Backflip in front of the moon: Central Hawke's Bay photographer captures stunning photo

The photo which garnered hundreds of comments. Photo / Lachie Kirk

A Central Hawke's Bay photographer was in the right place at the right time to capture a stunning photo of a backflip in the moon, and it was no accident.

Lachie Kirk captured the image at precisely 6.01pm on April 6 on his family farm, 10 minutes from Waipukurau.

The moon was very close to Earth, and would be closest tonight, making it the biggest and brightest of the year.

Those living in the North Island had the best chance of seeing it in all its glory.

"I knew the moon was going to be exactly in the right place for a photo because of an app I have called Photopills, which tells me precisely where the moon is going to be," Kirk said.

"I had an idea of my brother standing in front of the moon but loads of photographers have done that so then decided to try and capture him back-flipping in front of it and it turned out great.

"I had to stand at least 200m away from him and use the longest lens I had, otherwise the moon would've looked tiny."