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Yosemite Moonbows

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BrentG

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It's moonbow season in Yosemite Valley. The term "moonbow" is somewhat vague... these are mist rainbows, illuminated by only the full moon. This pair of images were taken from the west end of the Lower Yosemite Falls Bridge at about 11pm on Saturday, 19 April.

Both images shot with the S5 + Nikon 17-55.
Exposures are both 1 minute @ f/2.8 @ ISO 400.
Post-processing in LR and PSCS3.





For a few other Yosemite Moonbow shots, see the entire gallery at
http://www.smugmug.com/gallery/3702781_if8Qt

Comments and criticism welcome.

-Brent
 
--How cool is that! VERY well done!
Fred W. Cornelius
 
I've never heard of these moonbows. What an amazing thing to see.

I was going to "criticise" as you invited but looked at the ones you put on your website just before I was about to post. I think the first four on your website capture the night effect much better than the two you posted here.

I was going to say I feel these two need some fairly aggressive S-curves to get some really black rock and deepen the sky. Then they would look like night. That seems to be what you did with the first four on your website.

I'm interested in why you didn't do that with these two. They don't look nocturnal to me. But perhaps you didn't want them to?

Thank you for showing this wonderful sight. Yosemite seems to be a magical place.
--
******************************************************
I have a home on pbase
http://www.pbase.com/claypaws/
If you have the time to look
******************************************************
 
These are wonderful photos. Stephen's observations have merit but these stand on their own right.

Having been first introduced to photography by doing astrophotography the second image indicates it is a long exposure in the evening by exposing some stars. The nature of the image makes it so that you do not have a dark sky. Forgive me for making a suggestion but I would be intriguied to see the second image with a dark sky punctuated with stars.
If you have the time and my idea has merit........
Again, this is a wonderful phenomenon. What time in the evening was it?
Great images!

Bob
 
claypaws said:
I've never heard of these moonbows. What an amazing thing to see.
Click to expand...
They are somewhat rare - you need a place where there is a huge amount of mist and then you need the right geometry between the moon, mist, and observer. Even in Yosemite Valley, they are only visible a few nights per year - and then, only if the weather cooperates.
claypaws said:
I was going to "criticise" as you invited but looked at the ones you
put on your website just before I was about to post. I think the
first four on your website capture the night effect much better than
the two you posted here.

I was going to say I feel these two need some fairly aggressive
S-curves to get some really black rock and deepen the sky. Then they
would look like night. That seems to be what you did with the first
four on your website.

I'm interested in why you didn't do that with these two. They don't
look nocturnal to me. But perhaps you didn't want them to?
Click to expand...
These new shots were taken very close to Lower Yosemite Falls. With the mist all around and the full moon lighting it up - the sky didn't really look that dark. In fact, the entire scene seemed rather brightly lit - unlike the earlier images which were taken from much further away.

I've really struggled coming up with a consistent style of post-processing for these images. I may try the darker, contrastier style of the previous images on these as well.

Thanks for the feedback, Stephen. I really appreciate it.
claypaws said:
Thank you for showing this wonderful sight. Yosemite seems to be a
magical place.
Click to expand...
My pleasure!

-Brent
 
Bobtheamateur said:
These are wonderful photos. Stephen's observations have merit but
these stand on their own right.
Click to expand...
Thanks, Bob.
BobsYourUncle said:
Having been first introduced to photography by doing astrophotography
the second image indicates it is a long exposure in the evening by
exposing some stars. The nature of the image makes it so that you do
not have a dark sky. Forgive me for making a suggestion but I would
be intriguied to see the second image with a dark sky punctuated with
stars.
Click to expand...
Please see my comments to Stephen. I may work on these further to darken them - and especially to darken the sky.
BobsYourUncle said:
If you have the time and my idea has merit........
Again, this is a wonderful phenomenon. What time in the evening was it?
Click to expand...
The first image was at 11:02pm PT, the second was at 11:09pm PT.
BobsYourUncle said:
Great images!
Click to expand...
Thanks, Bob. I appreciate all the positive feedback - and the criticism, as well.

