I normally don't do videos................. BUT:

480sparky

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Last night I took advantage of the wonderful weather (high of 68°F/20°C, low of 48°F/9°C with clear skies) to take what will probably my last camping outing for the summer. I parked close to a nearby lake, wanting to try to shoot the rising Hunter's Moon.

I managed to take a few good stills that will be very acceptable, but after that I decided to bracket some shots in video mode to see what I could muster. Unfortunately, in order to expose the moon correctly, the reflection on the water was too dark. Adjusting the exposure to correct the reflection just washed out the moon.

So: I did a little bit of digital wizardry. I loaded three files into my video editor: the 'correct' exposure for the water reflection video, and two still image files. First I created a black mask (0,0,0) to hide everything but the reflection of the water. I then took a still image of the moon itself and cropped it down.

I put the video file on top of the timeline, then dropped the mask below it. This created an almost totally black screen but allowed the video of the reflection on the water to show through. Below that, I dropped the still image of the moon and resized & repositioned it to 'appear' over the reflection.

The end result:



My next step it to try to add a few more layers. One to show the appearance of a horizon, and another for a few stars here and there. Add a soundtrack of crickets, frogs, hoot owls, maybe a whip-poor-will.....






Oh yea, I did make S'mores on the campfire.

Smore.jpg


It ain't campin' if you don't make S'mores!
 
I didn't hear any sound? I'll look at it again later.

Advice: The easier way to do this would have been to use a polarizer. It is possible to tell the right adjustment where the reflection is emphasized, but if you have problems you can adjust it to make the reflection disappear, then mark that adjustment and turn the polarizer 90 degrees.
 
I didn't hear any sound? I'll look at it again later.

Advice: The easier way to do this would have been to use a polarizer. It is possible to tell the right adjustment where the reflection is emphasized, but if you have problems you can adjust it to make the reflection disappear, then mark that adjustment and turn the polarizer 90 degrees.

Wind noise with the built-in mic isn't exactly nice to listen to. And I didn't have a polarizer with me. And it wouldn't have done me any good..... I need to darken the moon, NOT the reflection.
 
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And I didn't have a polarizer with me. And it wouldn't have done me any good..... I need to darken the moon, NOT the reflection.

A polarizer can either reduce reflections or increase them. It depends on how you adjust it.

As for having it with you. Yeah, packing is always a problem. :)
 
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And I didn't have a polarizer with me. And it wouldn't have done me any good..... I need to darken the moon, NOT the reflection.

A polarizer can either reduce reflections or increase them. It depends on how you adjust it.

As for having it with you. Yeah, packing is always a problem. :)

Yeah, how do they increase a reflection? That doesn't seem possible.
 
Polarizer do increase reflections. Here, test it like this. Compose a reflection shot, put the polarizer on, then turn it to remove the reflection. Now turn it until the reflection increases. There, you just increased the reflection with your polarizer.:biglaugh::biglaugh:

Nice work on the video. What editor?
 
Polarizer do increase reflections. Here, test it like this. Compose a reflection shot, put the polarizer on, then turn it to remove the reflection. Now turn it until the reflection increases. There, you just increased the reflection with your polarizer.:biglaugh::biglaugh:

Nice work on the video. What editor?

Just like if I took $20 out of your wallet, handed it to you, and I then claim I gave you $20. :p
 

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