Life Without Sin

Gallery: LandscapePosted May 9, 2010318 views21 comments

I took this back on February 26th in the Glades. I've rarely had an opportunity to shoot a moon halo like this. On the way up the park, after shooting sunset near Flamingo, I noticed how pronounced the halo was. Knowing that if I wanted to emphasise the halo, the moon would have to be a little too overexposed, I got the idea to use a tree to partially hide the moon and put the halo around the tree.
This is a pretty straight forward shot... I didn't bother to try to get any detail in the FG and just went straight for a silhouette.

Comments and critiques appreciated

Canon 40D
Sigma 10-20mm f/4-5.6
ISO 320
28 sec. @ f/8
Tripod & remote switch
crop to 4x5

Wow, both the images look really noisy on this site... Must be due to compression. Trust me, none of that shows up on the original.

Comments

21 comments

Comment posted by Stan Rose on May 9, 2010 at 4:20 PM

Very cool! Good thinking with the tree. The clouds really add a mystical feel to this. Terrific shot!

Registered on September 15, 2005, 836 Posts, 17099 Comments

Comment posted by Ian Plant on May 9, 2010 at 4:38 PM

perfect Rick -- super awesome shot!

Registered on July 7, 2008, 271 Posts, 1657 Comments

Comment posted by Bill Chambers on May 9, 2010 at 4:59 PM

Terrific shot Rick - very moody image and nice processing.

Registered on April 10, 2005, 753 Posts, 21216 Comments

Comment posted by Ian Cameron on May 9, 2010 at 5:38 PM

Very striking I like it a lot. I see the squared pixel mapping going on but have read your initial comment. It looks not too complex a sky so i'm surprised at the artefacts appearing.

Registered on August 6, 2004, 1125 Posts, 3318 Comments

Comment posted by Eva McDermott on May 9, 2010 at 5:47 PM

Fantastic image Rick. Beautiful and eeire all at the same time

Registered on January 4, 2009, 1015 Posts, 13229 Comments

Comment posted by Dean Sauskojus on May 9, 2010 at 5:51 PM

What a great idea with great success. I'm curious, do the digital artifacts show up in the original shot of this? I think the use of some gaussian blur may take care of that. Lovely image Rick.

Registered on September 29, 2009, 137 Posts, 2659 Comments

Comment posted by Daniel Rappaport on May 9, 2010 at 7:27 PM

I love this. Great way to frame the moon halo.

Registered on September 9, 2009, 294 Posts, 2006 Comments

Comment posted by Daniel Ewert on May 9, 2010 at 7:45 PM

Very cool image, Rick. Great technique and execution here on this night exposure.

Registered on June 2, 2009, 103 Posts, 1500 Comments

Comment posted by Laura Stafford on May 9, 2010 at 8:50 PM

Great capture. I really like how the tree is framing the moon. Very unique.

Laura Stafford

Registered on November 3, 2009, 52 Posts, 375 Comments

Comment posted by Tony Kuyper on May 9, 2010 at 9:09 PM

Wonderful idea for the comp. Very effective at capturing and showcasing this phenomenon.

Registered on November 1, 2003, 364 Posts, 22328 Comments

Comment posted by Vance Gese on May 9, 2010 at 10:33 PM

Love the composition and your use of the silhouetted tree. Well done.

Registered on November 13, 2008, 298 Posts, 6629 Comments

Comment posted by Jesse Speer on May 10, 2010 at 1:42 AM

Your approach and thinking paid off NICELY. Excellent image, and great foresight to make it happen.

Registered on September 18, 2004, 19 Posts, 339 Comments

Comment posted by Miro Susta on May 10, 2010 at 7:06 AM

Excellent shot Rick. The frame fit well to the content. Nicely done.

Registered on August 18, 2006, 719 Posts, 3736 Comments

Comment posted by Jorne de Bruin on May 10, 2010 at 9:18 AM

Superb image Rick, the tree is very effective!

Registered on June 26, 2008, 178 Posts, 2136 Comments

Comment posted by Rick Gomez on May 10, 2010 at 9:42 AM

Thanks you guys! I was almost afraid to post this image at first, with the thought that if there were too many nits, I might not like it anymore. I was really happy with it when I first took it.

Dean, the digital artifacts do not show up at all on the original or in prints. In fact, it didn't even show up in photoshop after I compressed and saved for web. It was only after I posted it here that it showed up. I even tried compressing with different levels of sharpening and then reposting the image, but I kept getting those artifacts here on NPN.
The original is silky smooth

Registered on March 3, 2007, 206 Posts, 1853 Comments

Comment posted by Gary McGhee on May 10, 2010 at 9:55 AM

This looks stunning Rick. You did a great job capturing the halo.

Gary.

Registered on April 15, 2010, 142 Posts, 2416 Comments

Comment posted by Michael J Greene, on May 10, 2010 at 10:26 AM

I love the title Rick and your composition. If it were mine, I'd probably crop up a bit on the FG.

Registered on June 18, 2009, 86 Posts, 2317 Comments

Comment posted by Luis Argerich on May 10, 2010 at 11:14 AM

This is a hit! The halo around the tree is fantastic and the photo has a lot of drama!

Registered on December 22, 2009, 91 Posts, 1349 Comments

Comment posted by Mark Metternich on May 10, 2010 at 2:24 PM

Cool! Unique.

Mark

Registered on June 19, 2009, 276 Posts, 6240 Comments

Comment posted by Morris McClung on May 10, 2010 at 6:15 PM

Well crafted.

Registered on May 7, 2007, 670 Posts, 19650 Comments

Comment posted by Reed Bowman on May 10, 2010 at 7:03 PM

superb shot Rick...the tree is a very effective foil for the halo...both have their own ethereal beauty...love it

Registered on March 2, 2009, 166 Posts, 1058 Comments