By the Light of the Moon
Bryce Canyon National Park		Oct. 2002

 


On October 17, the moon was near full, and wondering what a night view would be, I set up a tripod for several photos by a favorite sitting bench (or log) on the lip of the canyon.

I was very surprised by the results, because even though I was using color film, I know that the human eye only perceives grays in the light of the moon. Apparently, a longer exposure is a bit of a miracle at night.
 

Moonlight, toward sunrise point

 
Incidentally, the hexagonal light patch on the right is an artifact, a reflection between the lens and the moon.

The following photo (handheld this time), taken the very next morning from the same bench, has three such artifacts. Call it the difference between direct light (the sun) and reflected light (the moon).
 

Morning at Bryce

 
Conclusion? Light is beautiful no matter the source.

Photography note: The photos above were taken with a Pentax LX and a 15mm F3.5A lens. For moonlight, I shot at f4 and let the light meter do the serious work. The exposures varied between 4 and 10 seconds.  



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