Last week, sunset was at 6:00 PM. Today, it was closer to 5:00 PM. Too bad we couldn’t just fall back 30 minutes. A 5:30 PM sunset would be perfect. By the time I was able to set-up this evening, the sun was well below the horizon. However, the moon was just rising, so I headed for the closest body of water hoping for some reflections.

To the naked eye, the details of the moon and the surrounding landscape are clear. But, if you expose for the moon, the landscape will be black. And, if you expose for the landscape, the moon will be blown out with no recoverable details. Even with a graduated filter, I couldn’t expose both properly in one shot.

The solution is to take two photos: one exposing for the moon and one for the background. Before, I had always attempted to use HDR software to automatically blend the multiple exposures, but I never received any promising results. Today, it suddenly dawned on me to blend the two photos manually. In the bottom layer, I have the photo exposed for the background. In the top layer, I have the photo exposed for the moon. I delete the blown out moon (with a content aware fill) from the bottom layer, which leaves me with a background with no moon. In the top layer, I set the blend mode to screen so that the moon and landscape are both properly exposed.

Nikon D800, AF-S Nikkor 24mm f/1.4G ED, ISO 100, f/8, 6.0s

During the lunar eclipse, I started photographing at 1/800s but ended up at 1/1,600s. I had some inconsistent notes from previous attempts at photographing the moon, so I wanted to take a more formal look.

These two were taken pretty close in time. While I already know which is which, the difference is not obvious at first glance.

Even at a larger magnification, I cannot tell them apart. I think a full moon is more forgiving because the image is quite flat. Not too much contour because of the illumination. However, when only the side of the moon is lit, the directional light shows off much more of the lunar craters. Will repeat in a few weeks.

1/800s:

1/1,250s:

1/1,600s:

Eclipses always remind me of A Connecticut Yankee in King Arthur’s Court. However, we are one step ahead of Hank Morgan. Not only can we look up any eclipse from the past, we can even see into the future, which told me in advance the local time of this morning’s lunar eclipse. However, at 2 AM, I was limited to taking photos from the backyard. I wasn’t about to go out wandering at time of the night.

I used a telescope for the lunar eclipse photos and a 300mm f/2.8 camera lens for the “blood moon.”

I think my best moon photo was from the waxing gibbous moon at 70% of full. Sure, the full moon is spectacular in its size and glow, but the overwhelming light hides all the subtleties of the lunar surface. Without any craters focus on, the moon, while grand, is not as exciting.

Nikon D800, ISO 800, f/11, 1/1,600s

I haven’t posted a moon photo in quite some time with cloudy (and busy) nights being the primary culprits. I spotted a waxing gibbous moon on the way home tonight and set-up the telescope just past sunset. Tonight, I experimented with taking photos in RAW and seeing if I could recover more shadow details than from plain JPEGs.

Looks quite a bit better than the last round.

Nikon D800, ISO 800, 1/1,600s, Orion StarSeeker III 127mm GoTo Mak-Cass Telescope

The morning started off completely cloudy. I thought that the Super Moon would be a bust. However, by late afternoon, the skies had cleared up considerably with only a trace of clouds overhead.

By the time I arrived at Stanford University, the moon was already out. This is a composite of two photos. The moon looked better at f/3.5 and the street lamps looked better at f/16.

Nikon D800, PC-E Nikkor 24mm f/3.5D ED, ISO 100, 24mm, f/16, 25s and f/3.5, 2.5s

Here’s the August 10, 2014 Super Moon all by itself via telescope.

Each year, Shoreline Amphitheater hosts a July 4th concert and fireworks show. I’ve attended the concert once, but the wait to exit the parking lot after a long night was a bit too much.

Instead, I showed up early at Shoreline Lake to reserve a spot. In afternoon light, I experimented with an ND filter.

Nikon D800, Nikkor AF-S 28-300mm f/3.5-5.6G ED VR, ISO 100, 78mm, 0 EV, f/8, 2.0s

At 8:18 PM, the sun finally started to set. Turning away from the lake, I could see the sun drop behind the baylands.

