Moonrise over the Moodna Viaduct

The Moodna Viaduct in Salisbury Mills is one of my favorite locations to take pictures. Of course there's the tall railroad trestle, but there are also hiking trails nearby on Schunnemunk Mountain, the highest mountain in Orange County, N.Y.
Late Saturday afternoon I planned to do a short hike and then shoot the moon rising behind the viaduct. I took a different trail than I usually do and found a clearing with a nice view to the east, where I took the photograph below.



The houses in the foreground are in the shadow of the mountain. That's Storm King Mountain in the background at right. And the Hudson Highlands on the east side of the Hudson River are in the background at left.

The trail continued around the bottom of the mountain instead of climbing upward, so I decided to head back to the viaduct. When I got to the clearing again, I noticed the moon in the sky.



After that I started walking faster back to the trestle. Once I got to the field, I started taking pictures and regretting that I had left my tripod in the car.



After trying different angles and lenses, I made my back to the car and set up my tripod for more shots, like this one from the parking area.



As the moon rose higher, I walked by into the field to try different angles. The photograph below is a composite of two images, one exposed for the moon and a second, longer exposure for the rest of the scene.



I waited at this spot for a while, hoping for a train to pass on the trestle. After I gave up and started walking back to my car, the train appeared. I just had time to put my tripod down and take a shot with the wide angle lens on my camera.



Here's a slideshow of these and other photographs I've taken of the viaduct. Clicking on the square next to the "SHARE" button gives you a fullscreen view.


Moodna Viaduct - Images by Tom Bushey