"Lunartics," on how to shoot the moon
If you've ever spent time staring at the moon, you may have seen a plane appear to cross it. The art of capturing that moment has become an addiction for a group of southern California photographers, who meet up to shoot the breeze, and the moon. As CBS News correspondent David Begnaud found out, timing is everything.
The misery of missing the moment is short lived, another chance is about to fly by. On a near-full moon night in southern California, a group of photographers tried repeatedly to snap the money-shot of an airliner crossing the moon.
They are amateurs and professionals, who jokingly refer to themselves as "lunartics."
Los Angeles Times news photographer Raul Roa started this monthly meet-up two years ago. He was driving home early one evening when he stopped and, by chance, captured an incredible image. Repeating it would be the challenge that would develop into an obsession.
"Luna means moon in Spanish," Roa said. "Art, you know, lunartics -- so we're trying to shoot some art here, basically. We're not crazy, we are artists."
Nikky was the second person to join the group. His real name is Nick Ut; famed photographer of The Associate Press. He won a Pulitzer Prize for a photo of a young girl during the Vietnam War, naked after Napalm burned the clothes off her body.
The lunartics are able to see the planes coming in the sky because of their lights. It is then that they raise their long lenses, which can capture even the heat trails on a plane more than 6,000 feet up.
"I think you need to be a little off to enjoy it -- the chase, it's a hunt," professional photographer Katrina Brown said.
That hunt started four days before, when Raul scouted the ideal location. He was looking for where the moon would rise above the southern flight path to the Los Angeles International Airport.
"The relative size of the moon is very small to how fast the planes are going, so the plane will cross the moon in less than half a second," Rao said. "So, in that less than half a second you have to be ready to capture it right inside the moon. So, that's the challenge."
An added challenge is the size of the plane. Too small, it doesn't show up well against the moon. Too large, and it's not the perfect silhouette. Katrina Brown knows the challenge. She has been out to shoot once a month for the last year and a half. She has gotten the money-shot photo, and a money-shot video, as well.
Everyone in the group got the prized picture -- just as they were about to take a pizza break -- of Spirit Airlines Flight NK719 from Las Vegas to Los Angeles. They waited two hours for one picture worth posting.
To kick it up a notch, they hope to get two planes and the moon next.
Anyone can join the group; you don't have to be a professional. Raul even offers lessons on how to shoot the moon.