Moonrise to Moonset — A 13-Hour Lunar Arc Over Montezuma Pass, Arizona

Beneath the crisp November sky, I spent the entire night at Montezuma Pass, a high mountain saddle rising 6,575 feet within the Coronado National Memorial of southern Arizona. From this ridge, where the views sweep unobstructed from east to west—across the San Pedro River Valley to the San Rafael grasslands—the Moon’s entire voyage could unfold before me. It’s a place steeped in history; once part of the 16th-century route of Francisco Vásquez de Coronado’s expedition, Montezuma Pass stands today as a meeting point of cultures, borders, and sky-island ranges—a perfect stage for the ancient rhythm of the Moon.

As twilight faded, the Full Beaver Moon began its ascent at 5:31 PM (Nov 4). From that moment, I began recording one frame every 20 minutes, patiently continuing through 13 hours and 9 minutes until the Moon set at 6:40 AM (Nov 5). Using my Canon 1DX Mark II with an 800 mm lens, I followed the Moon’s silent journey—forty stills capturing its glow through shifting hues and altitudes.

To preserve the spirit of the land, I used my Canon 5DS with a fisheye lens to photograph two wide panoramas, creating a 180-degree landscape of Montezuma Pass. Later, I stitched the panoramas in PTGui, crafting a single vast canvas onto which each of the 40 Moon frames was carefully placed along its natural celestial arc. Subtle contrast and sharpening in Photoshop brought the scene to life—crisp ridgelines, deep desert silence, and the Moon’s timeless path bridging night to dawn.

The final image tells both earthly and celestial stories: the rugged mountain pass that once guided explorers through the Southwest, and the Moon’s own ancient passage across the sky. Together, they form a quiet symphony of history, landscape, and light—a night written in patience, passion, and 13 hours of lunar devotion.

EF8-15mm f/4L FISHEYE USM, Canon EOS 5DS, Manfrotto Tripod, Canon Timer Remote Controller TC-80N3, Canon EOS 1-DX, BEGH2C Carbon Fiber Head, GIT203 Grand Series2 Stealth Carbon Fiber Tripod, Canon EF 800mm f/5.6L IS USM Lens

The 2 fisheye lens capture were stitched in PTgui (to make 180 degrees, then I captured 40 frame of Beaver Supermoon from Moonrise to Moonset. I Composited those images along with the 180 degrees panorama of the landscape.