-Brent
 
Actually, I try not to do any PP and post others' photos without permission. It is something I picked up on the retouch forum. Some people don't mind, others do. Just want to see what is possible and practice my novice skills. Not sure from you message if it is ok.
BrentG said:
pmong said:
Nice. Wonder if you mind I played with this with some post processing?
Click to expand...
Well, I can't stop you, can I? :-)

-Brent
Click to expand...
 
very nice and a not so standard time frame
--
Every memory of looking out the back door
I had the photo album spread out on my bedroom floor
It's hard to say it, time to say it
Goodbye, goodbye
 
BrentG said:
Bobtheamateur said:
These are wonderful photos. Stephen's observations have merit but
these stand on their own right.
Click to expand...
Thanks, Bob.
BrentG said:
Having been first introduced to photography by doing astrophotography
the second image indicates it is a long exposure in the evening by
exposing some stars. The nature of the image makes it so that you do
not have a dark sky. Forgive me for making a suggestion but I would
be intriguied to see the second image with a dark sky punctuated with
stars.
Click to expand...
Please see my comments to Stephen. I may work on these further to
darken them - and especially to darken the sky.
BrentG said:
If you have the time and my idea has merit........
Again, this is a wonderful phenomenon. What time in the evening was it?
Click to expand...
The first image was at 11:02pm PT, the second was at 11:09pm PT.
BrentG said:
Great images!
Click to expand...
Thanks, Bob. I appreciate all the positive feedback - and the
criticism, as well.
Click to expand...
Brent, far be it from me to be a "critic." I love the images and the fact you were out in Yosemite at 11:00 in the evening on probably a pretty cold night makes the effort that much more worthwhile. That is something my wife would probably scoff at. As I sometimes experiment with monocolor to give a different look to my color images I do look forward to seeing any "experiment" you may do with these. "Landscape by Moonlight" sounds like a great title for a photo book. Looks as if you have created the cover page.

Bob
BrentG said:
-Brent
Click to expand...
 
Interesting that these phenomena are so rare. Either you have premonition or were lucky to be there. Such events usually occur the day after I end a two week stay somewhere.

Thank you for the description of the processing dilemma. Maybe this is an example of where the processing is probably best not to depict exactly what you saw. Maybe some things can only be experienced but not faithfully photographed. The fact that it was so light would be magical to experience but in a photo it just looks kind of wrong. I think too of the really magical sensation of being in a northern latitude in late night summer light. Even in Northern Scotland, you can comfortably read a newspaper outdoors at midnight in the summer and it is a very special feeeling. But a photo just looks like a dull day.

--
******************************************************
I have a home on pbase
http://www.pbase.com/claypaws/
If you have the time to look
******************************************************
 
I've reprocessed both of these images to darken them and make them more contrasty. Hopefully, they are aesthetically more pleasing - are more identifiable as night photos!





-Brent
 
claypaws said:
Interesting that these phenomena are so rare. Either you have
premonition or were lucky to be there. Such events usually occur the
day after I end a two week stay somewhere.
Click to expand...
Fortunately for me, there is an astronomer at Texas State University that calculates when moonbows will occur (assuming the weather cooperates). His site is at: http://uweb.txstate.edu/~do01/
claypaws said:
Thank you for the description of the processing dilemma. Maybe this
is an example of where the processing is probably best not to depict
exactly what you saw. Maybe some things can only be experienced but
not faithfully photographed. The fact that it was so light would be
magical to experience but in a photo it just looks kind of wrong. I
think too of the really magical sensation of being in a northern
latitude in late night summer light. Even in Northern Scotland, you
can comfortably read a newspaper outdoors at midnight in the summer
and it is a very special feeeling. But a photo just looks like a dull
day.
Click to expand...
You are exactly right, Stephen. And your comments spurred me to reprocess these new images in a similar style as I did the older ones. They are posted in this thread. I'd be interested in knowing if these feel more night-like to you.

Thanks again for your comments.

-Brent
 
pmong said:
Actually, I try not to do any PP and post others' photos without
permission. It is something I picked up on the retouch forum. Some
people don't mind, others do. Just want to see what is possible and
practice my novice skills. Not sure from you message if it is ok.
Click to expand...
Go for it! I'd be interested in seeing what you come up with. Note that I have posted reprocessed images in this thread.

-Brent
 
The first set of images show the uniqueness and beauty of a moonglow.

Your 2nd reprocessed image (number 2), at least for me, and an opinion of one, gives a great visceral feel. A starlit dark blue sky with Yosemite Falls and a rainbow (I know it is a moonbow) in the foreground tell of something truly unusual occurring.

I have seen many landscapes and this kind of photography is my passion but your moonlit image is "stellar" (forgive the pun). It is almost dreamlike and deserves to have a large print made.

As I stated previously in this thread if you capture many landscsapes at night the title of your future book can be "Landscapes by Night" or something similar. Now try to get a glaciated lake or glacier at night. That could be a very cold endeavor.
Again, I really like what you've done and compliment you on your effort.

Bob
 
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