By the light of the Wolf Moon
Shot at Edgar Evins State Park in TN, on the first full moon of the year (Wolf Moon). We had 8-10 inches of snow the previous day. I left my tripod in another...
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Shot at Edgar Evins State Park in TN, on the first full moon of the year (Wolf Moon). We had 8-10 inches of snow the previous day. I left my tripod in another vehicle and forgot my remote. Ended up shooting this from a hiking pole-monopod and using the timer to take this long exposure. This shot overlooks Center Hill Lake from the park.
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Jan, 2016Views
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Behind The Lens
Location
I am a Park Ranger at Edgar Evins State Park and this was taken on the shore of the park overlooking Center Hill Lake in DeKalb County, Tennessee.Time
This image was taken at night during the first full moon of the year (a.k.a. the Wolf Moon). I was on the late shift this night after a good snow storm had blown through the day before. We had roughly 10" - 12" of snow on the ground with temperatures in the low to mid 20's (Fahrenheit).Lighting
The skies were clear and the moon was full, illuminating the snow covered ground and made everything a nice shade of blue-white. I was making my last round of the park when I stopped at this area. The lake was almost like glass with the moonlight reflecting off of it, so I hopped out of my patrol vehicle with my gear at hand and walked down to the shoreline. Other than the moon, there was an amber light in the parking area about 100 yards away that I had to erase in post processing.Equipment
When I hopped out of my vehicle, I realized that I did not have my tripod with me. However, I did have my hiking pole which converted to a monopod and grabbed that. My equipment for this photo consisted of my camera, which is an entry model Nikon D3300, with a Tokina SD 11-16mm, f2.8 (1F) DX II lens and my hiking pole/monopod. I left my remote for the camera back in my bag and I didn't feel like grabbing it after I had set up for the photo. I took several photos from this vantage point, propping the monopod up as best I could, wedging it into rocks beneath the snow and setting the timer to take the photo. I set the ISO to 100, aperture to f2.8, and did 30 second exposures for this series of photos.Inspiration
I was actually set to take a night hike on this night with anyone who showed up for my night hike program at the park. After no one showed up, I began driving around to the lake, and once I saw the lighting and the glassy lake, I knew I couldn't pass up a (possibly) once in a lifetime chance to take a snow covered moonlit shot of the lake. There was also a photo calendar contest going on in the local county and I wanted to enter a photo that most people in the area had never seen. I submitted this photo which ended up being the cover for the month of February in the 2017 calendar.Editing
I did do some post processing on this photo. I use the Adobe Lightroom desktop version. Since there was an amber light in the parking lot about 100 yards away, some of that amber light showed up on the rocks and snow in my photo. I had to desaturate the oranges and reds in the photo to get that unnatural light out. I then adjusted the white balance to get more blues in the sky and whiter snow. I did some minor adjustments to lighting and was pretty much finished with my editing.In my camera bag
I usually carry most everything with me in a Lowpro bag. In my bag I carry my Nikon D3300 camera with the two kit lenses, 18-55mm and 55-200mm Nikon lenses. Then I carry my super-wide angle Tokina 11-16mm f2.8 lens that I shot this photo with. Beyond that, I carry a 35mm prime f1.8 Nikon lens and a 55-300mm Nikon lens. I carry Kenko macro adapter rings on my 55-200mm lens for macro shots. I carry an Altura flash, cleaning supplies and various ND and Polarizing filters for all my lenses. I also carry with me an inexpensive, lightweight tripod since I do a lot of hiking.Feedback
If you are trying to capture a similar photo, I suggest making sure you bring your tripod, a remote and warm clothing. I had to use my monopod, which limited where I could set up to take this photo, also limiting me to what all I could compose within my shot. A remote would have been handy during this shoot to keep from having to constantly set the timer and possibly moving my camera around. The last would be warm clothing. The temperature was hovering in the low 20's and dropping with no cloud cover. I was fortunately prepared for night hiking in these cold temperatures, so I was bundled up in layers of thermal insulation, warm outer clothing, wool socks, a balaclava for my head and a heavy winter coat. Other than these things, bring your favorite camera, a good wide angle lens with an f2.8 or lower aperture, and don't forget to bring a friend to enjoy the scenery with you.
