@Preston_Birdwell , @Diane_Miller , @John_Williams, @Glenys_Passier , @Paul_Dileanis , @Theresa_Clarke, thank you all for the feedback on this photograph and for honoring it with Editor’s Pick.
Coming from decades of photographing with film, and struggling with an older digital camera, the Nikon D2x, that did not have very good dynamic range or low light quality, and very noisy images taken with anything above ISO 200, using a modern camera like the D850 has opened some very interesting possibilities and learning how to utilize all of its capabilities has been exciting.
I never thought this photo was even possible until after making Sky Party earlier in the summer and seeing that I could have both the Milky Way and the moon in the sky at the same time, which at the time I thought while out there on the cliffs, that the images I was capturing were a waste of time and all would be deleted once I got home. Its “success”, if I can call it that, gave me the courage and impetus to try again at McWay Falls, and I am glad that I did.
However, I still see myself as a film photographer, and that the image is made with a single frame in camera and then polished in post, I struggle with myself when using multiple frames from the digital camera to make the final photo, as most of the work is now in post rather than in the moment and the tools of capture, and knowing how to use them to their full potential in the field, making the photo.
It almost feels like their is a sense of dishonesty in presenting the photo. I know I saw with my own eyes what I am presenting, and I captured the actual light that my eyes saw with the camera, when I first showed the image to my son, he said it was AI, and that it did not look real. I know digital photography is not “new”, now that it has been the mainstay for more than two decades, it’s full potential is new to me and I am learning how to navigate this new domain.
So again thank you all for your feedback, it is encouraging to know I have not stepped to far out from reality.