4x5-0527-0529

Image Number: 4x5-0527-0529

This image was made by combining a 3.5 hour exposure by moonlight with a daylight
exposure made the next morning. The moonlight exposure provided the star trails,
rim light on the bark of the tall Incense Cedar trees, and silouettes of the other
shapes in the foreground. It was made using Fuji Provia 100F transparency film in
a Zone VI Studios wood field camera of 4x5 format. The daylight image was made
on black and white negative film, and was intended only to put a bit of texture into
the black shadow areas of the moonlight image. In order to obtain the daylight
image, the camera was left in place after the night image was made, so that the
frame would be identical between the two images. The black and white film was
over-exposed about a stop compared to a normal daylight rendering, and then given
a 1.5 stop contrast reduction development using alternating developer and water
bath imersion until 2/3 of the normal time in the devloper was reached. The images
were then scanned and combined as an overlay in Photoshop. The black and
white image was given a slight blue tint, as well as an opacity of 15%, just
enough to provide texture without so much color or detail as to detract from the
rest of the image.

4x5 Zone VI Studios wood field camera with a bag bellows and Schneider-Kreuznach
90mm f/8 Super Angulon lens. Moonlight brightness level from waning last-quarter moon
LV=-7.5 when the shutter opened at 1:00 just after the moon rose up above the
mountains to the east. The moonlight brightness peaked at LV=-7.0 when the
shutter closed at 4:30 AM, which was about a half-hour before the start of
astronomical twilight. Overall exposure 3.5 hours at f/8 on Provia 100F sheet
film, which gave about a one-stop under-exposure compared to a daylight rendering
of the night scene.

This image was submitted for critique to photo.net on 17 Sept 2004, where (as of 20 Sept 2004)
it was viewed 32179 times, and received quite a number of positive comments. It
was rated by 39 reviewers, for a score of
6.33 out of 7.00 for Originality, and
6.31 out of 7.00 for Aesthetics.

See the review of this image on photo.net

Update February 21, 2006