Moonlight in the eastern Sierra

kdog · August 17, 2014

Hi all, I haven't posted a picture in ages. I just got home from a quick trip to the eastern Sierra and thought I'd post a couple of quick shots. The first one is from Mono Lake.

This next shot is from the Ancient Bristlecone Pine Forest. It's still a work in progress and full of artifacts that I may or may not to get around to fixing.

Again, I know about the halos and such on the second one. But otherwise, comments are welcome!

Cheers,
-joel

lifeinfocus · August 17, 2014

Really like the first one. Magical.

Phil

Sam · August 17, 2014

I like the first one and think it can be improved by getting rid of the mustard yellow color.

Sam

Stumblebum · August 17, 2014

Comps are fantastic!! For first one, it is ambitious shot because moonlit and galaxy are tough to achieve at same time. Also I think 30 seconds may have been too long because starts moved and thus causing blurry sensation. Foreground is bit fuzzy. Maybe 20 seconds would have nailed it perfectly, but I am only guessing as a I have never executed a galaxy shot. The second one feel like a beautiful abstract. Is that also done with moonlight? The foreground is so brightly lit and has multiple colors.....how did you achieve that?

Hope you have many more fro the trip! Any great location found?
Cheers Bro!

kdog · August 17, 2014

lifeinfocus wrote: »

Really like the first one. Magical.

Thanks, Phil!

kdog · August 17, 2014

Sam wrote: »

I like the first one and think it can be improved by getting rid of the mustard yellow color.

Thanks, Sam! I'll keep your suggestion in mind.

kdog · August 18, 2014

Stumblebum wrote: »

Comps are fantastic!! For first one, it is ambitious shot because moonlit and galaxy are tough to achieve at same time. Also I think 30 seconds may have been too long because starts moved and thus causing blurry sensation. Foreground is bit fuzzy. Maybe 20 seconds would have nailed it perfectly, but I am only guessing as a I have never executed a galaxy shot. The second one feel like a beautiful abstract. Is that also done with moonlight? The foreground is so brightly lit and has multiple colors.....how did you achieve that?

Hope you have many more fro the trip! Any great location found?
Cheers Bro!

Thanks, Taz! 30 seconds is generally correct for 16mm on the full frame to avoid trailing. I think what you're seeing here is coma distortion, which the 16mm is famous for. I could be wrong though and will try 20 seconds next time to compare. Yeah, there's a bit of a DOF problem being at f/2.8 and all.

The second shot is all moonlight except for the red on that one branch. I think it may have been from the red LED on a second camera I had trolling for meteors near by. I kind of liked it so I left it in.

Stumblebum · August 18, 2014

kdog wrote: »

Thanks, Taz! 30 seconds is generally correct for 16mm on the full frame to avoid trailing. I think what you're seeing here is coma distortion, which the 16mm is famous for. I could be wrong though and will try 20 seconds next time to compare. Yeah, there's a bit of a DOF problem being at f/2.8 and all.

The second shot is all moonlight except for the red on that one branch. I think it may have been from the red LED on a second camera I had trolling for meteors near by. I kind of liked it so I left it in.

I see! It does look like a cosmic club! Lets see more stuff!!

Cornflake · August 18, 2014

I like both but the second one is the image that I could see hanging in a museum. kdog van Gogh. And you were right to leave in the red. Terrific!

kdog · August 21, 2014

Cornflake wrote: »

I like both but the second one is the image that I could see hanging in a museum. kdog van Gogh. And you were right to leave in the red. Terrific!

Thanks, Don! That's pretty high praise.

anwmn1 · August 21, 2014

Joel- pretty cool shots. The first one is just too soft for me. The comp is good and the star movement doesn't bother me near as much as the tuffas not being sharp. As for the 2nd it is quite surreal. The yellow and red add to the feel of the shot. One thing that stands out to me is the cyan ghosting around the branches.

kdog · August 21, 2014

Hi Aaron, true on both nits. I'm going to be reshooting both of those actually now that I've had time to analyze them. It's nice to have these locations so close to home.

Cornflake · August 21, 2014

kdog wrote: »

Hi Aaron, true on both nits. I'm going to be reshooting both of those actually now that I've had time to analyze them. It's nice to have these locations so close to home.

Alas, I often reach the same decision. But hold onto the second one. Technical glitches don't matter.

Juano · August 21, 2014

both shots are surreal! Technical nit picking and all, I think they're wonderful.

kdog · August 28, 2014

Cornflake wrote: »

Alas, I often reach the same decision. But hold onto the second one. Technical glitches don't matter.

Juano wrote: »

both shots are surreal! Technical nit picking and all, I think they're wonderful.

Thanks guys!!

Moonlight in the eastern Sierra

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