Phil Colla
02-22-2008, 12:39 AM
Those of you who shot the eclipse from start to end, including full moon shots at one end or the other, but who are not happy with the sharpness of the images during the blood-red phase of the eclipse -- do not despair. Here's a little trick I came up with during the August 28 2007 eclipse to create reasonably sharp depictions of the blood-red phase of the eclipse.
Note: the following image is not perfect and could certainly have been made better. I'm posting it more as a technique suggestion for compositing eclipse images than as a image for critique, but by all means fire away with criticism if you are inclined, the image has already paid for itself so it has a tough skin. :)
http://www.oceanlight.com/jpgg/ns/19451.jpg
The basis for this technique is to realize that exposures during the total eclipse -- the blood red period -- are far longer than during partial eclipse. During blood-red phase the moon is receiving NO DIRECT LIGHT from the sun, only light that is indirectly refracted through the thin atmosphere of the Earth (and thus takes on a red color). This refracted light is orders of magnitude less intense than even a sliver of partial eclipse. Because of this it is difficult to obtain a sharp image of the blood red moon. (Perhaps easier now that there is the D3, but still a challenge for me , and since I use 1DsII I stick with ISOs like 400 and 500).
I shot the entire series, obtaining sharp exposures during all but the period of total eclipse -- those particular ones are soft due to movement of the moon but they show rich color. To compensate for those, I took exposures of the bright, sharp, full moon shot the same evening and layered those with the soft blood red moon. I deliberately blurred the blood red moon layer (Gaussian blur) so that all the remained was the realistic color and the important light-dark gradient but no crater detail. This color, in turn, was blended with a sharp full-moon image to create a sharp moon that shows truthful blood red color and realistic gradation from deep red to bright yellow-white from one side of the moon to the other. A composite, one image for detail and one image for color.
Click here for an example of the results I was able to get, pretty sharp from left to right. (http://www.oceanlight.com/spotlight.php?img=19391)
Cheers, Phil
Note: the following image is not perfect and could certainly have been made better. I'm posting it more as a technique suggestion for compositing eclipse images than as a image for critique, but by all means fire away with criticism if you are inclined, the image has already paid for itself so it has a tough skin. :)
http://www.oceanlight.com/jpgg/ns/19451.jpg
The basis for this technique is to realize that exposures during the total eclipse -- the blood red period -- are far longer than during partial eclipse. During blood-red phase the moon is receiving NO DIRECT LIGHT from the sun, only light that is indirectly refracted through the thin atmosphere of the Earth (and thus takes on a red color). This refracted light is orders of magnitude less intense than even a sliver of partial eclipse. Because of this it is difficult to obtain a sharp image of the blood red moon. (Perhaps easier now that there is the D3, but still a challenge for me , and since I use 1DsII I stick with ISOs like 400 and 500).
I shot the entire series, obtaining sharp exposures during all but the period of total eclipse -- those particular ones are soft due to movement of the moon but they show rich color. To compensate for those, I took exposures of the bright, sharp, full moon shot the same evening and layered those with the soft blood red moon. I deliberately blurred the blood red moon layer (Gaussian blur) so that all the remained was the realistic color and the important light-dark gradient but no crater detail. This color, in turn, was blended with a sharp full-moon image to create a sharp moon that shows truthful blood red color and realistic gradation from deep red to bright yellow-white from one side of the moon to the other. A composite, one image for detail and one image for color.
Click here for an example of the results I was able to get, pretty sharp from left to right. (http://www.oceanlight.com/spotlight.php?img=19391)
Cheers, Phil