Moonrise Manipulations

"The negative is comparable to the composer's score and the print to its performance. Each performance differs in subtle ways." -- Ansel Adams

 

....and sometimes that performance takes on a bit of an ethereal out-of-this-world feel, but what can I say, I like it. ;-)

 

This was serious comp stomp on a shot that my good friend Chuck Knowles was taking. I had been solely focused on the sunset (to the west) and missed the beautiful subtle hues that were setting up in the east and this pair of trees and the moon offered a choice opportunity.

 

I processed this shot using the Orton Technique and then since the moon was so small in the frame, I decided to try playing around with some of the photoshop lens flare options centered over the moon. I can't really say that any of these look remotely "natural" to me, but this one sure turned out cool, especially since the pink ring matches the sunset glow almost perfectly. Anyway, I hope you don't mind the departure from reality too much.

Done