La Palma Island in Moonlight
In bright moonlight a whole new universe opens up for nightscape photography. Especially around full moon phase, the Moon's glare becomes so intense that even short exposures show the landscape in surprising detail. Since moonlight is reflected sunlight, the sky gets a bluish tint, just like in bright daylight. The main difference to photos of the daytime sky is that the sky is full of stars. The La Palma landscape with the impressive pine tree is a single exposure shot on March 9, 2014. The lunar phase was just after first quarter. The lens used was an 8mm fisheye @f/5.6. Exposure time was 1 minute, no tracking was needed. Above the prominent pine tree the Moon glares brightly. The sky is full of brilliant stars of the winter constellations, from Cassiopeia (right) to Puppis (left). Orion the hunter is below left of the Moon. The lights on the right are from the distant towns of El Paso and Los Llanos de Aridane. [Released April 6, 2014] This project nightflight image was sponsored by