Saturday 4 August 2018

technique - How can I take a picture of the moon as part of a night landscape?


I recently saw this scene while on vacation:


alt text


What I would like is for the moon not to be completely blown out, but to also get reflections on the water. If I expose for the reflections, the moon blows, which is to be expected, since the moon is in daylight. If I try to create a composite shot combining an exposure to just the moon and this shot, I have problems with the halo around the moon; the daylight exposure doesn't have it, but the nighttime one does, and that goes past my meager photoshop/lightroom skillset.



Is there a way to get this shot without postproduction, but entirely in-camera?



Answer



Just take two shots. One to get properly exposed reflections (and a blown moon), and another to get a properly exposed moon (and everything else pretty much black). In Photoshop, copy and paste the properly exposed moon on top of the other image.


If you don't want the halo, copy and paste the entire sky in the top right corner of your picture. If you take both your shots from the exact same position, you can create a mask that covers the top right corner of your image until the edge of the hill. If you then paste your moon shot on top, only the top right corner will be replaced.


That said, I think your shot with the overexposed moon is just fine. It balances with the overexposed light in the bottom left corner. The moon's halo makes the hill's edge visible.


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