects, say just 1km
away, they would have looked twice as big. The moon would still have been the same size in frame,
but because the people look larger and you can use them as a point of scale reference, then the moon
would have looked smaller in scale, even though it’s not.