Moon over Okemo Mountain

[patmoore]

A couple of weeks ago I spotted this view from the parking lot of the grocery store near my house and grabbed my Canon with a 300mm Sigma lens. The snow cover was still too sparse to open the trails.

[Rodbender]

Amazing image. Never seen the Moon look so big.

[Garry]

Seriously ? Not a photoshop ? I have seen images like this and always thought the moon was photoshopped, as I have never seen a moon this large in the UK.
That's amazing, Pat. Thanks for showing it.

[Ian]

I often find amazing views of the sky from the car park at the local Aldi supermarket I hasten to add I usually walk there and do a small daily shop in order to keep my exercise step-count up!

Here's a couple of recent views or the supermarket itself taken in ultra wide angle on the smartphone:

[patmoore]

Here/s the original using the max zoom of the 300 mm lens and a tripod. The only photoshopping was to bump the saturation a little and to crop it.


Cropping can have that effect. Compare these two versions of a shot of my first wife and me many years ago (this was our Christmas card one year). In the original, we're still at a safe altitude. In the cropped version it looks like we're almost too low to open our parachutes.

[Ian]

Amazing image. Never seen the Moon look so big.

It's said that the moon doesn't vary much in actual size from the earth but its apparent size does, particularly when it's close to the horizon.

Ian

[patmoore]

It's said that the moon doesn't vary much in actual size from the earth but its apparent size does, particularly when it's close to the horizon.

Ian

I studied Meteorology under Hans Neuberger, former Dept Chairman at Penn State. I remember him saying that the moon appears larger close to the horizon because the atmosphere is denser near the surface.

Wikipedia says: One question concerning the Moon illusion, therefore, is whether the horizon Moon appears larger because its perceived angular size seems greater, or because its perceived physical size seems greater, or some combination of both. There is currently no consensus on this point. Most recent research on the Moon illusion has been conducted by psychologists specializing in human perception. The 1989 book The Moon Illusion, edited by Hershenson, offers about 24 chapters written by various illusion researchers reaching different conclusions. After reviewing the many different explanations in their 2002 book The Mystery of the Moon Illusion, Ross and Plug conclude "No single theory has emerged victorious".^[6] They argue that the size of the illusion is variable, but is usually an apparent increase in diameter of about 50 percent. The most important factor is the sight of the terrain, but there is a small contribution from other factors such as the angle of regard, posture and eye movements

[Garry]

Thanks for the follow up explanation. I can see now.

[Rodbender]

Pat please don't think that I was suggesting this was a fake image, far from it. I do know that position and time of year can make the moon look larger and indeed in some cases very much smaller. You were in the right place at the right time and I envy you getting such a great shot of it. Wish I had been there to just see it.

[patmoore]

Although that shot is essentially unmodified, I'm not above enhancing a photo In this shot I did enlarge the moon.

[Garry]

Although that shot is essentially unmodified, I'm not above enhancing a photo In this shot I did enlarge the moon.

Yes, Pat. That is the type of photoshopped shot that I was referring too. I have seen numerous images like this. Good, but not realistic. If only.

[patmoore]

Here's another example. I took the first two iPhone shots in Savannah, Georgia a few years ago and then used Photoshop to create the third image.

[Garry]

That's a good example of how you achieved it.