Friday Photo - My Shot of Last Night's Moon

Last night in St. Louis, we had one of the nicest full moons we've had in a while.  Naturally, I had to try and get a picture of this.

One of the most appealing things about the moon was the fact that we had some light cloud cover, so the moon was shining through the clouds.  I thought, "Hey, I'll just run out and grab this shot real quick!"

As it turns out, this was one of the hardest shots I've taken.

I could easily get a shot of the clouds, but then the moon was a completely blown out white ball with no detail in it.  I could also get a properly exposed moon, but then the sky was totally black.   Obviously, the solution was to combine the two.  So, the shot you see above is actually two pictures that I layered. As I am just learning GIMP (and photo editing in general), I'm quite certain I was doing this the hardest way possible.  I couldn't create a transparency mask automatically for some reason, so I hand drew one.  This took quite a bit of time.  Additionally, since I was hoping for the "quick" shot, I hand-held everything which meant blurry images and high equivalent ISO settings.

Still, I decided to post the shot since:

1. It took me HOURS to create. Thus, no time to write a "normal" post.
2. I learned a lot in the process and when I get a chance to retake this shot, I'll have something to compare to!
3. It's better than any other moon shot I've taken!
4. I ended up calling in to work "un-interested" just so I could finish editing this.  It would have been a shame to have nothing to show for a day of vacation.

Here are my opportunities for improvement on the next go-around:

1. Be patient and use a tripod!  This would reduce both blur and noise.
2. Get the proper adaptors and use my telescope as the lense for the SLR.
3. Edit the shot on a weekend, so the post is up on time and I don't end up taking vacation to finish it.

Have a nice weekend!

Comments

[Stuck in My Head]

WOW!!!

When I first saw the picture I wondered how you got it to work out, because I know those are hard shots.

Congratulations on making it work. Sorry it was so difficult, but it looks like you know some things to do next time so it is a bit more easy.

[Motherofbun]

What an incredible shot! Take pics of the moon is no easy feat. You did a great job.

[MP]

I am in awe of the moon shots.. I really need to learn how to use my camera

[Monkey's Momma]

Nice shot! First of all: How awesome that you can call into work un-interested. Can I come work with you? Second of all: I work in a hospital. Do you know what happens in hospitals on a full moon? Craziness!

[Bobbi's Book Nook]

Wow - gorgeous photo! The moon was pretty last night.

[Raquita]

Aw Greg! you did an awesome job! Beautiful! are you using photoshop? if so I got a few little things you may wanna try! let me know!

[lou]

It was a full moon in many places. Great pic and a great blog.