Hello everyone,
I went moon hunting this past weekend with it being the lunar eclipse and all...
This was taken Saturday morning from the east parking lot of Crissy Field (for you SF folks) - I so want this photo to work, but am having trouble resolving the crop, haze, slightly out-of-focus, noise, etc... Please provide your 2cents - the good, bad and the ugly are always appreciated!
shutter 1/8 sec at f/9.0
ISO 160
Canon EF400mm f/5.6L with 2x
Tripod, MLU and cable release
Does anyone know where I can get some hands on training with a sextant or celestial navigation in the bay area? - I would assume this would help me determine the path of the moon so I can figure out the best vantage point for photo ops instead of chasing around the city like I did Saturday morning.
Thank you for your input.
Michie
Posted by John W. Wall on March 8, 2007 at 2:00 PM
Hi Michie. I shot the moonrise from about the same location and had no regrets, even though it didn't come up where I thought it would. Instead of getting the city skyline in the foreground I got the Bay Bridge and East Bay hills. There's something to be said for calculating things ahead of time, but I also enjoyed being surprised. BTW, I just read that quite a few photogs use the Legion of Honor vantage point for moonrise.
I think you had good instincts for your shot. I don't know if the view would have been different from out on the pier, but I might like to see the ocean's horizon in the bg instead of the Headlands. Also, as you note, the fog obscures any detail on the moon's surface, but what the hell, there's always next month.
I think this is a stunning, unique view of the bridge and this part of San Fransisco. I don't know even if you had any navigational assistance you could have planned this any better. It doesn't appear very hazy to me, nor out of focus. You could play with the contrast, but I love the lighting as is. The moon is the centerpiece and I like the clouds obscuring part of it.
I think you should be very happy with this! I love it.
I think the beauty of posting a web compressed and reduced photo is that a lot of the focus and artifact problems go away
Full size - the lighthouse and the bridge are a bit fuzzy (not absolutely razor sharp probably due to my rushed manual focus) and noise in the sky shows up (even with a light helping of dust and scratches/surface blur)
Loving it - I definitely want to because of the partialy obscured moon being centered under the bridge, but I'm unsure whether the technical defects detract from public/other photographer's appreciation. (Read - I'm trying to build a portfolio...hahahahah)
Legion of Honor - I will definately have to check it out - I also took some long exposures of the Joan D'Arc statue Friday night before the moon headed toward the bridge.
I think that's one you'd want to work on to extract all you can from it. If it's soft, then just print it to the size it accomodates. I'd say LightRoom would be the right tool for that one.
Lacks a little contrast/saturation and presence... but not much (don't overdo it).
I'd say make the non-lit parts a little darker and richer color, and the bright parts
stand out. You want to feel that dusk timeframe.
If you do use lightroom:
- Maybe some gamma
- Some saturation (deeper reds on the bridge?)
- A touch of contrast
- A litlle black
- A little sharpening- Play with the RGBCYMK controls
I think the beauty of posting a web compressed and reduced photo is that a lot of the focus and artifact problems go away
Full size - the lighthouse and the bridge are a bit fuzzy (not absolutely razor sharp probably due to my rushed manual focus) and noise in the sky shows up (even with a light helping of dust and scratches/surface blur)
Loving it - I definitely want to because of the partialy obscured moon being centered under the bridge, but I'm unsure whether the technical defects detract from public/other photographer's appreciation. (Read - I'm trying to build a portfolio...hahahahah)
Legion of Honor - I will definately have to check it out - I also took some long exposures of the Joan D'Arc statue Friday night before the moon headed toward the bridge.
Thanks again,
Michie
Posted by Richard Wong on March 8, 2007 at 4:21 PM
Might be a bit soft due to the 2x converter. Cool shot. The only suggestion I have for determining where to go would be to know the area very well, look at the conditions then decide quickly and give yourself enough time to get there. Don't be afraid to fail. Fail enough while trying and you will get some home runs out of it.
Yeah, I was flying around the greater marina district trying to find the best vantage point - unfortunately I started in the parking lot about an hour earlier but didn't think about the path of travel landing the moon where I eventually caught it.
I'm not afraid to try - that's why I like digital so much hahahahahah.
Posted by Cory Freeman on March 8, 2007 at 7:38 PM
the us naval observatory link might have some useful info to help you figure out where the moon might be at any given time and location.
Nice composition, however I would like to see more contrast.
Meanwhile, I was at Yosemite (Tunnel View) to shoot moon rise at sun set on Friday evening. Unfortunately, since 4:30 PM, cloud started moving in. So couldn't see the rising moon in the sky.
Thank you Subrata,
I hope the rest of your stay in Yosemite went well... How were the snow levels on Half Dome and in the valley?
Yeah - I'm trying to keep the sky darkish since it was before sunrise, but I will toy with everyone's suggestions and repost this weekend.
