subscribe 0330 333 1113 I http://www.amateurphotographer.co.uk I 20 July 2019 19
Get to know your twilights
Taken during a crescent moonrise at dawn
(nautical twilight), this image shows earthshine
over the arch of Durdle Door in Dorset. The
fi nal picture is the result of a six-shot multi-row
panorama, and the viewing distance was less
than 1km away.
Make the most of apps
For this image I used the PhotoPills app to
calculate the time and angle of the moon
to achieve a lunar rainbow and aurora over
Skogafoss waterfall in Iceland. The exposure
time was 13 seconds, which gave a lovely
sense of movement to the water.Experiment with strobes
One still, cold model captured using two
strobes (dampened) at Kimmeridge Bay in
Dorset. This picture required a 30-second
exposure to create the fast-moving cloud
effect and to show the star trails dazzling
brightly in the sky.LUNAR PHOTOGRAPHY Technique
enough light to bring out the landscape
while keeping the exposure of the moon
correct. If multiple grads are used then
the moon will simply appear blurry owing
to the long exposure time.
Realistically, there are two ways to shoot
the moon and the landscape together. The
fi rst requires a double exposure: a short
one for the moon, and a longer one for the
foreground. When attempting this
technique, be sure to watch out for any
refl ecting moonlight on the landscape,
as the moon moves extremely quickly
through the sky, so the two exposures may
not align. Again, any artifi cial light can
lend a helping hand here by decreasing the
exposure time required for the landscape.
But, truth be told, it’s extremely diffi cult to
combine the two exposures eff ectively.
The second technique involves taking a
grey card, setting a long exposure for the
landscape, placing the grey card over the
moonlit part of the sky, and then moving it
just before the end of the exposure (in the
fi nal second). Once mastered, this method
works better than shooting two exposures
as you can slowly move the card upwards,
seamlessly blending the sky. It takes
practice, as the blend in the sky can be
somewhat uneven at times, and by no
means will this achieve a razor-sharp
moon surface.
Planning allowed me to
capture this world famous
view of Oia, Santorini
Nikon D750, 20mm, one exposure
for landscape (4sec at f/8, ISO
100), one exposure for sky
(13sec at f/2.2, ISO 1600),
blended in Photoshop