I Rise at NightCOPYRIGHT 2008 Paul Grayson AMDG I Rise at NightTrue colour in a spirit-lifting sight over northern Manhattan. What a joy to set up the camera and to sit back and drink in the majestic rise of the moon. What is it about moonrise and moonset that is so moving? Why do lovers stop and embrace at the sight of it? Is it a thrill of recognition of the power that resides in our wonder-full existence? Are we humbled by thoughts of our small individual place in the scheme of things? Are we helped by the thought that there is a “scheme of things”? I am.

Shown Exhibition « Unity» 2012

An image from my recent exhibition "New York by Night - Paris by Night" currently featured on the Welcome page and in the Fine Art section

This is true color of the moon that night, in a spirit-lifting sight over northern Manhattan. What a joy to set up the camera and to sit back and drink in its majestic rise. What is it about moonrise and moonset that is so moving? Why do lovers stop and embrace at the sight of it? Is it a thrill of recognition of the power that resides in our wonder-full existence? Are we humbled by thoughts of our small individual place in the scheme of things?  Are we helped by the thought that there is a “scheme of things”? I am.

Technique

The image was taken from the 40th floor of an apartment building on 64th street in Manhattan, using a telephoto lens to flatten the distance between earth and sky. Key problems were: pre-planning the time and direction of moonrise and handling the need to avoid a long exposure because of the astonishing speed of the moon in a tightly framed shot, while achieving an acceptable quality of image at night. These are the settings that I finally used, while the camera itself was fixed on a weighted-down tripod. 

Camera D300

Lens 70-200 VR Zoom

Aperture 7.1

Focal length 280mm

VR Off

ISO 800

Shutter Speed 1/2

Exposure bias -1/3

Aperture priority

These settings resulted in very little post processing of the Raw image, apart from a marginal crop, some application of color saturation and final sharpening. Sitting at an open window, I was very cold, despite it being an August evening, but I was content to have planned, experienced and photographed a moving scene to share with others. 

Copyright Paul Grayson 2013