Moonrise over Emigrant Peak

Image Critiques Weekly Challenge
1

Moonrise over Emigrant.jpg
Moonrise over Emigrant.jpg2000×1600 259 KB

Critique Style Requested: Standard

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

Description

A favorite Montana activity is watching the full moon rise over Emigrant Peak where the position of the moon over the peak changes dramatically with the seasons and the challenge is to get the mix of light on the mountains and the full moon balanced enough to make a single shot capture.

Specific Feedback

I wish the moon were a bit higher and more towards the right, but waiting 10 minutes for that would mean losing the mountain in the darkness.

Technical Details

This is a single exposure at -2EV to hold the details in the moon. The moon was burned-in lightly to show more details. The snow on the mountains was dodged using a luminosity mask that I created, which limited the dodging to mostly the snow, since a wider mask also dodged the sky above the mountain, leaving a slight halo.

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:
2

Excellent work on this scene both in the field and post processing as well, Mark. The low light conditions can be a real challenge with overall exposure in the moon highlights and the landscape darkness too… :+1:

3

This is so nice Mark. Your timing was great to get the detail in the moon and the mountain. The snow and clouds add a lot to ponder also.

4

Very nice image, Mark. And you handled the post processing really well. I often find that images with the moon just don’t look natural. Perhaps it’s the processing needed to balance the exposure. But this one looks great.