Photo of the Month March 2019 – Winter Moon Rising

The photograph of the month for March 2019 comes from my Winter Arctic expedition last year aboard M.S Origo and is of the full moon rising above the snow draped mountains of Svalbard. Photographed from the back deck of our expedition ship with friends Vincent Munier, Daniel Bergmann and Chris Wahl we stood out on the rear deck waiting for the moon to rise above the mountains for a couple of hours. I recall the temperature around -20ºC and near perfect clear skies. I thought we had calculated the time and position the moon would rise perfectly, but as it turned out we had forgotten to take into account the mountains and so with our patience almost at an end and no moon in sight we had just about given up and gone inside for a warm drink. Thanks to Chris for staying outside for a cigarette and coming to get us quickly when he saw the moon starting make an appearance behind the mountains. Who says nothing good comes from smoking!