Amateur photographer captures professional grade photos of jetliner flying in front of the Supermoon

By ANDREW TAVANI

About 36 miles east of Paris lies a small town called Crépy-en-Valois, which dates back to medieval times. Among the roughly 15,000 who call the French commune home is 39-year-old Sebastien Lebrigand, a self-described amateur photographer.

But one glance at Lebrigand's photographs of this past weekend's Supermoon, or perigee moon, reveals that he's working with the skills of a professional, even if that's not how he earns his salary.

Lebrigand, who was born in Paris and has lived in Crépy-en-Valois for the last 15 years, shot some surreal images of airplanes crossing in front of the Supermoon, which can be viewed in the slideshow above.

The first photo shows a Boeing 737 jet at an altitude of 38,000 feet crossing in front of the full moon on Saturday, August 9.

Indeed, many of Lebrigand's photos depict commercial airplanes crossing in front of the moon and the sun (check out a couple of those pics above as well).

Lebrigand, a subway maintenance worker, told AOL.com in an email that 'The rarity of the phenomenon, the conjunction between both!' are what inspires him to chase such grand images.

Another photo above shows an Airbus 320 climbing through the atmosphere, shooting out contrails from its tail pipes. Just above and to the left of the plane is the moon's Tycho Crater.

He said he achieves his signature photos by using a pair of telescopes as refractors and shooting with a digital Canon EOS 60D. He finds a perch in the garden behind his house, which is far enough from the bright lights of Paris to afford a perfect view, and his cat sits alongside him as he shoots, he told AOL.com.

And how is he able to know the type and altitude of the airplanes he's photographing?

Lebrigand said he uses the website FlightRadar24 to track and confirm the airplane model, altitude and speed at which the aircraft is traveling at the moment he photographs it.

Lebrigand waxed romantic about his artistic passion. 'Photographers seize an unusual moment to ... share,' he said. 'It is necessary of the material(equipment) special otherwise we never see him(it)!!!!'

Compare Lebrigand's Supermoon photos above to some of the images captured by professional photographers in the slideshow below. All the photos are great, but it's hard to distinguish who's the professional and who's the amateur. And be sure to visit Lebrigand's Flickr page to check out more of his fine work.

Related:
What is a Supermoon
Summer of the Supermoons
Lunar Eclipse Schedule
Solar Eclipse Schedule
Star Constellations
Horoscope

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