Sunrise and Setting Moon at the Matterhorn
Feb, 2014Views
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gauravchandra
March 08, 2014
Awesome shot!setting suns' rays with the moon in the background.Look forward to more such pictures.
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Same photographer See allBehind The Lens
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Behind The Lens
Location
This photo was made from the balcony of a rented apartment in Zermatt. I go there almost every year primarily for skiing, but I always take a minimum of photo gear along.Time
This is one of my favorite mountain images. The morning was unusually clear and the moon still high up in the dark sky when I got up. When sun came, I took a series of pictures to have a pick for the most interesting illumination on the peak. This image was done at 7:54 AM while the village was still deeply in the shade and almost nobody was out in the cold on this March 2 2013.Lighting
With a distant scene there are not many options with lighting. But, I made sure not to blow out the red pixels and I used base ISO to maximize dynamic rangeEquipment
This take was with the Nikon D7000 and the 16-85mm f3.5-5.6 at 70mm. Sort of typical landscape shot by the rule "f/8 and be there". Indeed done at f/8 which resulted in 1/40s at base ISO. I used the balcony railing to steady the camera.Inspiration
The Matterhorn and the rapidly changing weather conditions at it make it always an interesting view, at least when it remains visible. The apartment was chosen because it offers a good vantage point for this view. My first thought was that the jet plane trace piercing the setting moon would spoil the image. But, then I chose it over other versions a few minutes later without that trace. It reinforces the signs of human activity as just tiny elements.Editing
The image was shot as raw, with a camera setting neutral. Minimal post-processing was done with the basic ViewNX 2 package supplied with the camera. The shadows were brought up some and color saturation was turned up with a lot of restraint to match, and not overdo, the subjective impression and perceived balance.In my camera bag
When I want to go minimalistic, I like to take the crop DSLR with the 16-85mm. The 24mm equivalent wide option is very important to me. For more photo than sport oriented travel I go with no less than two DSLR. For reach, the combo AFS 80-400mm and D7100 has become a staple recently, when animal observations are a theme. If wide angle landscape is expected, then the 14-24mm f/2.8 and D800 is unrivaled in my bag.Feedback
Winter landscapes have their special charm with stark contrast between the snow and wood, trees or dark rock. The sky can be especially clear, or dark at night in the right locations, or it can show halos and colorful ice clouds and other short lived surprises. Be prepared and have a camera that can handle it with you.
