Hi all! Let’s start the astro section.
This is probably not a classic astro shot, and it’s far from technically perfect (you’ll understand why once you hear the story behind it), but despite all its flaws, it’s one of my all-time favorite photos.
The photo shows the moon just above the trinity church near Stepantsminda in northern Georgia. It wasn’t planned – I just got it by random chance.
I was out for dinner with my travel companions that night and on the way back to the hotel, I saw this scene unfolding. I ran back to the hotel and our room as fast as I could, grabbed my D800 with the 24-120 f/4 attached, and hurried to the next window with the right view. 120mm was way too short, as I quickly realized, so I got back to the room and picked up my wildlife kit – a D810 with my good old 500mm f/4G. With only a few dozen seconds left before the moment was gone, there was no time to set up a tripod, so I just leaned against the window frame and started shooting.
Among the many shots I took, this is the one with acceptable sharpness (although I’d rather not look at a 100% crop) – unfortunately a few seconds after the moon was perfectly centered over the tower. Of course, that could be easily fixed in Photoshop, but I prefer to leave it the way it is.
The photo was taken @ 500mm, ISO 3200, 1/40, f/4
Frantically running around, yeah know that one :-) Still, great story and great shot - and much better than having no image at all, right? That it is one of your all-time favorite shots says it all.
Cool 👍
@ronaldsmeets Thanks! Yes, sometimes the story behind a shot is as important as the image itself. This is surely the case here.
Haha I love this shot. The moon looks like it was balanced on the tip of the church just before you took the shot, and started rolling off of it right as you made the exposure. I'm a BIG believer in first reactions and my first reaction was "that's f%&^*g awesome!" :)
El pardon muy French :)
www.photographic-central.blogspot.com
Having showed my work in galleries in the past, I learned how differently everyone sees your images and how it affects them personally. There's always another perspective. In the end we have to be happy with our work but it never ceases to amaze me how others viewed my photography. There's a lesson to be learned in there! ;)
www.photographic-central.blogspot.com
@nightjar, that is a seriously cool photo! Handheld at 500mm and 1/40 second is impressive - and it looks nice and sharp to me at this resolution. I can tell that you made the most of the situation as soon as inspiration struck you. And the moon looks perfect where it is to me. Thanks for posting it!
@spencer Thanks for your feedback! Well, I took quite a few shots, so one had to be acceptably sharp, even at 1/40 sec and with struggling AF (it didn't occur to me to switch to manual focus...).
Also, at that time I had a lot of practice with this lens handheld - I had used it for almost 10 years for all my wildlife work, and most of it handheld. I switched to the lighter PF version only two years ago (and now I can't imagine how I could work with the heavy old beast).
Beautiful photo.
Blue and orange always complement each other. Great shots often involve being at the right place at the right time (with your camera). Good job!
Gorgeous
MandyJ
Nice capture