It was about two years ago that I was making plans for a very special photograph. The concept was to photograph a bristlecone pine with the full moon rising behind it. I also wanted the full moon in the earth shadow. That’s the band of pink that rises in the east as the sun sets in the west. Above the earth shadow the sky is a light blue. In the shadow it’s a much darker blue. And in the band between light and dark is a spectrum of colors, much like what happens in the west but more subtle.
Photographic Situation
Timing was going to be critical. I needed to pick the right day of the month so that the moon would be in the earth shadow. Too early and the moon would be too high when the shadow appeared. Too late and the moon would rise well after the shadow was gone.
Bristlecone Moon (2008)
Everything came together in September of 2008. We spent a couple of days camping in Grand View campground a few short miles from the Schulman Grove in the White Mountains of California. We needed a tree with an eastern exposure and found the perfect specimen along the road to the Patriarch Grove. As it turned out, the best day for all the variables to come together was the day before full moon. We arrived while the tree was still in sunlight. However, a bluff west of the tree dropped it into its shadows well before sunset. We set up the shot and quietly waited for the moon.
The moon slipped above the horizon right on schedule. The sun would set within 20 minutes or so from the time the moon appeared and it was then the sky would start to darken and the earth shadow start to rise. And it all happened right as anticipated.
Photographic Challenge
This photograph is a bit more of a challenge then it might at first appear. Can you figure out what that might be? But don’t stop there. Think about how you would deal with the challenge. Then leave a comment with your thoughts. I’ll post my solution in a few days.
Join me on an upcoming workshop.
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Ralph,
I am sorry I responded twice. I make the original response and later went back to see if there had been any response to my response and my post was not there. So I thought I made some mistake in posting it and did it again. When I went back to look I saw that both were there. That’s my story and I am sticking to it!
Larry
Larry, Thanks for both your responses (or rather all three). I was gone over the weekend helping my daughter celebrate her 16th birthday. We were camping with our horse at a local campground in the foothills. I’m just now getting to approve comments. Thanks for your contribution. I’ll be responding soon.
Ralph,
I see a huge challenge in being there at the right time in which the moon is at the elevation to be in the earth shadow and be in a place to enhance your composition. I think the major challenge is the lighting in that there is a huge dynamic range. In order to get detail in a bright moon you would have to be stopped down leaving the foreground, i.e. the tree totally dark. I see that HDR would be your only solution. A graduated neutral density filter would not work without darkening the top of the tree. The other challenge would be to get the moon not look like a tiny spot in the composition. Here you would have to use a long focal length lens and stand a long ways back from the tree. This should work it there is enough land to stand on, i.e. not fall off a cliff. To me the main challenge is being there at just the right time so that the moon is in the right location.
Thanks,
Larry LIndell
Having been to that exact site with you i see several challenges. The first is to have the moon at the level in the photograph that would fit with the composition. Obviously you can move your location up down and right or left to get the moon in that paritcular context of the tree. Still there has to be some incredible timing to have the moon at that elevation to be in the earth shadow and to fit in the composition. With the sun setting the other challenge s you mentioned is to have impacting light on the tree. This must have to be done with HDR. I suppose an off camera flash on the tree might have been an option, but it would have to be a strong light to light the whole tree. Shadows would be a problem with the light. HDR seems the best option. In order for the moon to have much detail when it is that high in the sky you really have to underexpose your image which is going to make the tree and other forground dark out. Again HDR seems to be the only solution. You can not use a gradation neutral density filer here because part of the tree would be dark. In order for the moon to not look very small you would need to shoot with a long focal length lens and place yourself a distance aways. As long as one can get far enough away from the tree without falling off a cliff this should not be a problem. In summary is seems that incredibly good timing and HDR is what makes this shot. Nice going. I appreciate this image a lot more since having been to that sight.