Gothic Moonlight + Repost

Stan,

This is a unique scene but to my perspective the moon is way too large perspective wise. I like the attempt and think some tweaking will make it work. Lots of dust spots in the sky and Lightroom 5 has a dust spot addition in it that helps solve this quickly and with ease.

This is a beautiful scene. I really like the light here. I would seriously consider losing the moon, or at least reduce its intensity by 90%.

Thanks guys.
I only see one spot that i missed--between the clouds--are there others im not seeing? The moon here is the size it was, so im not sure what your perspective statement is referring to. The whole reason i took the shot was that the moon was super intense those night--everybody i talked to that was the first thing they mentioned, the bright moon. I could have replaced it with a 'properly' exposeed moon, but then it would have looked artificial. Ive already reduced the intensity quite a bit. I value your input, just not sure what to make of it here.

Wow, This is one beautiful scene! Just love the mood. I would have loved being there for this one! Nice work on this, Stan.

Nick Bristol
Lone Rock, WI

I like the eerie glow on the landscape and foreground flowers Stan.

Stan,

The capture is great as is so kudos. Art is in the eye of the beholder.
Spots directly left of one between clouds on left frame edge but larger image would help. Also some on right frame edge.
I upgraded to Lightroom 5 for the dust spot tool in it. It finds them and makes spot removal a breeze.
I spent lots of time in Gothic back in early 70's shooting and one of my favorites and a return bucket list must.

yeah i should upgrade my LR for sure--altough id ratherCanon upgrades my camera

Very nice. Really love the sense of nighttime here.

Simply a gorgeous moonlit shot.

Ok, i felt a little uncomfortable with the sky in my original post--the odd gradient is due to me trying to blend the 'new moon' with the original exposure. So, I completely reprocessed using the original exposures shot at 24mm (2 img stitch with the shift TS-E) The repost looks closer to the original RAW, so i didnt have to mess with the sky, just typical adjustments in contrast etc. I just corrected the slight distortion in the moon. You'll note that the colot balance is slightly different too, cause i redid everything from scratch and tried to stay close to the RAW files (when in doubt, i always stay close to RAW! I feel better about the new version, but am anxious to hear your thoughts!
Oh--note also that the moon size in both versions is the same (the original one i shot at 100mm and reduced, the new one is as shot) the first version looks bigger because there is way more contrast, so the brightest portion 'expanded'.

Stan, I really like this scene and the lighting. But, I really don't get the moon. To me, it appears more solar than lunar. But, I'm clearly in the minority. I would say I like the original because I'm seeing more of the reddish sunset glow.

I do like the repost better, and I like the original quite a bit.

Allen--i don't think your in the minority; from my experience for every person who points out something 'wrong' in a post, there are 10 others who keep quiet (for a variety of reasons). I agree with you--just not sure what the solution is. I knew this would be the toughest part of the shot when i took the photo--which is why i fortunately took over a dozen exposures from 24 mm to 100mm. This is my last effort--after this i give up For this version i used the 'properly' exposed moon at 70mm (1/25s, as opposed to 2 seconds for the fg!) and reduced it to match the 24mm version, then i blurred out the 'moonstar' that was present from the 'overexposed' original. What do you think guys??

In case you're curious, heres what the RAW file looked like at 2s--this is a direct conversion to jpeg, cropped to show the moon better, but no adjustments at all! Obviously i had to darken the sky considerably so it wouldnt look like a daylight shot. I could have gone with the dakrer exposure, but then of course the fg would be black.

Stan,

I like this latest version. For me, it now suggests the idea of transitioning from day to night and I like that mood it creates. The moon at this luminosity really adds to the photo.

Stan,

Wonderful image. The processing is much better and I like much better in the reposts. Can't decide on which moon though! Perhaps the last works best for me. Nice job.

Lon

The last post (before the RAW) does it for me - the best of them all; certainly brought out the detail in the moon. Nicely done, Stan - congrats on the weekly pic!

Pretty Magical, Stan. I like the glow and the way those colors pop. Good stuff.

Outstanding image Stan. I prefer the last version you posted with the realistic looking moon. My only nit with that version is the super saturated water in the river on the left, which seems a bit too bright compared to the rest of the scene.

Congrats on a fine WP.

Hi Stan, the third version is perfect! You captured the beauty of the full moon rising quietly over the verdant meadows so well! I love the highlights in the clouds, too.