Early Morning Full Moon with Clouds (+revised)

Image Critiques
1

Revised Version

Revision 3 (latest)

Revision 3 - -20260828-_7R58570-moon and clouds-DxO_DeepPRIME 3-Edit-3.jpg
Revision 3 - -20260828-_7R58570-moon and clouds-DxO_DeepPRIME 3-Edit-3.jpg1407×2048 546 KB

What changed: Third repost. Based on @Diane input I went all the way back to the first color version and converted to B&W. The moon glow blob was rather too dominant, so I used a luminosity mask and brought it down which made the shape of the moon more prominent and subdued the glow. A slight crop from left and bottom and some linear gradients along the lower frame to act as a partial vignette.

Revision 2

Revision 2 - -20260828-_7R58570-moon and clouds-DxO_DeepPRIME 3-Edit-2-Edit.jpg
Revision 2 - -20260828-_7R58570-moon and clouds-DxO_DeepPRIME 3-Edit-2-Edit.jpg1365×2048 661 KB

What changed: Someone in our camera club suggested B&W might work better and I do like it, so here it is.

Revision 1

Revision 1 - -20260828-_7R58570-moon and clouds-DxO_DeepPRIME 3-Edit-2.jpg
Revision 1 - -20260828-_7R58570-moon and clouds-DxO_DeepPRIME 3-Edit-2.jpg1365×2048 903 KB

What changed: Still trying to get to the feel of the sky yesterday morning. Increased exposure on sky and shifted a bit toward the blue. Brought up foreground a bit and added some blue to it. Bringing up foreground made me remove a couple of items like a sprinkler tripod setting between the trees. This feels like I’m getting toward where I want to take this image.

Added after receiving feedback from the community.

Original Version

Original - -20260828-_7R58570-moon and clouds-DxO_DeepPRIME 3-Edit-Edit.jpg
Original - -20260828-_7R58570-moon and clouds-DxO_DeepPRIME 3-Edit-Edit.jpg1346×2048 806 KB

Origianl Processing, Cropped

Original processing, uncropped
Original processing, uncropped1365×2048 806 KB

Original processing, uncropped

Critique Style: Standard

The photographer is looking for thoughtful feedback on the image as a whole, especially around the areas noted below.

Feedback Focus: Artistic + Technical

About This Image

I’m in the habit of getting up around fourish and this time of year I take my coffee onto the back porch, start a sprinkler, and relax for awhile. This morning, there were some really neat streaky clouds coming from the full moon straight toward us. I didn’t immediately get the camera, but an hour later, the moon had dropped enough to frame it between a couple of young oaks in the back yard and I couldn’t resist temptation any longer. Not being much of either a landscape or night photographer, I pretty much blundered my way through this shot, but I did manage to get everything within the dynamic range of the sensor and not too grossly out of focus.

Feedback Requested

I’ve included the original frame with quite a few LR adjustments to highlights, shadows exposure and contrast. In the final image, about all I did was a slight crop from the left and top which I thought balanced the image a bit better and also eliminated the lone star along the left edge.

I’m trying to maintain the predawn feel in this image, while letting the clouds start to glow. I am ambivalent about how much I want the terrain itself to show and have gone back and forth on it a bit.

Suggestions/examples are appreciated.

Technical Details

Image 1
Camera: SONY ILCE-7RM5
Lens: 28-70mm F2.8 DG DN | Contemporary 021
Focal length: 29mm
Shutter speed: 30s
Aperture: f/10
ISO: 100

Image 2
Camera: SONY ILCE-7RM5
Lens: 28-70mm F2.8 DG DN | Contemporary 021
Focal length: 29mm
Shutter speed: 30s
Aperture: f/10
ISO: 100

Preprocessing ws done with DxO PureRaw5 All other adjustment except crop and edge stroke were done in LR. Image take at 0455 Pacific Time.

2

I enjoyed both of these images, Dennis. You’ve got some really interesting clouds and lighting. But did you see the eclipse last night.

3

Watched it go into totality just before bedtime. Michelle is more into astronomical phenomena than I am. They’ve been going on far longer than I’ve been around and will continue for another few billion years, so they just don’t get me super excited.

4

I like this a lot, Dennis. It has an unusual feel to it. The clouds look like they’re radiating upwards, which could be a side effect of your focal length.

5

The original poster added a revised version of their image.

6

The original poster added a revised version of their image.

7

Dennis, this is a very nicely moody view that has a lot of motion and a touch of the ominous, especially in b&w. I like how the “V” of the trees is carried to the top of the frrame by the clouds. The fact that I can barely make out details in the foreground adds well to the full scene.

8

There is always something special about a moon behind clouds, and you have a wonderful capture here, with the hint of a 22-degree halo. I love the color version. There is a nice spookiness to the B/W version but I would like it better with less highlight detail.

9

Thanks, @Diane. An interesting observation on the highlight detail since I brought it up quite a bit. I started with much less light in the clouds, but somehow kept pushing it up. Time to go look at it again.

10

The original poster added a revised version of their image.

11

Dennis,

Its an interesting composition. The clouds impart a mysteriousness to the photo. I think what I like best about it is the hint of the the moon-halo arcing above and to the right of the moon. I would like to see revision 3 in color though.

12

Thanks, @Youssef_Ismail The system is telling me I’ve reached the allowable number of revisions :grinning_face: .

I have a number of color variations as well, and I like them, but they are a bit misleading as the light level was too low at the time to activate color vision in my eyes. Still, it’s half art in for this image. Maybe I should post it in the processing challenge.