Moonlit Windpump

[David Cowling]

Taken at almost full moon. A pity that the sails are missing but they got blown off in a wind storm last winter and funds are being raised to replace them. Light pollution on left is from a small village.

Panasonic Lumix LX100. Lens at 24mm. Tripod

20secs @ f1.7. ISO800

[Dvir Barkay]

Very cool. Only wish for the lack of the foreground plant that is OOF.

[Don Railton]

Hi David

Nicely executed but a couple of suggestions from me. firstly I agree the OOF FG is a problem. I might also have tried to frame out the vegies on the RH border if it were possible, and also the pollution. Big ask here but something to think about. I like the use of the canal bank as a leading line and the inclusion of the reflection. Be nice to reshoot if the sails get replaced..

DON

[Morkel Erasmus]

Hi David
I like the leading line formed by the canal, the overall exposure and visible stars. I do wish the FG reed was not as prominent as it draws my eye the whole time.
If you have easy access to this location it could be nice to work at a closer angle/distance from the windmill?

[Rachel Hollander]

Hi David - I too like the canal as a leading line and also agree with the other comments and suggestions on this one. For me, the light pollution here is too strong.

TFS,
Rachel

[Diane Miller]

Nice night shot! Looks like this may have been from a bridge, so maybe not so easy to get past the FG vegetation, but worth a try.

Depending on how much you value sleep, I wonder if the village lights are lower at times when the moon rises much later. But then it's weaker (waning) so the effects may cancel.

[David Cowling]

Thanks for all the cmments and very useful suggestions. The image was taken from a small footbridge so no room for manouver; however, the lh foliage is composed of reeds which will soon die off (the focus looked off because there was a slight breeze which moved the reeds during the exposure) the light pollution was from an outdoor event and is no longer visible. I intend to use this view again as a startrail image because the camera is pointing almost due north. Just waiting for a clear night

[Diane Miller]

Would love to see a v2! Also sounds like a good setting for doing star trails behind the windmill. Shoot a set at whatever ISO/SS you can do without a lot of noise, at 1 sec intervals between (that's the minimum interval I know about on devices I've seen) and stack them in PS in Lighten mode. Experiment to see how much moonlight you need to balance the trails. A full moon might be OK. I usually use ISO 100 or 200 for 3 min, f/4 or so. Exposure will build up on the land elements, but not on the trails, which will just etch a line.

[dankearl]

The sky looks nice, the light pollution does not bother me.
The OOF foliage is what happens when you start shooting at night. With the wide apertures you need some distance in the FG
to get everything in focus, nothing can be very close unless you are shooting multiple exposures.

[Andrew McLachlan]

Good suggestions given for improvement. It is a very nicely composed scene but the OOF reeds are problematic...perhaps a re-shoot after they die off :)