I knew well in advance that I just didn’t have it in me to stay up for the eclipse amazing though it would be. As far as producing a photograph goes, there are hundreds, maybe thousands, of fine images of it and I doubt that I would have produced anything terribly unique in that regard. Even the composites of the moon going through its gradual phases were done in great numbers. Being more of a morning person, I’d rather go about my usual business of rising before dawn and doing what I do. That’s my story etc. 🙂
With all that said, I did go out for the rising moon as I often do while at home. So I returned to that weathered small tree along Ocean Path and set up for the super moonrise. As I mentioned the other day, as single images I wasn’t all that satisfied with the results because capturing the entire tree from my best vantage point required the use of my 21mm wide angle lens. If you aren’t familiar with what that does to a scene, besides capturing more of it, distance are made to look greater and in this case the moon was rendered very tiny over the horizon. In order to bring things back to how my eyes were seeing the scene, I also captured the moon with my 300mm lens which, of course, now gave me a large moon. Larger than I needed actually. I combined the two, reducing the size of the moon to a more realistic scale and made this image. As I mentioned a few weeks back, I don’t do many composites, but there can be a place for them and I felt this was one of those.
I am sorry if the blue looks a bit off. When I posted this to Facebook it looked just fine as it does on my display. But here it seems a bit electric. WordPress frustrates me in that regard…I may have groused about that before.
BTW, the warm rocks image was made the following morning, so I am glad that I went to bed at a normal time. 🙂
Stephen Gingold Nature Photography Blog 
Wowie zowie, folks will say, and they’ll be right to say it.
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I wish I could have got this as a single shot, but as you know, optics just don’t work that way. Thanks, Steve.
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Like you, I don’t often do composites. The most frequent reason I do is to replace an out-of-focus portion of an image with a better-focused version of that portion from a nearby frame.
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Hauntingly beautiful!
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Thanks, willosworld.
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A great image, sleep preserved and another look at that famous tree – it all came together.
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I am happy with the result, but despite my resolve to adhere to my regular schedule, I am sorry to have missed such a rare occurrence.
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Very nice choice of scale and composition Steve. On my screen the blue looks quite natural. The whole image has a sense of expectation.
And as a bonus we get the warm rocks too.
It’s great to see the work of competant technologist with a wonderful artistic eye.
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I appreciate your kind words and am glad that you like the image, Rod.
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Stunning.
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That’s a lot said in one word. Thanks, Intricate Knot.
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When you say you made a composite, what does that mean? I’m imagining that it must mean photoshop, and layers (or some such) though how you could change the size of the moon is just beyond me.
None of that matters, though, because the final result is fabulous. I see the blue as a little more vibrant than I’d expect, but it doesn’t look unnatural at all, and certainly not electric. It’s a compelling image — one that certainly would make me stop for a second or third look.
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Every image that I make goes through Photoshop, Linda. I shoot in Raw which is considered creating a digital negative. That allows for the maximum information to be captured and the photographer then has more data to select for use in image editing. Sorry if you already were aware of that. I do use layers to adjust various elements in the image similar to the traditional adjustments in the wet darkroom. Even composites were done back then by sandwiching negatives or transparencies (slides). As with most things in Photoshop, there is more than one way to adjust the sizing of layers which is what I did to the moon. I selected the moon from one image, copied and pasted to a new layer in the landscape image and made adjustments in placement for lining up the reflection, elevation and contrast as well as sizing. Pretty basic compared to the compositing done by others.
I am glad that you see the final result as pleasing..
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That’s interesting. I’m at the bottom of the learning curve when it comes to all this, so every bit of new information is appreciated!
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I am no Photoshop guru (it’s a PS thing), but I’ll be happy to answer any questions that might come up.
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The final result is fabulous. I have come back several times to look at this image.
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No complaints from me. Everything about this image is marvelous. All I see is- a very beautiful photo.
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Super! Thanks, Yvonne. 🙂
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