Moonrise in the Fog

“Moonrise in the Fog”, Charles County, Virginia, September 23rd, 2016. Canon 550D, Rokinon 16mm f/2.0 lens @ f/2.0, 30 sec exposure at ISO800. 

Fog was forecast last Friday night, so I headed out to Charles County to photograph some nightscapes. The fog was so thick when I happened upon this location that I did not realize there was a house at the end of that road. I only saw the road leading toward the tree and the third quarter moon rising above the low-level fog. It was only after capturing the image that I discovered I was actually in someone’s driveway so I figured I ought to move along. Even though the shape of the moon is entirely obliterated, I like the explosion of light it produced and I think I nailed the exposure I was looking for. I kept the processing very simple, using only Lightroom to darken the sky with a graduated filter and to brighten the shadows in the foreground.

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Processing Workflow (Lightroom)
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1. Enable lens profile corrections, correct chromatic aberrations
2. Default noise reduction and sharpening.
3. Exposure +0.12, Blacks + 30, Clarity -10 to soften stars, Vibrance +10
4. Add graduated filter to reduce brightness of sky, Exposure -0.57
5. Increase brightness and contrast in the shadows of the field, particularly on the left side - adjustment brush to select these areas, Exposure 1.00, Contrast 17, Blacks 18.
6. Reduce orange cast due to red fringe around moon - I used a UV filter to protect the lens from condensation in the fog which yielded a red fringe. HSL tab, Orange Hue +7.
7. Level horizon, Rotate +0.6, constrain crop