Moonrise at sunset Photo

Photographer’s Note

When visiting the Atacama desert in Chile's northern region a traditional tourist activity is to watch the sunset from one of the high dunes. The Andes turn a wonderful shade of red in the last rays of the sun. On this day we we fortunate enough to witness the rise of a full moon as it appeared from behind the volcano. The strip of green in the bottom right is San Pedro de Atacama, the "hub" of desert excursions - and human survival. The picture isn't the sharpest or the greatest: bear in mind I was using manual focus in poor light with a flimsy tripod in strong wind (typical as the sun goes down in the desert).

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Critiques | Translate

Gael (245) 2003-11-20 4:53

This is a really beautiful view. Sharpness is not a big deal in such a case, as long as the mountains are far away, and the atmosphere mus blur something.

Curioso (9117) 2003-11-20 5:59

Thank you for the rich description.

I love the scene. I believe purple tones like this are exceptionnal in Nature but work great in photography. Many things to look at and the presence of the rising moon is superb.

Fantastic Nature shot !

Fredrik77 (1279) 2003-11-20 6:25

Beautiful colors and very nicely captured moon. Of course it adds much seeing it rise behind the beautiful volcano. I like the green stripe of vegetation also. No comment about the sharpness, I certainly agree with the first comment on that.

Gatis (899) 2003-11-25 9:23

To my mind this picture is unbelievable. If I would know how, I would make it my favourite.
Minor disturbance is the lover part of the picture - may be rising the camera upwards would do even better.

ReynardTheFox (260) 2003-12-04 7:55

Fantastic colours in this shot - I'm hoping to visit this very place next year and photos like this just make me more determined. I disagree about the rocks at the bottom - for me they add an element of depth and emphasise the haze effect in the distance more with their relative clarity.

cdewet (0) 2004-01-01 12:01

Bruce
There is a certain magic in this shot. I browsed some of your chilly mountain scenes and they are really all appealing. The colours here just gels together so well.

Alanbrito (72) 2004-03-11 17:56