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Fire and Moon

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7 replies
Posted by Scott Bean on April 9, 2009 at 12:42 AM
Fire and Moon
Went out last night and tonight looking for prairie fires. I hit the jackpot tonight! Drove from Manhattan down to Cottonwood Falls and the Chase County Fishing Lake and shot the waterfalls there and then headed back towards Manhattan. Ran into a beautiful sunset at Council Grove Lake. Saw lots of fires driving down and coming back. One of my reasons for going out tonight was to try and catch the moon rising over some fires. I thought I lucked out until I got almost back to Manhattan and got this shot. This fire was incredible, I've never seen so much being burned off at once. I'll have to get some other shots online that show more of the fires.

This was a 3 shot HDR (my last shots of the evening!), processed in Photomatix.
Posted by Ed Cooley on April 9, 2009 at 12:55 AM
This is really interesting Scott, thanks for posting it. I am hoping to make it to Kansas later this spring.
Posted by Merle Cook on April 9, 2009 at 7:50 AM
I like it Scott. It makes an interesting shot with an almost primeval feel . I would hope the lake waterfalls are flowing more than when we were there for the gathering.
Posted by Scott Bean on April 9, 2009 at 8:15 AM
Thanks guys!

Here is another view of the moon rising from earlier in the evening.
Posted by Bill Dark on April 9, 2009 at 8:37 AM
Both great shots, Scott! Looks like you hit the motherlode...my only nit is the distracting text at the bottom.
Posted by Angela Classen on April 9, 2009 at 10:10 AM
I like both of these and can't pick a favorite. What size lens did you use? Anytime I've shot the moon, it turns out to be a tiny little speck in the frame so I'm sure I just need bigger glass. You got some great detail in the moon on that second shot. I had hoped to get out and chase some fires this year but don't know if it will be possible.
Posted by Ken Bachman on April 9, 2009 at 7:05 PM
I really like that second one, Scott. That's about the image I had in mind all afternoon when I saw the smoke clouds in the east but I had to work too late to make it out there.

Thanks for showing what a little extra effort can produce.
Posted by Scott Bean on April 9, 2009 at 11:40 PM
Angela,

The first shot was taken at 47mm and has been cropped, maybe 15%? The second picture was taken at 105mm and is not cropped (both shot with a Canon 40D with 1.6x crop factor). I couldn't have asked for better light for the second shot to hold detail in the moon and foreground.