2016 Project 52, Fourth Quarter by Joe/ Joebranko

[joebranko]

Joe, you have captured some beautiful twilight colour in these and in your previous set but my thoughts are about composition. In these the roadway around the tree contains eye the within the frame but inevitably gives prominence to the tree. The darker version avoids that but then, because of it's central positioning, the silhouette of the tree becomes an obstacle in terms of the eye travelling to the colours on the horizon. So (for me) both version have their problems depending on which aspect you intend to feature. Your previous set on the other hand use the trees as FG interest in a way that leads the eye to the colours and for that reason they represent a more successful composition. Just my thoughts though.

Thanks John for your insight regarding these shots. Much appreciated. Looking at these again I notice that my eye never leaves the tree, especially in the second one, and never gets to the colours of the sunrise.

[joebranko]

You have uploaded some beautiful images with lovely colors Joe I agree with John about the last image.

Thanks Binnur.

[joebranko]

I know. Another Super moon?

1


2


3


I decided to post these to share all the problems I encountered in capturing these, which were in my opinion, are the best of some 75 images I caught. I planned to try to capture more than just the moon to enhance my compositions, so I picked a location with some open water to try for some reflection. I set up on the side of the service road adjacent to the Hamilton Harbour bay. The boat moored under the moon was just happenstance. These were taken as the moon was about to set and its colours were very vibrant. In most of my shots I tried to remember to expose for the moon and not for the surroundings.

Problems:
1 Focusing. On some of the shots I set the camera to auto focus. I think it may have focused on the clouds which, for the most part, were covering the moon.

2. Movement unsharpness. Although mounted on a tripod I had trouble keeping the camera still with the wind which was sweeping across the bay. My lens cap which was hanging on an elastic band suspended from the lens was dancing crazily as was the camera strap. I was forced to hold these in one hand while triggering the shutter using a wired remote, with the other. The wind was so strong that at times I was being buffeted around myself.

3. Camera problems. After every shot I got a notice on my screen saying 'Busy'. During this time which seemed to last forever, probably 2 to 3 minutes, I could not review the exposure. With the moon rapidly sinking into the horizon this was extremely frustrating. I changed the SD card and got the same result. I have never experienced this before with this camera.

Comments as always are welcome.

[Wavelength]

i like them especially night moon+city scape

[bnnrcn]

Hi Joe Is it possible that noise reduction function of your camera was on while shooting those images? Then, the camera becomes busy just after taking the shot to reduce noise.

[Geoff F]

The third image for me; although I would crop the bottom slightly tighter.

No chance of any moon being visible around here at the moment!

In the past, I have successfully photographed cloud rings around a moon, but always with a lot of rejects. In those cases, cloud movement was also a factor which required shorter shutter speeds. F11 was always the recommended aperture but I achieved better results around F6.3 and Iso at 200 to 400.

A good tripod, of course, plus cable release and mirror lock up. Auto focus failed to lock on and stay locked for longer exposures so I reverted to manual focus in order to overcome focus 'hunting'.

[joebranko]

i like them especially night moon+city scape

Thanks Nandakumar.

[joebranko]

Hi Joe Is it possible that noise reduction function of your camera was on while shooting those images? Then, the camera becomes busy just after taking the shot to reduce noise.

Thanks Binnur. I don't think my camera has that function.

[joebranko]

The third image for me; although I would crop the bottom slightly tighter.

No chance of any moon being visible around here at the moment!

In the past, I have successfully photographed cloud rings around a moon, but always with a lot of rejects. In those cases, cloud movement was also a factor which required shorter shutter speeds. F11 was always the recommended aperture but I achieved better results around F6.3 and Iso at 200 to 400.

A good tripod, of course, plus cable release and mirror lock up. Auto focus failed to lock on and stay locked for longer exposures so I reverted to manual focus in order to overcome focus 'hunting'.

Thanks for the suggestions Geoff. I never tried mirror lock up. I also think manual focus was better.

[Shadowman]

Nice super moon.

[joebranko]

Nice super moon.

Thanks John.

[joebranko]

Duck in Spotlight.

There were many birds in the area that morning, so I set the exposure to 1/640" just in case a bird flew into the frame, it would not be just a blur. f 6.3, 55mm, ISO 800. I did not catch any bird in flight but this duck wandered over and I waited a short while as it swam into the spotlight.

[Shadowman]

Very nice, small in the frame but well positioned.

[Wavelength]

So lovely

[bnnrcn]

Lovely colors Joe I think cropping the image from the LHS and going for a vertical format (the bird and the sun in the middle vertically) might improve the image as there isn't much on the LHS to add to the composition.I would also crop a bit from the top to give the composition some more energy.

Duck in Spotlight.

There were many birds in the area that morning, so I set the exposure to 1/640" just in case a bird flew into the frame, it would not be just a blur. f 6.3, 55mm, ISO 800. I did not catch any bird in flight but this duck wandered over and I waited a short while as it swam into the spotlight.

[Geoff F]

I suspect there are several crop options with this scene; but going to something like 4 x 5 ratio would certainly concentrate on the sun and the bird.

[joebranko]

Lovely colors Joe I think cropping the image from the LHS and going for a vertical format (the bird and the sun in the middle vertically) might improve the image as there isn't much on the LHS to add to the composition.I would also crop a bit from the top to give the composition some more energy.

Thanks Binnur. I like that suggestion and will try it.

[joebranko]

I suspect there are several crop options with this scene; but going to something like 4 x 5 ratio would certainly concentrate on the sun and the bird.

Thanks Geoff. I tried the vertical crop option as seen above. Thanks for your suggestion.

Here is the 4X5 version.

[bnnrcn]

Hi Joe, cropping certainly improved the image I think 4x5 version looks better.

[joebranko]

As I approached the shoreline at Lake Simcoe, these Canada Geese took flight. Fortunately my exposure was set high enough to prevent too much blurring. Taken at about noon, on the way back from a show at Casino Rama the previous night. ISO 100, f 5, 45mm. 1/800.