Luke MacGregor's wait for the moon

'With very little understanding of astronomy, I began a three evening attempt to capture the moon with the Olympic Rings. The rings were hanging iconically on Tower Bridge and it was suggested to me that a full moon should, at the right angle, cross through them.

'Day One - Having planned to be in the “perfect” spot on London Bridge, I waited for the moon to rise. However the horizon itself was cloudy. When the moon eventually showed itself, it was off to the right hand side of the bridge. I hadn’t taken into account that the moon wouldn’t rise in a vertical line but would travel across the sky. So, I was totally in the wrong place. I rushed carrying the tripod with a heavy 400mm lens attached and the rest of my camera gear hanging off my shoulders, but I couldn’t manage to run far or fast enough in time to get the image before the moon rose high, over and above the bridge.

'Day Two - Armed with my 400mm, a monopod, less gear and ready to run, I returned to London Bridge. A recalculation had been made. The moon was rising later and at a slightly different angle to the night before. I knew that when the moon was on the horizon it needed to be to my left in order for it to move across through the rings. However, to my dismay, the rings were not there. As Tower Bridge is a combined bascule and suspension bridge (i.e. the carriageway lifts to allow boats through) it had raised in preparation to allow a vessel through!

'Day Three - I returned to the bridge, worried that the rings would be raised once more. But no, great news, they were down. Exactly on time the moon began to show itself over the horizon, a lovely peachy colour. I had to keep moving along, mercilessly pushing tourists out of the way who had stopped to look, in order to keep the moon in line with the rings. Finally, after three days, I had the picture I had been trying to achieve.'

Equipment used: Canon 5D Mark III, lens 400mm + x1.4 converter, f4, 1/400, ISO 4000