Three months ago, I was passing through Bergamo, which has one of the few airports in northern Italy aligned east-west. This makes it easy to plan for shooting with the sun or moon at certain times of the year. I only had one evening to attempt the photo, so I started studying a plan using FlightRadar24, Photopills, and Google Maps to catch at least one plane passing over the moon. First, I studied air traffic, then established various average altitude points where I could find planes taking off. By cross-referencing this data with the position of the moon during its rise, I was able to find several positions where I could position my camera. I found a beautiful street called "Belvedere," which I could walk along depending on the time of day and "hold" the moon in the position where the planes would pass. By that time, everything was going well: the moon had risen and, filtered through the atmosphere, was a beautiful red/orange hue. Air traffic was promising, with several planes scheduled to take off within minutes of each other. I just had to be in the right place at the right time. As the minutes ticked by, I had to figure out in a matter of seconds where to position myself based on my calculations as soon as the planes took off. I was very nervous about making a mistake, but in the end, everything worked out perfectly. Out of three planes that took off at the right time, I managed to photograph two precisely on the moon. It was wonderful.
Canon R8 + Canon 2X + Sigma 150-600c @1200mm
1/1000sec, f13, iso64000