Chico Moonrise

Gallery: LandscapePosted November 22, 201718,241 views8 comments

This is a 2 days before the official full moon, moonrise view as the moon clears Chico Peak in Montana's Paradise valley. Getting detail in the full moon and detail in the land in a single exposure only works in a roughly 5 day window around the full moon and the choice of days depends on when the moon clears the local horizon. I'm also including a b&w version, that I think works well although I like this color version where only the moon and the touch of sun on the peak have much color in a large black and white frame. (7D2, 100-400 IS II @ 135 mm, 1/60s, f/8, iso 200, tripod)

Comments

8 comments

Comment posted by Mark Seaver on November 22, 2017 at 10:40 AM

Here's the b&w version.

Registered on January 23, 2011, 1103 Posts, 17270 Comments

Comment posted by Ronald Murphy on November 22, 2017 at 10:59 AM

Whoa, this is great. I suspect the light on the peak was gone by the time the moon cleared the ridge line. Or the moon was too bright by then. I prefer the color if you're polling.

Registered on March 13, 2012, 279 Posts, 975 Comments

Comment posted by Lon Overacker on November 22, 2017 at 1:04 PM

Mark,

There is always something special about a full moon rising over the landscape. You've caught this perfectly, especially with the last bit of light on the peak. The dusting of snow is quite literally icing on the cake. Wonderful image.

No nit picking here. Although as an alternate crop, you might take some off the bottom, maybe as much as the entire lower ridge (that has no snow.) I think a pano crop would emphasize the long ridge line of the mountain. Just a thought. But I certainly think this is beautiful as captured and presented.

Oh, color for me all the way.

Lon

Registered on November 24, 2006, 521 Posts, 19147 Comments

Comment posted by Dave Dillemuth on November 22, 2017 at 1:06 PM

Nicely timed and great job exposing both the moon and the dark foreground properly. The warm glow of the moon really stands out in the color version but I think I prefer the simplicity of the BW rendering. In either rendering, I think the hillside could benefit from a slight bump in contrast.

Registered on December 10, 2015, 104 Posts, 1112 Comments

Comment posted by Harry Lichtman on November 22, 2017 at 3:54 PM

Great timing on this. The window is very narrow when the lighting works for these kinds of shots. I think a slight crop off bottom and right to keep the aspect ratio might make it stronger. Some of the lower snow spots seem very bright, especially noticeable on the BW. Not sure if you're able, to would be great to pull out some of the texture of the darker trees. Very nice.

Registered on September 17, 2010, 304 Posts, 3507 Comments

Comment posted by Harley Goldman on November 25, 2017 at 3:39 PM

Beautiful scene. It is close, but I prefer the B&W. The contrasts seem to pop more for me. I like the suggestions on the crops and bump in contrast, but minor stuff.

Registered on November 19, 2003, 586 Posts, 11271 Comments

Comment posted by Anil Rao on November 28, 2017 at 11:08 AM

What a beautiful image. Serene and haunting. The various tones and the undulating shape of the land stand out in sharp contrast to the rising moon and the sky. The light on the peak is a lovely touch. I am also particularly fond of the overall mood, which I suppose can be attributed to the color palette.

Registered on November 15, 2003, 234 Posts, 4923 Comments

Comment posted by Jerry Austin on November 29, 2017 at 10:04 AM

Beautiful Mark. I like the color version best. Well done.

Registered on January 6, 2012, 651 Posts, 3448 Comments