How would I fix a shot like this?

Hey All,

Fairly new to the forum and photography in general, so I have a quick question, I was on a cruise last fall and I wanted to take a picture of the moon rise and have the moon nice and sharp as well as the reflection etc. I have attached an attempt at this and I either got a nice crisp moon and a black foreground or a decent foreground and a washed out moon. Anyway to adjust camera settings that I could use if I get a chance to take a picture like this again?

Thank you.

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I'm dealing with similar issues. Is the problem the double moon? I have heard this can be caused by a lens filter (UV).

The dynamic range of your camera isn't big enough to do what you are asking in a single shot.

In plain English, if you expose for the foreground, the moon will be overexposed and appear as a white blob. If you expose for the moon, the foreground will be too dark and lacking in detail.

It is possible to take two shots, and blend them together in PP, or if you shoot in RAW it is possible to manipulate the exposure in PP to emulate having taken two shots.

Ok, perfect that is the answer I was looking for! Thank you. I just wondered if it was in fact possible.

Stint wrote in post #7713416
I'm dealing with similar issues. Is the problem the double moon? I have heard this can be caused by a lens filter (UV).

I've had this problem of the double moon both ways , with/without the UV filter . It's not an easy problem to solve with a WA lens . Actually the double moon (one green and one burnt out usually ) is caused by internal reflection and i haven't found a way to stop it . If you find out it would be great to tell everybody here so we can correct it .

I didn't really have any problem getting a good moon shot, just a problem trying to get that shot with a perfect moon and foreground. Apparently its only possible with some heavy PP!

Don't know about 'only possible with some heavy PP'. This was achieved with less than 5 minutes work. Would have been even easier if using two exposures (one for highlights, one for shadows) from the same image, and the resulting image would have been a lot more convincing.

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It's also possible with a graduated neutral density filter - put the denser part over the top half of the lens and you'll gain (variously) 2-3 stops on your in-camera exposure. This is preferable, especially in this case, to using multiple exposures as you'll get the moon and its reflection at the same time, and minimize issues with the moon's travel across the sky. It'll also further extend the range possible with post-processing your image. Because it's a seascape, you'd want to use a hard grad, but could get away with a rectangular solid ND filter over part of the image. If there were, say, mountains in the background as well you might want a soft grad.

Great piece of advice. I will look into getting one!! Thanks

I have just read a bit about cokin and Hitech.... Any advice on these particular brands and any models you'd suggest? THanks