Stunning pic of the Lincoln Memorial:
Photo by Joanna Hiatt Kim
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I don't travel long distances to take blurry pictures. I hope you enjoy the photos.
Much appreciated.
Some folks here have expressed the opinion that this photographer "photoshopped" these photographs, in that they specifically manipulated the images of the moon to make it appear larger, and the images are somehow "fake." In fact, that is not what happened. This photographer uses a technique called "forced perspective," which is a technique that I often use as well. In a nutshell, the further away that you stand when you take a photo of two objects, the closer together those objects appear to be. The effect is even stronger when a very long lens is used. The moon seems larger than normal because the photographer was probably standing at least a mile or more away from the Lincoln Memorial.
Here are some images that I've posted here on DU. You may remember two of them, because they were winners of the monthly photo contests. I can assure you that I did not enlarge the moon in any of these shots. I used forced perspective when I captured the images.
The photo of the moon over Downtown L.A. was shot from a hilltop five miles from downtown. The photo of the moon and the Vincent Thomas Bridge was shot from a hilltop about two miles from the bridge towers. The two photos of the moon rising over the Griffith Park Observatory were shot from the Hollywood Bowl Overlook, two or three miles away.
Celestial alignments like this don't happen by accident. These images were produced by a dedicated artist who does their homework. There are several programs and phone apps that make these shots possible. These programs make it possible to pinpoint exactly where and when the sun, moon, Milky Way, etc. are going to appear on the horizon, down to the exact minute. They can do this weeks, months or years in advance. I know many photographers who spend hours with these programs. They are the ones who have their tripods set up in the perfect location well in advance of the alignment. They often drive or hike long distances to make the pictures happen.
Here are some screenshots of the programs we use.
I can understand why people may be leery or suspicious of artwork they don't understand. I can assure you that these images are not "fake," whatever that means. In fact, they are the work of a skilled practitioner of the art of photography.
perfect
