“Uh, yeah right I like the life I live
'Cause I went from negative to positive and it's all (It's all good, homie)
And if you don't know, now you know, homie”
I knew for a fact that there’s a full moon every month, but I recently found out that there are 13 this year! I think it has something to do with it being a leap year, but don’t quote me on that. October actually has two full moons, including one on Halloween night. The next time that’ll happen is 2039.
Back in 2018, I shot images at night a few times during a full moon – the first time being a super moon, which was crazy! In 2019, I did it a few times as well, but again it was just the spur of the moment type of shoots. However, for this year, I set out at the beginning of the year to shoot under every full moon.
It’s been such a fun, crazy, exhilarating and sometimes scary experience. The shoots are done with nude subjects. For the most part, I take whatever the moon gives me in terms of light, but I’ve been doing a lot more tracking lately, so that I have a bit of a say in what happens.
Most of the shoots are done with an individual subject, but I did do two of them this year with multiple subjects. It’s always tricky when it comes to choosing the persons I want to work with, though. It’s usually someone that I have a pretty good relationship with and someone who trusts me – as a person and artistically. Sometimes, we have to change location at the last minute and it’s hard to plan a concept in those situations. So we’re both really just figuring it out as we go.
Last Friday was the Strawberry Moon. I was so happy that the borders were open because I really wanted to shoot this one on the French side. The moon was rising a few minutes after 7:00, so I picked up my subject around 6:30 so we could wait and watch the moon rise.
We got to our initial location and there were people chilling at the spot. I learned afterward that they were also planning to watch the moon rise, but I needed somewhere secluded to work. We drove a few hundred metres away and man, I’m so happy we did.
The new spot we found was PERFECT. There were clouds on the horizon, so it was hard to see the moon rise. Shortly after, I spotted it peeking out from behind a cloud and we got to shooting.
MAN! There was this huge tree log lying near the shoreline. The water was coming in and running under it. I got some crazy shots! I’m contemplating saving these for my exhibition, though. Lol.
After the shoot, we just hung out for a bit, listening to the water, watching the light of the moon glisten on the ocean bed, talking smack. It was a great night.
These shoots are always great experiences.
You can scroll through my page on Instagram to check them out - @itscameronhyman. Or you can just search the hashtag #sxmfullmoon.
*Yo, Siri, play Juicy by The Notorious B.I.G.*
