Once in 70 Years

[Rachel Hollander]

The full moon occurs on the Summer Solstice about once every 70 years. I was fortunate to be in Grand Teton National Park when it occurred last week. They call it a Strawberry Moon but it is more amber. The full moon set over the Tetons. This was taken from the balcony of my room at Jackson Lake Lodge at about 5:15 a.m. Sunrise was at 5:40 a.m. so there is a slight bit of pink already in the sky. The highest peak is Grand Teton and the water is Jackson Lake.

Canon 5D3
70-200 II @ 135mm
Five exposures 1/8, 1/4. 1/2. 1.0 and 2.0 secs
f16
ISO 400
Tripod, Uniqueball head, mirror lock-up, processed in CCPS and Nik, straightened, levels, curves, color adjustments, DE and sharpened.

C&C welcome and appreciated. Thanks,

Rachel

[Don Railton]

Hi Rachel

Nice to have you back..! I like your composition & the mood... 5 images huh, must have been difficult light . IMHO, the mountain is not a sharp as I might like, maybe the blending 5 images has compromised this somewhat..? It's not bad but just calling it as i see it. There is also a halo around the edge of the lake which I am not sure is real or not.. maybe its weed on the lake edge??

DON

[dankearl]

Rachel,
knowing you, something when wrong here....
The processing needs to be looked at again, the moon, etc., is haloed and soft.

[Rachel Hollander]

Thanks Don and Dan. That will teach me to bracket and blend. I much prefer the single exposure images I took. I'll post one later. Btw I think the line at the lake edge is actually lighter water where it reaches the top of the dam rather than a halo. It seems to be in every image on the near side.

Thanks again,
Rachel

[Adhika Lie]

Hi Rachel, I had a similar shot from the place (not with the full moon and stuff) and was not very happy with the composition. I think your composition nails it. That said, I agree with Dan on the soft moon. If I may ask, why do you need 5 exposures blending for this one? Wouldn't it be enough with one for the scene and one for the moon?

[Rachel Hollander]

Thanks Adhika. I was just trying something different and to get the moon and the detail in the fg it needed multiple exposures. I much prefer this single frame that actually brings out the color of the moon and the reflection in the water even though it is substantially darker.

Don - note the lightness at the near lake edge is still there.


Thanks again,
Rachel

[dankearl]

This is a huge improvement for me. Natural looking. Shooting into a full moon is challenging, a single shot is the only way to go....

[Adhika Lie]

Hi Rachel, I am loving this one a lot, too! Very nice!

[Rachel Hollander]

Thanks Dan and Adhika, much appreciated.

Rachel

[Diane Miller]

Very nice on the RP. Wondering what happens if you lighten the FG just slightly and blend in a moon with lower exposure. If this is the darkest moon, double processing might tame it a bit. I might back off the blues just slightly for comparison.

[Andrew McLachlan]

Hi Rachel...the repost nails it for me...I love the darker scene but what I really like best is the light that the moon is casting onto the lake below...lovely!!!

[John Hackney]

Re post is fantastic. Great idea on the 5 shots, just a bummer on the moon.

[Don Railton]

Hi Rachel,

Sorry, I missed the repost.. MUCH prefer it over OP. It now looks & feels like a cool beautiful night. Good stuff..!! If you wanted to play I would consider a gradient in the sky only, so the bottom was just a little lighter to make the mountains stand out a little more. Its not really needed, but it's something i would do just to see what I thought.

DON

[Morkel Erasmus]

Late to this one, Rachel, but I much prefer the darker 2nd version. Looks more natural and still enough detail to hold interest.
Must have been a magical scene :5

[Rachel Hollander]

Thanks everyone. As I said, I too very much prefer the single exposure albeit darker image. Glad you all agree.

Thanks again,
Rachel