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Italian Photographer Travels to Paris to Capture Perfect Full Moon Inside Arc de Triomphe

By Jessica Stewart on May 17, 2023

Moon Centered in Arc de Triomphe by Stefano Zanarello

Photographer Stefano Zanarello has been practicing his craft for over 15 years from his home base in the Italian Alps. While his passion for photography began with wildlife, he's slowly spread his creative wings. And recently, he decided to make a journey to capture a photo he'd been working on for months. This required him to fly to Paris, and in the end he was able to get the shot he was after—the Moon centered under the arch of Arc de Triomphe.

We've seen this composition before, but it never gets old. Zanarello, who spent months planning the image, gets the full Moon almost perfectly centered in the upper portion of the iconic monument. Full and clear, not even the headlights of oncoming traffic can detract from the Moon's beauty. Using the PhotoPills app, Zanarello was able to not only determine the date that would work best for the photo, but also the exact position he needed to be in for the symmetry to work.

When all was said and done, Zanarello was not only pleased but also relieved. “In this kind of photo, the window of opportunity, with the Moon in the correct position, is very short—a few of seconds—because with the magnification given by the long focal length, the Moon moves quickly in the sky,” he tells My Modern Met. “So, before this photo, I was always feeling tense and nervous. I knew that if something went wrong, there wouldn't be a second chance.”

Luckily, everything went to plan, and Zanarello's trip was a success. The photo has received nearly 3,000 likes on Instagram, bringing more eyes to the photographer's feed. Filled with images of northern Italian cities and mountainous landscapes, it's well worth a scroll once you've had your fill of the Moon.