The moonrise and the magic of MacLeod
He’s the moon man of Maybole as these shots prove, writes Stephen Houston.
By day Alasdair MacLeod is a Daily Record staff photographer.
Off duty he captures some incredible scenes in and around his home in Maybole.
His latest work features Ainsley Gallacher and her family to celebrate the Flower Supermoon on May 7.
And it involved all sorts of preparation to get the perfect images.
Alasdair said: “Many people think it is the Photoshop computer programme at work.
“But it is not. It is planning and crossing of fingers for the sky to be clear on the night.”
Happily the sky was perfect as Alasdair took position at the Little Turnberry Farm and Chicken Nest.
He was in touch with Ainsley’s other half Grant by phone to relay his precise instructions from down below.
Alasdair revealed: “To plan the shots, I use a website www. timeanddate. com which is great.
“You type in your location, and from there you can find out dates and times for both the moon and sun.
“It shows you, when they set and rise, along with the all important angle.
“I can then work out on Google Earth the angle of the moon rise in this case, to my shooting position.”
He armed himself with his big 500mm lens and used a converter to turn it into 1000mm.
He added: “For the horse shoot, I was in contact with Grant who was up in the hillside with Ainsley.
“He then relayed messages to her so I had her in the exact position I wanted.
Alasdair pictured himself at the same spot at Turnberry last month, below right. That was on April 7 for the Pink Supermoon - and again it was a perfect night.
He recalled: “I had the idea to do a moon selfie for a while. I was knackered running up that hillside!”