A honey moon appears at summer solstice, close to the horizon. This full moon appears more amber in color than other full moons throughout the year, because of the scattering of longer wavelengths of light. It’s like a sunset, with the glowing orb on the horizon casting warmer and more colorful rays.
At 2:02 in this time-lapse video, the honey moon appears surrounded by a red glow that burns through the inky, star-filled sky. It streaks over the rocky terrain of the American Southwest, transforming the rough hills into velvety red mounds.
Before the honey moon’s appearance, filmmakers Gavin Heffernan and Harun Mehmedinovic take the viewer through the sun, storms, and stars over Monument Valley, Ariz.; Trona Pinnacles, Calif.; and Red Rock Canyon, Calif.
This short time-lapse film has been featured by BBC Earth and by the Rolling Stones during the band’s Zip Code tour. In less than three minutes, the compilation takes us across three distinct rock locations in the Southwest.
The rising sun’s warmth melts onto the scene. Clouds scuttle overhead in small clumps or as lone travelers, trailed by slinking dark shadows below. As the weather changes, the clouds start to pass quickly overhead in a flat mass, like a conveyor belt running over the red earth below.
Moonlit mountains look like magical monsters frozen under a swirling sky. And in the end, the stars dive in unison like a school of fish into the depths of the firmament.
For more of Heffernan’s and Mehmedinovic’s work, see SunChaserPictures.com, the Sun Chaser Pictures Facebook page and Vimeo, or follow @GavinHeffernan and @modrac on Twitter.
SEE ANOTHER FILM BY HEFFERNAN AND MEHMEDINOVIC:
Tempestuous Beauty of Arizona Captured in Ethereal Time-Lapse Video
