How do you get the best possible photo of the supermoon?

If you're a newspaper photographer, you climb 198 twisting steps to the top of a water tower.

"I knew I wanted to do something with the city skyline and compress the scene with a long lens," says David Carson, a photographer for the St. Louis Post-Dispatch. He had a hunch about the best place to do that—the Compton Hill Water Tower. One of the highest points of elevation in the city, the tower offers views of the downtown skyline and the Gateway Arch.

The prep work, started a few days before, involved Googling moonrise and sunset times.

"I found this great website that listed the U.S. Naval Observatory’s info on [the] moon’s position,