Perigee Moon = bright night!

Hey guys,

Did any of you get out there to see the big, bright moon recently? I have been amazed how bright it has been over the past several nights.

Unfortunately the skies have been cloudy in Monterey at night (still bright though). After seeing David Clapp's recent night shots I had to get out there anyway to experiment. If you haven't seen it take a look here:
http://www.fredmiranda.com/forum/topic/717025

David is one my all time favorite landscape photographers. Because he inspired me I found myself freezing my tail off in Big Sur this early pre-dawn AM. Believe it or not these are night shots:

5DII, ISO 640, 30 seconds:
http://www.landandseaphoto.smugmug.com/gallery/6234693_bgVA8#436291513_XbTRK-A-LB

5DII, ISO 100, 10 minutes:
http://www.landandseaphoto.smugmug.com/gallery/6234693_bgVA8#436301217_Ebvgg-A-LB

My goal is to get a clear night with visible stars (without trails) over the moonlit Pacific - if not this full moon maybe next month.

Did anyone else try their hand and moonlit shots recently? I figure there has got to be clearer sky some where else in CA right now. If so please post your shot(s). I would b interested to see them.

My brother-in-law shot Yosemite under the stars by moonlight once, which really got me thinking about a mtn/waterfall comp as well - maybe sometime next year.

Derek

Nice, I really like the colors and mixture of textures in your second image linked.

Interestingly I did stop and take notice of the moon a few days ago before I even knew it was supposed to be so close and bright. It was very clear in So. CA on its brightest and fullest night. I didn't try capturing it... but after seeing yours and David's work I'll have to reconsider.

Good luck with your next attempt... I really like how David chose to blend the exposures in order to eliminate the star trails and maximize the sharpness front to back. Good stuff!

Derek, the second one here is the ticket. Wow, a 10 minute exposure, sounds like something one us film shooters would do.

The Moonlit glow in the second makes for a lot better photo than the first. I wonder how much a 30,000 mile closer than usual moon makes a difference for a night photographer.

Here is a link to one shot a little too close to sunset. I got tired of waiting for in cam noise reduc software to finish so i pulled out the battery while waiting to see and getting annoyed so I missed out on the shorter exposure for the sky.
<a href="http://sieren.smugmug.com/gallery/6837936_J3Vcm#437109372
" target="_blank">http://sieren.smugmug.com/gallery/6837936_J3Vcm#437109372
</a>

Keep trying it only gets easier.

Hey Steve,

I think it was quite a bit brighter - the brightest in 15 years. According to one science article I read it stated "Nasa estimated that the moon could appear up to 14% bigger and 30% brighter than other full moons this year.."

I think next month is supposed to be brighter than usual as well - just not as much as this month. The full moon does make a huge difference at night. I tried shooting a couple of weeks ago in pitch black and got nothing.

Hey, that image is actually not that bad at all except of course for a little blown highlights. Is that another Malibu shot? Man, you sure have been finding some great comps down there. I used to surf Malibu and never noticed the scenery you have discovered. Your U-Turn shot in ESS was the the best image I have ever seen of that area.

Thanks for your input. The second shot above (#88) looks more believable. The first looks like bright daylight. When I try again I want to get stars in the sky and will probably exposure for a shorter length of time or lower ISO than the first one.

Derek

Paul,

The 5D II sensor is pretty clean for long exposures, as long as the shot is not really underexposed. But yes, film is still the gold standard for looong exposures (30 minutes+).

Here is 20 minutes from a week ago which is still pretty darn clean - no noise reduction applied:
http://landandseaphoto.smugmug.com/gallery/6234693_bgVA8#431048706_QTzS3-A-LB

Speaking of night shots have you guys ever seen the "Moonbows" taken in Yosemite Valley mostly in the Spring. They are pretty killer. Take a lot a these links describing the phenomenon:
http://uweb.txstate.edu/~do01/

Here is my favorite shot taken by Jia Liu:
http://thruthefinder.com/picture.php?gallery=naturescapes&index=51

Derek

Thanks for sharing, Derek. These shots are dream-like. They're inspiritional for me to try
some long exposures under the full moon. Keep up the good work.