How's This Done???

[jmtonkin]

I've seen photos like this before, and I've always wondered the same thing: how is this done. I've tried several times and the only solution I can think if that it must be a compilation of two photos. When I've exposed for the moon, everything else was black. When I expose for the ground, the moon is completely blown out.

Here is the link for the photo in question:
Wyoming | OutdoorPhotographer.com

Thank you!

 

[KmH]

Yep. It's likely a composite of 2 images.

Combine 2 images in photoshop - Bing

 

[TCampbell]

That shot was taken using a 180mm focal length (assuming they used an APS-C DSLR) and ideally it would have been taken the night BEFORE the full moon when the sky still has a dusky blue color after the moonrise but the town lights are coming on.

Assuming you're using a high focal ratio like f/16 for the depth of field, you'd get an exposure like this with a base ISO 100 and about 1/5th of a second. (I have a moonrise -- not over a town) that I shot in these circumstances ... and the sky color and moon contrast are nearly identical to this exposure. For THAT exposure, I used ISO 200, f/22, and 1/5th.

The 180mm focal length is derived by the fact that the moon has an angular diameter of about 30 arc-minutes (about 1/2º) which varies only very slightly over the lunar month (between the moon's apogee and perigee - a variance of about 10%). With this info, I measured the moon on my monitor at about 1cm wide, the whole image was just barely under 15cm wide and that means the horizontal angular field of view is about 7.5º. To get that with an APS-C DSLR, you'd need a lens with about a 180mm focal length.

There are plenty of moonrise shots that I've seen which are faked -- I can determine that knowing the angular size of the moon, calculating the focal length necessary, looking at the foreground, and realizing that the lens they'd require and the distances involved would be beyond practical. This image, however, is easily created without using photoshop (unless you want to mildly tweak/adjust things, but you wont need it for wholesale editing) or trickery.

 

[IslandShooter]

It looks like 2 different shots combined. 1 shot to get the bright moon exposure, and a longer exposure to get the city lights.

 

[Helen B]

It looks like two different pictures. That view of Jackson doesn't look like it was taken with a long enough lens (ie from far enough away) to produce a moon that size.