Shoot for the moon! Brazilian photographer captures incredible photo of Christ the Redeemer ‘holding’ the moon with both hands after three years of failed attempts

A Brazilian photographer has finally succeeded in capturing an incredible picture of  Christ the Redeemer appearing to ‘hold’ the moon with both hands after three years of failed attempts. Leonardo Sens snapped his long-awaited shot Sunday from Icaraí Beach in the Rio de Janeiro municipality of Niterói, almost seven miles away from where the iconic statue is located.

The viral photo shows the 98-foot monument atop Corcovado Mountain in Tijuca National Park with the moon directly overhead.

“In the end everything went well and I was able to register the long-awaited photo,” Sens told Brazilian news outlet G1.

Brazilian photographer Leonardo Sens finally succeeded in getting his long-awaited picture of Christ the Redeemer “holding” the moon in Rio de Janeiro after three years of attempting. The picture that has gone viral was taken early on Sunday from the town of Niterói, which is around seven miles distant from the statue.

Sens, who has been photographing the Rio de Janeiro area since 2005, revealed that he had prepared for the astonishing photo by studying the moon’s position.

He added that he already knew the exact time of year when the concrete and soapstone monument—by far the most popular tourist destination in the nation—would line up with the moon.

Sens used several applications to find “the times and the exact date” when the moon would be directly over Christ the Redeemer.

He told online news portal Itatiaia that he bought a new set of lenses two years ago in hopes of “taking closer pictures of the moon and sun.”

On Sunday morning, Brazilian photographer Leonardo Sens arrived early at Icara Beach in the Niterói municipality of Rio de Janeiro to set up his tripod for the photo opportunity of the moon hovering over the famous Christ the Redeemer statue.

Sens recalled that a day earlier he almost shot the famous statue of Christ the Redeemer that seemed to hold the moon, but that he couldn’t get the shot he wanted because there were too many clouds around

The moon remains in the background just after Leonardo Sens took the viral photo of Christ the Redeemer from Rio de Janeiro that appears to be ‘holding’ it

Sens claimed that on Saturday, when the moon was obscured by clouds, he attempted but failed to acquire the shot.

However, the circumstances for his anticipated photograph abruptly changed, and he swung sideways as the moon started to fall.

“I went early at the scheduled time. All I had to do was adjust the tripod and wait for the moon to line up,” Sens said.

The photo set has gained more than 137,000 likes on his Instagram account and impressed his followers.

“I’ve seen several pictures of the moon, but you managed to leave the perfect angle in a memorable way,” one follower wrote.

Another said, “I don’t even know what to say about these pictures… it’s incredible, exciting.”