(The last full moon ‘Cold’ rises over the Stittsville horizon on December 29, 2020. All Photos: Danny Kingsbury)
January and February can be difficult months for Canada’s food banks as the spirit of giving over the holiday season quiets somewhat. Many of you know, Stittsville resident Danny Kingsbury has been sharing his incredible photos over the course of 2020 with Stittsville Central, as well to his own social media pages. You ask, what do these two things have in common?
Danny received many thoughtful comments on his photos and these words of encouragement sparked an idea. Could his photographs be put to good use? Yes, he would support Food Banks Canada through his photography.
In 2020, Danny focused his camera lens on the moon capturing its aloof, but welcoming glow. Each month he would set-up in relatively the same location in Stittsville. Danny told us, “I’ve been interested in the night sky for several years, especially taking shots of the moon at all times…moonrise, horizon, midnight, early morning and even mid-day. There are so many opportunities and so many challenges with light, weather and camera and lens settings, it has become a developing passion for me. In 2020, I made sure to take at least one full moon shot each month or at least at 98% luminance. Weather was a factor a few months. Each moon has its own name and history according to legend. And the Farmer’s Almanac. I then began to post the photo results on my social media platforms FB and IG with many flattering and engaging comments to follow”.
“Many of my friends and contacts encouraged me to publish a book…that was nice but I am not there yet; however, it did give me the idea to create a collage of all the moons and given how unusual 2020 was, there would actually be 13 Full Moons! It happens every 3-4 years…thus, the Blue Moon reference we all know. That was a hook! It’s not original I realize but when investigating, I could not find anything as organic as I was doing,” continued Danny.
He thought that perhaps printing the photos for his wall at home would be a nice project – he has done this with some of the other photos for which he is proud. This is when Danny’s idea came to fruition – print the moon photos as a 2020 commemorative poster! For those who may wish to receive a copy, he would ask for a donation of the representational fee of $20.20 to be donated to the Food Banks Canada COVID-19 Response Fund.
Danny said, “it seemed like a natural fit and voilà – ‘Hang a Moon, Feed a Family’ was born”.
For the month of January, you can visit Danny’s fundraising page, order your poster, donate and help raise funds for those in need. He is hoping to reach $5,000 and is already off to a good start having raised over $750. Give Danny a hand by donating to this worthy cause and receive a memorable gift for yourself in return.
