I was fortunate to be at Monument Valley in Arizona for last week's full moonrise. What a treat to see it appear above one of the famous Mitten buttes. No matter how many full moons I have witnessed, each one is exciting and renewing.
The full moon always rises at about the same time as sunset, so there is still some ambient light on the scene which illuminates it to preserve the texture of the landscape. That's the good news.
The bad news is that exposure can be tough. First, you must set the shutter speed no slower than 1/30 sec. Slower than that and the motion of the moon shows in the image resulting in fuzzy edges and\or an oval moon rather than a round one.
Second it can be difficult to keep both the landscape and the moon properly exposed. Often the landscape can be rendered too dark or the moon too light, or both. Play it safe and do one exposure for the landscape and one for the moon. This image employs that technique, and then they were blended using Photoshop.
TECH SPECS
1/30 sec. at f/4, ISO 800. Canon 70-200mm f/4L IS lens set at 127mm on Canon 5D Mark III. Gitzo tripod with Really Right Stuff ballhead.
TODAY'S QUOTE: "The secret of genius is to carry the spirit of the child into old age, which means never losing your enthusiasm." --Aldous Huxley
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