Dgrin Meetup: Not Lunar Eclipse

DavidTO

anonymouscuban [thread=211331]posted[/thread] about our trip this morning with Marc and Doug to the mountains above Santa Barbara. We didn't get good shots of the moon for a lot of reasons, the biggest being that we couldn't get to a vantage point where we could shoot the moon with a long focal length (200mm or longer) and ALSO have something of interest in the foreground. I got a wider shot, but really it wasn't all that interesting. So no lunar eclipse from me, either.

I'll be adding more pics to this thread, but here's the first. Don't blame Marc for this shot, but he gave me a ton of help with advice on processing it.

DavidTO

anonymouscuban, a little less anonymous:

DavidTO

The marine layer rolling in over Catalina Island.



and an alt. version.

DavidTO

Watching the sunrise.

denisegoldberg

DavidTO wrote: »

The marine layer rolling in over Catalina Island.

Wow - love this one!

--- Denise

DavidTO

denisegoldberg wrote: »

Wow - love this one!

--- Denise

Thanks, Denise! You prefer it over the alt? I just can't decide on those two, I need to sit with it. Or maybe it's not that big a difference?

denisegoldberg

DavidTO wrote: »

Thanks, Denise! You prefer it over the alt? I just can't decide on those two, I need to sit with it. Or maybe it's not that big a difference?

I like them both, but yes, I do prefer this one. It has a little more mystery to it.

--- Denise

kdog

Right on you guys. You got some great landscapes even though the fog turned out to be a bummer for the eclipse. I drove in-land and got some moonshots, but no landscapes. I hope the weather is better for 2014.

anonymouscuban

Nice David. Love that first one with the fisheye. Also the fog shots. The one of me, not so much.

BTW, I tossed all my moon shots. I think I need to start doing drills... waking up in the middle of the night, going in my backyard to practice focusing and adjusting camera settings in total darkness. Like soldiers clean and assemble their weapons with a blind fold on. Maybe then I will be prepared for the lunar eclipse of 2014. Well, that is if the world doesn't end in 2012.

DavidTO

anonymouscuban wrote: »

Nice David. Love that first one with the fisheye. Also the fog shots. The one of me, not so much.

BTW, I tossed all my moon shots. I think I need to start doing drills... waking up in the middle of the night, going in my backyard to practice focusing and adjusting camera settings in total darkness. Like soldiers clean and assemble their weapons with a blind fold on. Maybe then I will be prepared for the lunar eclipse of 2014. Well, that is if the world doesn't end in 2012.

Yah, the fish isn't flattering, but I like having a shot of you out in the field! I'm with you on the working in the dark thing. That one shot of mine we all thought was going to be a winner ended up being a loser. :cry

Andy

Great stuff, even though you didn't get the moon!

DavidTO

Andy wrote: »

Great stuff, even though you didn't get the moon!

Thanks, Andy. This is where I was set up, and I just gave up partway through the eclipse, since the moon was shrouded in clouds and it didn't look like it would clear in time. Turns out it did, just enough, and I think Marc got something useable from it. Maybe he'll post it.

This shot I'm posting is a pano that's been slapped together, I'm not going to finish it, there are too many flaws in it to make it worth the time it would take to clean it up, I think. This was shot with a 50mm. A longer lens would have been much preferable for shooting the eclipse, but like I said in the fist post, we couldn't get far back enough to do that and also have an interesting composition. We should have brought in a cherry picker!

The moon is already more than half eclipsed by the earth at this point, but the clouds were diffusing the light so much that you couldn't tell. Which is why I moved on (prematurely).

DavidTO

OK, as soon as I said I wouldn't work on, I ended up diving right in. Here's a rework.

anonymouscuban

I like it David. Only thing that bothers me is the rock in the right foreground. It's OOF. This is the issue I had with all my moon shots.. that stupid OOF rock in the foreground.

DavidTO

anonymouscuban wrote: »

I like it David. Only thing that bothers me is the rock in the right foreground. It's OOF. This is the issue I had with all my moon shots.. that stupid OOF rock in the foreground.

Yup, which is why I darkened it, maybe not enough in the re-work.

BeachBill

Wow, these are incredible. I've put up with the marine layer way too much, but I've never seen it rolling in like a wave. Very nice.

DavidTO wrote: »

The marine layer rolling in over Catalina Island.



and an alt. version.

DavidTO

BeachBill wrote: »

Wow, these are incredible. I've put up with the marine layer way too much, but I've never seen it rolling in like a wave. Very nice.

Thanks! It's all a matter of perspective, I guess. You get high enough and the flat gray blah turns into something else!

Doug Solis

absolutely love the first image David, tack sharp, wonderful composition. Looks like moonscape!

DavidTO

Doug Solis wrote: »

absolutely love the first image David, tack sharp, wonderful composition. Looks like moonscape!

Thanks, Doug! Just saw your post.

Also, I replaced that first image with a re-processing.

Marc Muench

Thanks for the use of your fisheye David



Took this one with my 50mm once the kids showed up. Kinda fun with them all looking at and working their phones!

eoren1

I've said it on Facebook and Google+ but I'll say it again...awesome shot Marc
Now about that tutorial...

Marc Muench

Eyal, will do!