Wolf Moon rising

[MattBurt]

I was considering shooting moonrise on Wednesday but it was too cloudy and I was busy with work so I just kept working.
But I made a plan for Thursday and although it looked like the clouds might block it again there was a nice gap between the horizon and thicker clouds that gave me my opportunity.
A 5 minute drive and a 15 minute hike brought me to this spot on a ridge behind my alma mater to align the moon with a favorite adventure zone for me, Fossil Ridge Wilderness Area.
I used my vintage Pentax 300/4 lens on my modern K-1 mk2 body and I think it came together pretty well. This is 2 bracketed shots blended in Lightroom for detail in the moon and the landscape.

[Frans Waterlander]

This looks too artificial for my taste.

[MattBurt]

This looks too artificial for my taste.

That's understandable. The contrast was greater than my dynamic range so I had to choose to embrace it (blown out moon) or try to tame it with HDR. I chose the latter.

[rgs]

Nice work and good planning. The blended image doesn't bother me. I once had a class with John Sexton working on flashing enlarging paper to tame high dynamic range work. Similar idea with different technology. If it could be done in a darkroom, I have no reservation doing it digitally.

[Chairman Bill]

If it could be done in a darkroom, I have no reservation doing it digitally.

My thoughts exactly

[RSL]

+1

[Slobodan Blagojevic]

... The contrast was greater than my dynamic range so I had to choose to embrace it (blown out moon) or try to tame it with HDR...

Matt, you and I know how difficult it is to shoot a full moon. There is a very brief window of opportunity where the balance of the sky darkness and the brightness of the moon is just right. The lower on the horizon, the easier it is. But of course, one has to find an interesting foreground at the same time, and moon moves fast. Mountains are difficult, as they are elevated well above the horizon, and by the time the moon appears above them, it is usually already too bright.

[MattBurt]

Matt, you and I know how difficult it is to shoot a full moon. There is a very brief window of opportunity where the balance of the sky darkness and the brightness of the moon is just right. The lower on the horizon, the easier it is. But of course, one has to find an interesting foreground at the same time, and moon moves fast. Mountains are difficult, as they are elevated well above the horizon, and by the time the moon appears above them, it is usually already too bright.

Right! My usual trick is to go the day before (my monthly holiday, Full Moon Eve) for a moon that is close enough to full but with a lot more ambient light to balance things out. But I was busy with work and couldn't do it Wednesday and then it was too cloudy anyway. So that left me in darkness last night with the higher horizon pushing back moonrise another 10 minutes or so. So I was happy I had anything usable when I got home. 

[Eric Myrvaagnes]

It looks fine to me. (Better than any of my moonshots.    )

[francois]

It's a very nice capture. I like it as it is.
Well done.

[Paulo Bizarro]

I like it.

[MattBurt]

Thanks everyone! All feedback is appreciated.
The Internet seems to like this one, whatever that is worth. Sold a 20x30 print already too, so there's that.

[Eric Myrvaagnes]

Sold a 20x30 print already too, so there's that.

Good! Deserves it.

[langier]

Well done, Matt!