Posted by Michie Wong on March 9, 2007 at 12:01 AM
Thank you Cory for the lead to the Naval Observatory...I'll have to get a PhD first to understand the stuff!!! - If only I could decipher the earth rotational data. However, they are hiring an entry level astronomer
Posted by Richard Wong on March 9, 2007 at 4:48 PM
lol, i can relate to the flying around part. once I ran all the way from Montgomery St. to Pier 1 to catch some great clouds at sunset over the Bay Bridge / Treasure Island. Then I had to be in class five minutes later. I was late. My original thought was to photograph the clouds from San Bruno Mountain park or Fort Funston but the clouds moved so I moved with them. I wasn't wearing the right type of shoes so my feet were burning up.
Discussion
13 repliesI went moon hunting this past weekend with it being the lunar eclipse and all...
This was taken Saturday morning from the east parking lot of Crissy Field (for you SF folks) - I so want this photo to work, but am having trouble resolving the crop, haze, slightly out-of-focus, noise, etc... Please provide your 2cents - the good, bad and the ugly are always appreciated!
shutter 1/8 sec at f/9.0
ISO 160
Canon EF400mm f/5.6L with 2x
Tripod, MLU and cable release
Does anyone know where I can get some hands on training with a sextant or celestial navigation in the bay area? - I would assume this would help me determine the path of the moon so I can figure out the best vantage point for photo ops instead of chasing around the city like I did Saturday morning.
Thank you for your input.
Michie
I think you had good instincts for your shot. I don't know if the view would have been different from out on the pier, but I might like to see the ocean's horizon in the bg instead of the Headlands. Also, as you note, the fog obscures any detail on the moon's surface, but what the hell, there's always next month.
I think this is a stunning, unique view of the bridge and this part of San Fransisco. I don't know even if you had any navigational assistance you could have planned this any better. It doesn't appear very hazy to me, nor out of focus. You could play with the contrast, but I love the lighting as is. The moon is the centerpiece and I like the clouds obscuring part of it.
I think you should be very happy with this! I love it.
Lon
I think the beauty of posting a web compressed and reduced photo is that a lot of the focus and artifact problems go away
Full size - the lighthouse and the bridge are a bit fuzzy (not absolutely razor sharp probably due to my rushed manual focus) and noise in the sky shows up (even with a light helping of dust and scratches/surface blur)
Loving it - I definitely want to because of the partialy obscured moon being centered under the bridge, but I'm unsure whether the technical defects detract from public/other photographer's appreciation. (Read - I'm trying to build a portfolio...hahahahah)
Legion of Honor - I will definately have to check it out - I also took some long exposures of the Joan D'Arc statue Friday night before the moon headed toward the bridge.
Thanks again,
Michie
I think that's one you'd want to work on to extract all you can from it. If it's soft, then just print it to the size it accomodates. I'd say LightRoom would be the right tool for that one.
Lacks a little contrast/saturation and presence... but not much (don't overdo it).
I'd say make the non-lit parts a little darker and richer color, and the bright parts
stand out. You want to feel that dusk timeframe.
If you do use lightroom:
- Maybe some gamma
- Some saturation (deeper reds on the bridge?)
- A touch of contrast
- A litlle black
- A little sharpening- Play with the RGBCYMK controls
Joan of Arc or Jeanne D'arc. Pick one :)
I think the beauty of posting a web compressed and reduced photo is that a lot of the focus and artifact problems go away
Full size - the lighthouse and the bridge are a bit fuzzy (not absolutely razor sharp probably due to my rushed manual focus) and noise in the sky shows up (even with a light helping of dust and scratches/surface blur)
Loving it - I definitely want to because of the partialy obscured moon being centered under the bridge, but I'm unsure whether the technical defects detract from public/other photographer's appreciation. (Read - I'm trying to build a portfolio...hahahahah)
Legion of Honor - I will definately have to check it out - I also took some long exposures of the Joan D'Arc statue Friday night before the moon headed toward the bridge.
Thanks again,
Michie
Yeah, I was flying around the greater marina district trying to find the best vantage point - unfortunately I started in the parking lot about an hour earlier but didn't think about the path of travel landing the moon where I eventually caught it.
I'm not afraid to try - that's why I like digital so much hahahahahah.
Cool shot btw!
Meanwhile, I was at Yosemite (Tunnel View) to shoot moon rise at sun set on Friday evening. Unfortunately, since 4:30 PM, cloud started moving in. So couldn't see the rising moon in the sky.
Subrata
I hope the rest of your stay in Yosemite went well... How were the snow levels on Half Dome and in the valley?
Yeah - I'm trying to keep the sky darkish since it was before sunrise, but I will toy with everyone's suggestions and repost this weekend.
How were the snow levels on Half Dome and in the valley?
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check it out yourself here: http://yosemite.org/vryos/
that and a doppler radar are the best tools for Yosemite photography ;-)