Moonrise

[arctos]

Exif data: (I don't know why it is missing in flickr)
Camera: Olympus e-620
Lens: 40-150mm @ 86mm
F-stop: f/8
Shutter: 1/125 sec
ISO: 200
Metering mode: Pattern

Took this photo by chance while I was at the pool with my nephew because I was captivated by the colour gradient in the sky at dusk. (It also helps that it was full moon that day.)

I've tried to adjust the white balance towards the cooler blue-purple shade to give a serene feel of the moon rising. Would like comments on whether the feel is achieved or have I saturated the colours too much, making it 'unnatural'? In addition, I would like to confirm if the composition is alright (tried to follow rules of the third for placing the moon as well as cutting off the tree-top silhouettes).

Thanks in advance.

[dave.turley]

Hi,
Love this shot...I like a long crop like this and as is usual, need no excuse to post one of mine. Your shot certainly has the serenity you were after, and would look great on a bedroom wall.
Dave

[Krusty79]

Welcome to DPS. I like the color gradient in the sky. It doesn't look oversaturated to me. The only comment on composition I have is that I would like to see a little more of the tops of the trees. I think that would satisfy my sense of proportion in the image. That's a minor thing, though. Nice shot!

[2stroke]

I like it. I like how the moon is sitting close to the pink/blue gradient line. I also like the negative space. But, I am with Krusty on that I would like to see a smidge more of the trees and maybe push the blacks a tiny bit more to get the trees sharp ink black. Only other possibility is to get a slightly more contrast from the moon itself.

DSC07408 | Flickr - Photo Sharing!
There is my similarly composed moon shot.

[arctos]

Originally Posted by dave.turley

Hi,
Love this shot...I like a long crop like this and as is usual, need no excuse to post one of mine. Your shot certainly has the serenity you were after, and would look great on a bedroom wall.
Dave

Thank you for the kind words.

Originally Posted by Krusty79

Welcome to DPS. I like the color gradient in the sky. It doesn't look oversaturated to me. The only comment on composition I have is that I would like to see a little more of the tops of the trees. I think that would satisfy my sense of proportion in the image. That's a minor thing, though. Nice shot!

Originally Posted by 2stroke

I like it. I like how the moon is sitting close to the pink/blue gradient line. I also like the negative space. But, I am with Krusty on that I would like to see a smidge more of the trees and maybe push the blacks a tiny bit more to get the trees sharp ink black. Only other possibility is to get a slightly more contrast from the moon itself.

Noted about the trees, though I admit initially I was worried about too much dead space from the black hence I cut off the trees where they are. If it's possible, could you give me some pointers about how to increase the contrast from the moon without shifting its colour 2stroke? I had previously tried to but the moon ended up changing colour and looked unnaturally out of place.

Thanks for the feedback though.

[2stroke]

to get more contrast in the moon without too much color saturation you can select the moon only and use levels to make it pop a little without adding color.

[milosh]

I also like this shot, I like the gradient and composition.
To get more contrast in the Moon, you can try any of the contrast adjustment levels (levels, curves, contrast) and just set its blend mode (in Layers palette) to Luminosity to avoid colour shifts.
I would also clean up that noise in the gradient, to make it smoother. Very nice photo!

[2stroke]

Luminocity, excellent tip milosh, I will have to try that as well.

[milosh]

Sure, and if you're doing saturation adjustments, set it to Saturate blend mode, to avoid luminousity shifts.

Another way would be to double click the layer icon to open its blendind properties, and move the Blend if sliders far right (because the moon is much brighter compared to the rest of the photo).

[arctos]

Hi milosh, thanks for the tips. I tried looking for the blend if option but couldn't find it. (Am using Elements 6, perhaps that's why?) The saturate and luminosity blend modes works great, just that I can't figure out how to get rid of this small halo around the moon.

And thanks also to everyone for the feedback thus far.