Lunar Kiss, Half Dome and Sentinel Dome, Yosemite

I love the unexpected, but many of the most special moments I’ve experienced in photography were completely planned. I knew when and where the moon would rise on this spring morning in Yosemite and simply had to make sure I was there to witness it. I scheduled a workshop around the event, and even though I’d told everyone what was going to happen, they all seemed pretty impressed when it actually did.

There are a couple of ways to handle the extreme contrast in a scene like this. Rather than blend multiple exposures to bring out detail in the shadows while holding the color in the sky, I opted to use the contrast to my advantage, exposing for the sky and letting the foreground go black. I think the distinctly Yosemite silhouette of Half Dome and Sentinel Dome is much more appealing than the disorganized assortment of rocks and trees a blended image would have revealed.