Clockwork

I meant to post a version with a larger moon – here it is. Since it’s a fantasy image anyway, I prefer the even more 3D effect of the larger one. (And I re-processed the moon to get slightly better IQ, but the limitations of the older camera bodies really come out in trying to pull tonal detail of of something like this. (This was the 5D Mk II.)

Here’s a smaller moon, but I like the bigger one – it is so 3D, at least for me.

Critique Style Requested: Standard

The photographer is looking for generalized feedback about the aesthetic and technical qualities of their image.

Description

An oldie, and a composite, of course. I rarely find cool foregrounds for night skies, but sunrise on the Alvord has worked on a few occasions, for fly-in camping.

Specific Feedback

All comments welcome!

Technical Details

All three are so old it hardly matters. I’m not even sure which lunar eclipse this was.


Critique Template

Use of the template is optional, but it can help spark ideas.

  • Vision and Purpose:
  • Conceptual:
  • Emotional Impact and Mood:
  • Composition:
  • Balance and Visual Weight:
  • Depth and Dimension:
  • Color:
  • Lighting:
  • Processing:
  • Technical:
3 Likes

Wow, simply gorgeous!!! Can’t get any better than this -
perfect star trails and eclipse
Masterful!

Diane, the star trails and the light along the horizon look and feel just right. The silhouetted skyline is also good. To me, the moon feels way too big. I wonder how it would feel if the moon were about half the current size.

Cool! I had the same thought as Mark, that the moon really big. But it doesn’t bother me because this is rather otherworldly and the larger-than-life moon fits that story.

Thanks, @SandyR-B, @Mark_Seaver and @Bonnie_Lampley! I’ve posted a version with a smaller moon, but for me it doesn’t have the impact. It’s definitely other-worldly, with the sunrise, star trails, sprinkled stars and lunar eclipse being shot at different times and places. From the LR filmstrip, I put it together after shooting the eclipse (December, 2010). I could undoubtedly do a better job of processing the eclipse itself, with today’s software. A lunar eclipse is very dim and stresses the capabilities of both camera and software. This one apparently was not tracked.

Oh, I definitely prefer the larger moon version!

Hmmmmm – I COULD go bigger… May have a look at how much I can improve the moon and see what I get.

Its a great composite Diane. But if you go much bigger than the original, then its starts getting into the cartoon zone. I actually like the smaller moon version. Either way it very eye-catching.

I like the smaller version the best. Gives more space and to me shows the vastness and size of the sky. Very cool shot !!! I have always been into the stars and universe … Just looking at the moon close up is just amazing.

Woah.

OMG.

Just woah.

1 Like

I love it! Thanks, @Kris_Smith! That’s my idea of a first impression!

But we seem to have a difference of opinion here. For me, it’s about the eclipse with the other stuff being a background. I think maybe others are seeing it as a landscape with the moon thrown in. Any vote from you?

For me it’s the totality of the piece (see what I did there? :wink: ). It reminds me of a movie poster or a book cover for some epic sci-fi adventure. Not looking to it or the movie for reality, but possibility and wonder. The star trails and the stillness of the moon are a bit of a brain bender, but still fun and quite startling - it’s an image that makes you stop and look. It nudges our senses of wonder out from behind the walls of ennui and over-stimulation. I like that you included the horizon and the color there - it grounds the photo and keeps it from being too imaginary.

1 Like

Diane: I’m really late to this party but kudos to you for the concept and the execution. I don’t have any real preference for either version but find both delightful. >=))>

Thanks, @Bill_Fach, and again @Kris_Smith! Sometimes I just get on a fantastical kick and things like this just seem to happen on their own.

1 Like

As someone else said, reminds me a sci-fi cover, because there are places were a moon would be that much bigger in the sky. I do like in the larger one the placement of it in the darker area to stand out. At first i was going to the smaller moon. But then I thought, since I have seen so many moon images where it takes up the whole frame, why not go for the bigger impact? Glad you did, it stopped me for sure. I am not an astro photographer at all, so this might be a dumb question: With the right tracking gear, could someone pull this off in a single frame? Or just too many moving bodies? :wink: Thanks for sharing this.

Thanks, @patrick6! Not a dumb question at all!! But you’re right, too many moving bodies! The desert sunrise could possibly be pulled off as some of the later frames in star trails (lots of several-minute exposures stacked in lighten mode) but the center of rotation on the left is north, and the sunrise is east, and the star trails just don’t look that wide-angle. And star trails are anti-tracking – you want a camera pointing at a fixed point in the sky shooting a bunch of exposures, (Centered on north for star circles.) And the eclipse was a single frame with the ancient Canon EOS 5D, from back in 2010. I’ve tried to track several with inferior gear (but not bad results) and am hoping to get the next two with the good gear.

Amazing image, Diane. I love the colors, the pin point stars adjacent to the trails, the moon scaled up, and the silhouette of the mountains. Really wonderfully done.

While the moon does look disproportionate, there is nothing about this that is “as the eye would see it.” The trails and pin points (not possible all at once) and the eye does zoom in on what it wants to see, so a big moon never bothers me in a shot that makes no pretense of realism.

Wonderfully done! Can’t wait to see what you do with other eclipses.

By the way, I shot this same eclipse from outside of Prineville that winter. It was cold as space outside. In fact, I set up my camera on the patio and shot in live view from inside with an rc trigger, going out to reposition every now and then. Of course, I didn’t really get jack, so it’s great to see what someone else did that night.
ML

Thanks, @Marylynne_Diggs! Cool that you shot the same one! The Priveville area has some dark skies – a good place to be for astro. I have no record of where I shot any of mine but two (out of ten), but this one was also likely from our deck. I’m hoping for clear skies here for the next couple as I really want to get good tracking on them and the tracker is a hassle to travel with, and totally impractical for car travel if it involves overnights in motels due to the bulk and weight.

Hi Diane,
Ordinarily I would be inclined to gravitate toward the image with the more realistic smaller moon, but in this case the image is so other worldly with the star trails the larger moon definitely works. This looks like it could have been captured from another planet. The processing sounds like to much for me, but I sure am enjoying the end result. Beautifully done!

Thanks, @Ed_Lowe! I’m delighted to be able to mess with your mind! :upside_down_face: