Moon over L.A.

JCJC Registered Users Posts: 768 Major grins
edited October 17, 2014 in Landscapes
i-vDVkKFG-XL.jpg

I am without my usual sherpa this fall, so I only hiked in 1 tripod which was dedicated to my telephoto lens, and my wide angle shots got the gorillapod on the ground, so I couldn't clear the foreground brush with the camera. Other than that, this shot pretty much turned out the way I wanted.
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Comments

  • CornflakeCornflake Registered Users Posts: 3,346 Major grins
    edited October 15, 2014
    That's remarkable and unusual, and excellent. Plus wow.
    Don
    Gallery: http://cornflakeaz.smugmug.com/
  • kdogkdog Administrators Posts: 11,681 moderator
    edited October 15, 2014
    Extremely cool, JC. It looks like a baton. How did you manage to get the exposure correct for the blood moon? You must have started with the full moon, but you had the exposure set for the blood moon evidently. Either that, or you started at the blood moon and simulated the first half of the shot. Care to elaborate? ear.gif
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  • CornflakeCornflake Registered Users Posts: 3,346 Major grins
    edited October 15, 2014
    PS: It's hard to find reliable sherpas these days. :)
    Don
    Gallery: http://cornflakeaz.smugmug.com/
  • David_S85David_S85 Administrators Posts: 13,250 moderator
    edited October 15, 2014
    Good job on the entire eclipse sequence. Not everybody got to see the whole event.
    My Smugmug
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  • StumblebumStumblebum Registered Users Posts: 8,480 Major grins
    edited October 15, 2014
    Too different and shocking for my simple brain!
    I do however sincerely admire the skillz, effortz and planz here!
    If I did have that skill set, I would just take a zoom shot of moon, single one at its reddish peak, and put it in disproportionally big, but kind of believable (not so big that is it obvious forgery).
    Love all the other subtle details and textures!
    Cheers!
  • JCJC Registered Users Posts: 768 Major grins
    edited October 16, 2014
    Cornflake wrote: »
    That's remarkable and unusual, and excellent. Plus wow.

    Thanks.
    kdog wrote: »
    Extremely cool, JC. It looks like a baton. How did you manage to get the exposure correct for the blood moon? You must have started with the full moon, but you had the exposure set for the blood moon evidently. Either that, or you started at the blood moon and simulated the first half of the shot. Care to elaborate? ear.gif

    Well, I started off with a SS of 20 seconds, from prior experience, i knew that would give a good balance between a fairly round moon with decently defined flare and not too many files to have to deal with. As the eclipse progressed, I opened up the aperture to get rid of the flare once the umbral eclipse had started and to get the shadowed moon exposed. (on my m43 camera, I always use manual lenses for astrophotography). I did stop the sequence once to increase the ISO and check exposure and then a second time to decrease the ISO again, but I don't think that was actually necessary. I never simulate my astrophotography. I've heard that PS has a plugin to rotate a static star field to simulate a star trails shot, but I think that's cheating. Besides, if you look closely at this shot, or at my compilation in other cool shots, you'll see that the shadow pattern isn't symmetrical. You can't get that reality by simulating it.
    David_S85 wrote: »
    Good job on the entire eclipse sequence. Not everybody got to see the whole event.
    Even here in LA where you could in theory see the whole thing, most people bailed after totality. I could see over to Mt. Wilson (observatory and radio towers, drive up overviews) from where I was and many cars left after totality.
    Stumblebum wrote: »
    Too different and shocking for my simple brain!
    I do however sincerely admire the skillz, effortz and planz here!
    If I did have that skill set, I would just take a zoom shot of moon, single one at its reddish peak, and put it in disproportionally big, but kind of believable (not so big that is it obvious forgery).
    Love all the other subtle details and textures!
    Cheers!

    I sort of consider it a personal challenge to get the shots I want without artifice, I mean, I'll use multiple exposures, HDR, telephoto compression, etc, to get the shot I want, but not wholesale manipulation that alters reality, only techniques that emphasize reality.

    Like this shot.

    i-dms5w2g-M.jpg

    Jupiter and it's moons. I could have shot it anytime, and made a compilation with a scenic vista, but I waited and waited until I could get the shot in context, as it set behind a rock wall. It took months after I conceived the shot until I was in a location at the right time/season to get the shot. This is two exposures, one for the cliff face, and one for Jupiter, but it represents an alignment in context that actually happened.

    If I'm in California in April, which is probably not likely, I want to try to get the moon in eclipse setting over the Sierra crest (hopefully covered in snow), then I can use a telephoto lens to get a large moon actually in the landscape.

    Otherwise, the partial solar eclipse at the end of the month is my last chance for an eclipse here, barring coincidental unknown future travel plans. Still considering what shot I want for that.
    Yeah, if you recognize the avatar, new user name.
  • StumblebumStumblebum Registered Users Posts: 8,480 Major grins
    edited October 16, 2014
    Never seen Jupiter shot like that! It is very nice! Needs explaining as I don't think most people would guess Jupiter and moons....they would guess moon and flare...but pretty fantastic.
    As I said, I don't even have skills to combine or manipulate images.....but a slight exaggeration is part of art in my opinion.....most images in the gallery on Dgrin that shows up on the top would prove that.

    In fact check the first image on this page.......:Dthumb.gif

    Share more!
    Cheers!
  • JCJC Registered Users Posts: 768 Major grins
    edited October 16, 2014
    Stumblebum wrote: »
    Never seen Jupiter shot like that! It is very nice! Needs explaining as I don't think most people would guess Jupiter and moons....they would guess moon and flare...but pretty fantastic.
    As I said, I don't even have skills to combine or manipulate images.....but a slight exaggeration is part of art in my opinion.....most images in the gallery on Dgrin that shows up on the top would prove that.

    In fact check the first image on this page.......:Dthumb.gif

    Share more!
    Cheers!

    I'm not going to argue with other people doing it, and I've done some fantastical images for cards and stuff, but it's not my cup of tea. And given my science background, I think such images need to be clearly stated. My startrails and compilations like this, are just 2-D projections of 4-D scenes, but every component is an authentic representation.


    Here's an extra, downtown from the mountain top. 600mm equivalent. I need a brisk post rain winter night, or Santa Anas to get a clear view.

    i-9pKsH4v-XL.jpg
    Yeah, if you recognize the avatar, new user name.
  • bocoboco Registered Users Posts: 710 Major grins
    edited October 16, 2014
    Here's an extra, downtown from the mountain top. 600mm equivalent.
    ---
    die vind ik erg mooi.
    grt,boco.
    http://s281.photobucket.com/user/tutgro/slideshow/wolken%20boven%20de%20polder?sort=3
  • shniksshniks Registered Users Posts: 945 Major grins
    edited October 17, 2014
    Very unusual shot and really well done. Thanks for sharing. clap.gif


    Cheers,
    Nikhil

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