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| The moon, in waning gibbous phase, rises over Dunlap Road near Box Butte Reservoir State Recreation Area, September 2012. (Photo by Daniel Binkard) |
While I was driving back from Box Butte Reservoir, the moon made its appearance in glowing color against the darkening backdrop of the road and powerlines. Though as I think about it, the idea of a backdrop in this case isn’t quite accurate. It’s a compositional shorthand. The moon is warmer and brighter than the rest of the elements, so it appears to take the foreground. I was pushing the old D2x and 80-200 pretty far for this, because I need to pull in plenty of light for the earthbound elements, plus I needed depth of field to keep those elements sharp along with the moon, plus I needed a short enough shutter speed to keep the moon from blurring as it moved, plus I needed a short enough shutter speed to keep the moon from appearing too bright. All that and the camera’s sensor falls apart with underexposure and ISOs higher than 400. It’s a little softer than I’d like, but holds up well enough in a moderate-sized print. The more I look at this, I need to see what it looks like when I remove the tree on the far right, which should further simplify the composition and enhance the lines pointing to the moon. N.B. The moon rose between the power lines, and I shot the photo with that composition. As I reviewed the photo processed it, there was a clear choice: move that sucker where it appears now.
