As landscape photographers we probably all know the tenuous balance of the right light and the right amount of clouds. Often we have to deal with too much, too hard or too little, too diffused to get the shot we want.
My weekend was an exercise in seeking (and often missing) this balance.
Friday evening I went to an overlook I have been considering for a moonrise shot for some time. The plan was to shoot at 250-300mm (either 35mm or MF) to catch the spectacular moon at the horizon, looking big and grand. The clouds had other ideas and the moon wasn't even visible until some time after I knew it had risen. Fortunately the clouds became beautifully illuminated by the spectacular sunset behind me and the moon made a very brief appearance through a small gap in the cloudbank. So it's not the moon shot I was after but it would have to do.
IMGP4558-Edit by
Matt Burt, on Flickr
I went out again Saturday but now the moon was rising later and it was pretty dark by the time it was up. That made it much harder to get moon and landscape detail. The shots just didn't pan out like I had hoped. A little cloud cover would have helped tame the contrast but it was completely clear, unfortunately. No keepers were taken that evening.
My wife was game to get up early Sunday so I decided to join her at our large lake, Blue Mesa Reservoir to try again with the moon setting. After a brief appearance through the clouds similar to Friday's shot, it disappeared for the rest of the morning. I was hiking to my location and wasn't ready when it was visible so once again I missed it! On a positive note the clouds that obscured it made for a very nice sunrise which provided for several images I consider keepers.
IMGP4605-Edit by
Matt Burt, on Flickr
IMGP4616-Edit by
Matt Burt, on Flickr
I also got some pics of the wife on her paddleboard which can make a nice human element addition to a lake photo.
IMGP4735-Edit by
Matt Burt, on Flickr
