I took this shot of Mt. Nelson in March 2015 at around 9:00 in the morning. I looked out the window to see what kind of a day it was and saw that the full moon was setting. I grabbed a tripod and camera and the longest lens I had at the time and headed for the far side of the wetlands overlooking Athalmer. As I pulled up the moon was already getting close. I threw the tripod up, set the camera, turned it on, autofocused and took the shot. It’s amazing how fast the moon appears to move when it’s close to the horizon. Seconds later the moon was gone. I took a moment to exhale.
I’ve always been pleased with how it turned out. This image launched my photography into the next phase from passionate hobbyist to revenue-producing. It hangs on the wall in the homes of many of my friends. It has become by far my best-seller both online and at the market.
has generously shared various insight gems with me over the years. She once told me that people buy images that connect with them emotionally. That may seem obvious but it was a moment of clarity for me. This one seems to have done that. I don’t capture landscape images primarily for the purpose of selling them but first just to share the beauty I see. But Kim’s words helped me to pick which ones I produce and frame for sale.
Since March 2015 my photography journey has included many hours learning how to post-process and fine-tune an image. I hear many photographers say they dislike post-processing but I get lost in the creativity of the process. For some strange reason, because I have always been a morning person, I often find myself up all night tweaking and adjusting images. I lose all track of the time.
I decided to revisit this one and went back to the original RAW file and started over using what I have learned since the last time I rendered it six years ago.
On a side note, I have been asked many times if I photoshopped the moon into the image. The answer to that is an unequivocal “no”. I’m a photographer, not a graphic artist. 😊