I made the hike up the Yosemite Falls trail 10 days ago hoping there would be enough water in the falls to give me a moonbow. I already knew the moon and stars would line up for me. These are pretty much single exposures (a little blending in the falls from adjacent exposures to get the best water motion). The light is from a 50% moon. Any thoughts are welcome.
Adding an edit with a darker sky (attempting to remove some blue as well) and toning down the brightness of the ground layer.
Landscape version
Portrait version
Edit of the Landscape file that is darker with less blue
Is this a single exposure? That's a tough shot to execute with both the Milky Way and the full moon light. Nicely captured!
I like the horizontal composition best. I know the full moon throws out a lot of light, but perhaps the image as a whole is still a bit too bright. Perhaps the exposure could be dropped a bit, in particular on the cliff face, to make it look more like night time. Or perhaps if the color temperature of the land and sky were more of a match--either cool the land & foreground, or warm the sky? Just spit-balling some ideas. Ultimately it's up to your taste
Chaz wrote:
Stunning scene, beautifully seen! The first one is stunning with all elements working together, fall, moonbow, wide valley vista, milky way, etc.
Get some BIG wall space ready.
Thanks a lot Chaz - that's what I was working for!
jforkner wrote:
Sky looks too blue to me---at 10:30pm it should be mostly black, even with moon. But good comp.
Jack
Thanks for the feedback Jack. The sky was still pretty bright, I actually darkened it quite a bit here. I'll take another look though.
Joseph Taub wrote:
Is this a single exposure? That's a tough shot to execute with both the Milky Way and the full moon light. Nicely captured!
I like the horizontal composition best. I know the full moon throws out a lot of light, but perhaps the image as a whole is still a bit too bright. Perhaps the exposure could be dropped a bit, in particular on the cliff face, to make it look more like night time. Or perhaps if the color temperature of the land and sky were more of a match--either cool the land & foreground, or warm the sky? Just spit-balling some ideas. Ultimately it's up to your taste ...Show more →
Thanks for your thoughts Joseph. It is a single exposure (except as noted above for a little blending in the waterfall). Agree that it is still pretty bright - I'll play around a little to see if I like some more darkness.
Great job on this shot Kyle. I like the landscape orientation best, especially since that has the Milky Way core in frame. Looks like a beautiful hike!
The first one is definitely the better of the two, landscape orientation works very well. The composition is just fantastic, but I will toss another voice in about the sky. The color/saturation of the sky is a tad off.
Thanks everyone for the feedback. I took at shot at an edit primarily for the sky, both darkening it and toning down the blue. Hopefully it helps. I darkened some of the ground layer a little more as well. I've added the edit to the original post as well as showing it here.
The re-post (#3) is the best of the bunch, IMO. Great image, all around. It's a good astro image, in its own right. The moonbow is a nice addition to an otherwise gorgeous scene of the mountains, valley, and waterfall. It has the additional benefit of offering a unique take on a frequently photographed scene. It pulls you in for a second, and even, third, look.
