Moonrise at Haleakala Crater - larger view OK

This image was taken the night of the "super" moon up in Haleakala Crater. As

the moon rose in front of us, the setting sun behind warmed the sky colors. I

used the Singh-Ray vari ND filter to make this 30 second exposure, blurring the

clouds. But the moon moved too, so I borrowed a moon from another photo

taken that evening, and placed it where you see it. Aloha.

The photo looks really cool, but the moon just doesn't look right since its being placed on top of the clouds. If you could make it less visible so it looks like its behind the clouds it might help.

 

Good job on the original image tho. The clouds look awesome.

 

-Don

I'm convinced that placement of the moon in a photo is one of the most difficult editing jobs that exist, because it seems to be exceedingly difficult to do while retaining the look of a single shot.  The human eye is just too good at discerning slight shifts in color casts.  I understand the motivation (I've tried it several times  myself) because the moon is so bright compared to the rest of the landscape in a fading sun.  But it very, very seldom looks authentic.

The original moon was blown out due to the long exposure, but the flowing clouds were more important to me.  The position of the moon is where the blown out moon was.  I agree placing one in a photo is very difficult.  Thanks for the input.

The moon is so fake looking, it actually hideous.

John H. I would be happy to utilize any advice you may offer on how to make it appear realistic.

The composition and scenery are very dramatic. I think it's possible for you to make this photo work with some more effort.The contrast of the features within the moon looks too great, or too perfect, like you would never see it quite like that with the naked eye. I'd suggest decreasing the contrast and increasing the overall brightness in the moon. Cheers, -Clayton

../photodb/photo?photo_id=10763612        http://photo.net/photodb/photo?photo_id=10763612    An image of the same area 2 years ago.  I'll eventually get it right!

While it is pretty and striking I have to agree that it doesn't look real. Part of that is that the moon would be behind the cloud, not in front of it. To me it looks too sharp, too big, and too contrasty.

I played around with this a bit and came up with a more realistic version. Hope you find it useful to compare.

Nice patch Chuck!  Aloha.

@Chuck: I'm pretty sure that is not a cloud. The blue area just above the fog is earth's shadow projected into the atmosphere. The pink area above that is actually clear sky, still glowing from the sunset. In reality, the moon would be more prominent than you've portrayed it, and less prominent than in the original post. This just goes to show how finely our eyes can discriminate something that's not quite right. The "earth shadow" effect is very familiar to those who photograph in predawn or dusk light, especially in the desert. Regards, -Clayton

Some very helpful comments above and most well thought out.  So I'll skip the technical and just say that this would make a fine illustration in a sci-fi novel and the skill level to seamlessly add the moon is impressive....  Mike

A beautiful shot - don't think you need any more input from me and it might be repetitious.

Thanks Tony.   And Clayton is accurate in his color description.   For a better understanding of the color layers, read Glenn Randall's article "A View From The Top" in the June issue of Outdoor Photographer.   

The rendition of the earth's shadow is almost as striking as the moon -- I don't think I've ever seen the boundary so narrow or the colors so deep and strongly different.  I have a feeling that the sky has been pushed in processing.  These clouds spilling over the mountains are so striking that I hope you will keep at this -- it has the potential for an outstanding landscape photograph.  It's an exceptionally difficult time of day -- the sky is still relatively bright, yet the ground is rapidly becoming dark.  Perhaps a blend of two exposures might be an effective approach.

Very powerful image, Dominick, my only nit would the placed moon, it's too sharp edged which is sign that it was placed. I have found that using "Refine Edge" can help soften the edges making for a more natural paste. Still, very well done, Dominick. PS I always take at least 3 exposures on photographs like this, mainly to get one of the moon exposed correctly. One can take the correctly exposed moon and blend it using a mask with the other exposure that has the rest of the image exposed correctly. This method looks most natural because there is no cut and paste which we all know is quite difficult. Brushing in the moon's details can be very "real" looking and can further processed with blur, levels etc.

Love the work which is excellent.  Also learned a lot from the above comments and ideas.  Best Regards,