Nikon D800, Nikkor AF-S 28-300mm f/3.5-5.6G ED VR, ISO 100, 32mm, 0 EV, f/16, 1/80s

The four bright lights are located at the amphitheater. You get a clear view of the fireworks, but the sound from the concert does not carry this far.

Nikon D800, Nikkor 50mm f/1.4G, ISO 100, 50mm, 0 EV, f/16, 15.0s

Looks like a sunset, but it is not. Changing the aperture from f/16 to f/8 increases the amount of light by 4x. Increasing the shutter speed from 15.0s to 30.0s, also doubles the light. So, even though the photo below (9:30 PM) was taken later than the one above (9:06 PM), changing the aperture and shutter speed alters the character of the scene. You can even see a few stars showing up in the night sky.

Nikon D800, Nikkor 50mm f/1.4G, ISO 100, 50mm, 0 EV, f/8, 30.0s

Having been to the Shoreline Lake fireworks show, I knew that a 50mm lens would be about right.

Nikon D800, Nikkor 50mm f/1.4G, ISO 100, 50mm, 0 EV, f/4, 1.0s

I used a Nikon MC-30A cable release to adjust the shutter speed. I set the camera to manual mode and shutter to bulb. I clicked when a new firework was launched, and released as it faded. Just adjust the aperture to arrive at the correct exposure.

Nikon D800, Nikkor 50mm f/1.4G, ISO 100, 50mm, 0 EV, f/5.6, 2.0s

Nikon D800, Nikkor 50mm f/1.4G, ISO 100, 50mm, 0 EV, f/8, 7.6s

Nikon D800, Nikkor 50mm f/1.4G, ISO 100, 50mm, 0 EV, f/8, 1.6s

Some more traditional red, white and blue fireworks.

Nikon D800, Nikkor 50mm f/1.4G, ISO 100, 50mm, 0 EV, f/11, 2.0s

Nikon D800, Nikkor 50mm f/1.4G, ISO 100, 50mm, 0 EV, f/11, 10.7s

Even though you are taking photos of fireworks at night, you don’t need a “fast” lens. I like the f/5.6 series of photos best. You get just enough background without all the smoke from the fireworks showing up as well.

I attended my first star party at Foothills Park tonight. I arrived shortly before sunset and witnessed the last rays of the day wash over the golden foothills.

Nikon D800, PC-E Nikkor 24mm f/3.5D ED, ISO 100, 24mm, 0 EV, f/11, 1/40s

Once the sun sets, the blue sky turns purple.

Nikon D800, AF-S Nikkor 28-300mm f/3.5-5.6G ED VR, ISO 100, 28mm, 0 EV, f/5.6, 1/25s

With SJC to the south and SFO to the north, this busy air corridor was filled with planes coming and going. This plane is flying above the Dumbarton Bridge on the way to San Francisco airport.

Nikon D800, AF-S Nikkor 28-300mm f/3.5-5.6G ED VR, ISO 100, 300mm, 0 EV, f/5.6, 1/25s

At sunset, the landscape turns almost monochromatic with just the silhouette of buildings and trees visible. The bright dot really looks like Sutro Tower.

Nikon D800, AF-S Nikkor 28-300mm f/3.5-5.6G ED VR, ISO 100, 300mm, 0 EV, f/8, 1/100s

The night sky behind Vista Hill. While a lot of stars were visible from Foothills Park, it is not a dark site like Kings Canyon. The Milky Way looks like its making an appearance in the lower left-hand corner.

Nikon D800, AF-S Zoom-Nikkor 14-24mm f/2.8G ED, ISO 800, 15mm, 0 EV, f/2.8, 8.2s

I took a photo of the waxing gibbous moon at ISO 6400 and ISO 800. At first glance, I cannot tell the two apart. Usually, a photo at ISO 6400 starts to break down with splotchy coloring. This was not the case.

Of course, ISO 800 will yield a darker image than ISO 6400. Previously, I was adjusting the brightness, contrast, curves, highlights and shadows to reach the optimal exposure. The other way around the low exposure problem is stacking the same image in Photoshop.

Nikon D800, ISO 6400, 1/1,600s

Nikon D800, ISO 800, 1/2,000s