Chasing the moon

[MattBurt]

Last weekend I came up with a plan to shoot photos of the rising super moon in a scenic spot. It all looked good for sunday, the day before the official full moon. I often shoot the day before to get the moonrise with more ambient light.

After driving for about an hour, 50/50 on paved and dirt I got tho the trailhead and started hiking. After about another hour and quite a bit of elevation gain I got to my spot and it was looking good. I was early so I took some photos while I waited.
Mt. Crested Butte. I live by those distant hills.
IMGP6310-Edit by Matt Burt, on Flickr

Looking West To Augusta Mountain which my friend and I climbed and skied a few years ago.
IMGP6318-Edit by Matt Burt, on Flickr

Looking NE toward the Maroon Bells and Aspen
IMGP6357-Edit by Matt Burt, on Flickr

Finally the moon appears. I've shot the moon in about this much light before so I tried to get it in a single shot. I prefer that if I can to bracketing and HDR which I figured I would need as it climbed higher. But really I should have been bracketing from the start.
IMGP5839-Edit-2 by Matt Burt, on Flickr

With the super moon not that much bigger but 30% brighter it threw off my sense of what I could do in a single exposure and it was hard to recover any detail from the moon for this shot. Even with HDR and a two stop spread I had trouble getting anything once it got higher.
IMGP5846 by Matt Burt, on Flickr

Not long after I realized it was getting futile to try and shoot the moon I had a nice hike back in the dark with plenty of moonlight to follow the trail with.
So although my photos didn't come out as nice as I was going for I still had a fun evening doing what I love to do.
I'm not going to make one of those awful composites that have been going around to lots of oohs and aahs. I don't mind some HDR but the blatant (and usually not that well executed) 'shop jobs are just hideous. I'll live with my overexposed moon!
I may try this again for just a regular full moon for easier to balance light. We got snow this week so getting there will probably a lot harder for the next 6 months. I've got time to figure it out.

[claws]

Beautiful landscapes, Matt. The sunlit grass in the foreground really makes the first two images stand out for me.

Kim

[adias]

Very good shots! I would suggest editing towards more detail on the Moon's surface.

[Neil Williams]

Wary wary Ni

[francois]

Good set of images and a great story. I quite like "your" Moon shots, I never got great result with that.In the end, my preference leans toward the first three photos, this light is sweet and I like the landscape a lot.

[Bart_van_der_Wolf]

Last weekend I came up with a plan to shoot photos of the rising super moon in a scenic spot.
[...]
I may try this again for just a regular full moon for easier to balance light. We got snow this week so getting there will probably a lot harder for the next 6 months. I've got time to figure it out.

Hi Matt,

Lovely landscape.

As for the moon exposure, it's really simple. Since the moon is fully lit by the sun, you can just use a variation on the 'Sunny 16' rule. When I shoot the full moon surface, I use a Sunny 11 rule, i.e. ISO 100 1/100th of a second exposure time f/11. Never fails. With very long lenses you may need to use a shorter exposure time to avoid motion blur, and adjust the aperture or ISO to compensate.

Cheers,
Bart

[sdwilsonsct]

So although my photos didn't come out as nice as I was going for I still had a fun evening doing what I love to do.

Sounds like a great time to me. And now you get to go back out again for another try.

[Telecaster]

IMO, given the field-of-view you were using, letting the moon mostly blow out is fine. I might've taken an exposure at -3 or -4 stops with the intent of compositing in the moon from it, but I'm not sure I would've actually used it. I have no problem with a photo looking obviously like a photo rather than an attempt at pretending to be a window.

-Dave-

[MattBurt]

Thanks for all the comments. I appreciate the info, the critique, and really any input.
Looking forward to getting out like that again, maybe on skis next time.

[Rajan Parrikar]

The last two images are compelling.

[James Clark]

The last two images are compelling.

Rajan - I agree completely.  Those are the two standouts to me as well.  Simply composed, interesting color and nice contrast with negative space.

[Chairman Bill]

Certainly looks like a fascinating landscape to explore, supermoon or not. Some lovely shots there.

[Sean H]

+ 1

Certainly looks like a fascinating landscape to explore, supermoon or not. Some lovely shots there.

[MattBurt]

Thanks again. I could spend a lifetime here exploring and well, that's what I am doing!