moon in the mist

[Dennis Bishop]

The photo was taken near the end of October a year ago from my sister's living room in the foothills of the western North Carolina mountains. The house is perched on a steep wooded hillside, so the upper levels of many of the trees were at eye level. We looked out to see the moon still low in the sky and shrouded by fog. Although I remember the moonlight being very diffused and the trees in the background being somewhat visible, that's not the way it looked in the shots I took, so I had to create what I remember.

5 exposure HDR
ISO 100, f/16, 175mm

Photomatix tone mapping
cropped to golden rectangle proportions, all from left side
Viveza to remove a blue ring around the moon -- it was only on the shot with the shortest exposure, but it remained through the Photomatix processing
Color Efex -- Fog
Shadowhouse Creations texture -- added some blue and green
Shadowhouse Creations texture -- a lace curtain that looked reasonably like the branches and leaves I remembered in the background but which made the blues intense
Silver Efex at very low opacity to tone the colors down a bit
Color Efex -- Film Grain to diffuse the light
Flypaper texture to change the color pattern
Color Efex -- Tonal Contrast, Glamour Glow, and -- centered on the moon -- Darken/Lighten Center
Color Efex -- more Fog
Photo Filter adjustment layer -- cyan at very low opacity
added the shortest exposure shot in Darker Color blend mode with reduced opacity to darken the foreground leaves and branches
Levels to reduce the intensity of the moon a bit
uniform gradient vignette

That's pretty much how I remember what I, at least, saw.

[Judy Howle]

I really like it! I like that you have a good view of it and some very faint branches in the background. I saw the moon shining through thin clouds tonight but there were half a block's worth of trees in between my house and it.

[Mitch Carucci]

Evocative of the changing seasons. Beautiful.

[Jay Sheinfield]

Dennis, well seen! I like the branches framing the moon. Nice to mood to it. Did you consider a vertical flip?, Might be interesting to see how it looks with the moon higher in the frame. As is, very nice work. Big workflow.............TFS:S3:

[Dennis Bishop]

. . . Did you consider a vertical flip?, Might be interesting to see how it looks with the moon higher in the frame. . .

Because I didn't think the branches would look natural that way, I even hesitated doing it, now, to see what I thought. As it turns out, they do look upside down but not as much as I expected. I did like the moon higher. It was surprising that, with it being so close to the center, flipping it made that much difference. I think the branches and leaves flow better, however, when they're right side up. Thanks for the suggestion.

[Jay Sheinfield]

Because I didn't think the branches would look natural that way, I even hesitated doing it, now, to see what I thought. As it turns out, they do look upside down but not as much as I expected. I did like the moon higher. It was surprising that, with it being so close to the center, flipping it made that much difference. I think the branches and leaves flow better, however, when they're right side up. Thanks for the suggestion.

Yup, I gave the flip a try for fun, I like it better as is....................:S3:

[Steve Adkins]

The soft texture of BG branches is wonderful, Dennis. I really like the framing and the vertical crop. :S3:

[Brendan Dozier]

Nicely seen, Dennis, and mood is enhanced by your processing very well.

[Indranil Sircar]

Very nice, Dennis. It has an ethereal quality to it... the defused moon and faint bg adds a lot to the image. Well seen and composed!

[denise ippolito]

Dennis, I love the soft diffused look of this. The hint of color and the way the branches seem to frame the image with a slight curve is lovely.:S3:

[Andrew McLachlan]

Hi Dennis, well seen and processed. I really like the mist here.