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Pregnant Astronomy
Pregnant Astronomy
giantmike


Photograph Information Photographer's Comments
Challenge: Silhouette At Night (Advanced Editing VII)
Camera: Canon EOS-50D
Lens: Canon EF-S 15-85mm f/3.5-5.6 IS USM
Location: Madison, WI
Date: Jun 6, 2011
Aperture: 5
ISO: 200
Shutter: 1/13
Galleries: Family, Sky
Date Uploaded: Jun 7, 2011

 I'm not sure how this will do, as it's a relatively basic photo, but one of my favorites. This is my 6 months pregnant looking up at the sky. When I told her about this challenge, she instantly said "me!" So we went out and tried to get some shots that night. Being very late at the time (9:30 pm) there was very very little light in the sky. Even at f/2.2 I was having troubles and had to have the ISO at 1600. I didn't really like the result so we hoped for another night of good weather.

The next night came and the sky was clear, so we gave it another shot. The moon was a lot higher so the 50mm wouldn't do and I got out the wide zoom. I also grabbed something for her to stand on so she could be about a foot taller (to see past the homes in the background). This time the shots were coming out much better (almost an hour earlier provided much more working light). On top of that, I decided to take two shots, one focused on her and one on the moon. Then I could combine them later (focus stacking, like what's done in Macro shots a lot) to provide a much cleaner shot. Note that I was very careful to have her not move and not move the camera while I adjusted the focus for the second shot.

Post processing:
* Chromatic Aberration
* Increase exposure
* Increase saturation and vibrancy
* Topaz DeNoise
* Combine the two shots (two layers with masking everything but the moon)
* White Balance
* Increase exposure
* Increase black point
* Clone out distracting ruffle in shirt
* Highlights
* Export TIFF
* Resize
* Sharpen Edges
* Save as JPEG

Statistics
Place: 17 out of 54
Avg (all users): 6.1745
Avg (commenters): 7.5000
Avg (participants): 6.1034
Avg (non-participants): 6.1917
Views since voting: 1038
Views during voting: 338
Votes: 149
Comments: 7
Favorites: 1 (view)

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AuthorThread
 06/17/2011 02:09:07 AM
Lovely.
  Photographer found comment helpful.
 Comments Made During the Challenge
06/16/2011 07:43:02 PM
And new life will gaze in wonder just like her mother.
  Photographer found comment helpful.
 06/16/2011 10:38:40 AM
:-) makes me remember when.......
  Photographer found comment helpful.
 06/11/2011 07:05:16 PM
Overall, a good image. I feel like maybe the blueish tone in the sky could pop out a bit more with the help of some post processing.
and this might sound weird, but this image makes me feel as if she has no arms? LOL
  Photographer found comment helpful.
 06/10/2011 11:42:38 AM
Different and nicely executed.
  Photographer found comment helpful.
 06/10/2011 03:36:03 AM
I can see this with many other different and stronger titles.

The colors and composition are all nice and strong, as is the silhouette. I wish we could see her feet or surroundings a bit more.
  Photographer found comment helpful.
 06/10/2011 02:54:59 AM
Lovely photo, the silhouette is perfect and the meaning quite profound.
  Photographer found comment helpful.


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