[dmnf]

It was a full moon night. I took the sunset picture first and then tool the full moon picture using a 230mm lens at 1/640s. Then, I use PS to cut and paste the moon to the sunset picture. Is this the only way to create this kind of moon+scene pictures? Most of my friends they like it but when I told them the moon is PS overlay. They all say cheating.

I am new to DSLR and only use PS for a few weeks.

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[jimr-pdx]

It's hard for my astronomical senses to see a full moon adjacent to a sunset - both of your images are nice but it hurts my brain a bit when they are together. I've seen worse though - once a picture had a crescent moon pointing away from where the sun was setting! I've seen a few movies that have done this too.

The real photoshop trick is implying you had a clear sunset in Vancouver!
I can say that as a joke, as I'm down the road in Portland where no one believes it of us either!

[rbefly]

Hello Dmnf,
You've taken two good photos, but they don't really work together.
First, as jimr-pdx points out, the moon would be on the opposite horizon (rising) if you were looking West at a sunset.
Second, the moon is much too large for the photo perspective. The landscape photo has a natural perspective, as if (like the human eye) it was taken with a 35-50mm (or perhaps slightly wider) lens. But the moon was taken with a telephoto that magnified its size several times. I'd guess you could reduce the size of the moon by half and it would still look oversize, but wouldn't be as obvious.
It is natural, when trying a new technique, to overdo the effect. You see this very often with the HDR technique, everything from butterflies to cloud formations look like they're carved in granite. The same with Photoshop, combining different elements in an eye-catching way is a common first step.
So, you're on the right track, as I said your landscape is a nice shot and the moon photo is sharp and clear. But together, in that size ratio, it looks unreal and to an experienced eye, faked.
Keep experimenting and learning,
Ron

[Alliecat]

I agree with Jim; the moon is in the wrong place. (And with Ron; I hate granite clouds!!) Also the lighting is just "wrong" on the moon, so it doesn't match the rest of the scene.
No, this is not the only way to get a full moon in your shot. I work with film so I do double exposures. You can likely set your digital to do the same.
First, find a scene where the moon is actually rising (i.e. point away from the sunset). Your light will be more realistic. Either shoot "beside" where the moon is, or wait till the moon is high enough to not be in your shot. Shoot the scene, making note of where you want to put the moon. Then add the moon as a 2nd exposure. Zoom in a LITTLE if you want to make it look as big as a rising moon looks to the eye. I usually use my 200mm lens (so yes, it's a little big but (hopefully) not overdone).
The best night to do moonrise shots is the night before the full moon if you want some sunsetty light on the scene; if you want a dark night-scene you can do it later.
Photoshop can be fun, but just because you CAN, doesn't mean you SHOULD.
Keep playing & experimenting & have fun! And welcome to the forum

[Dr Orloff]

I agree it looks completely wrong. My advice would be to have an archive of Moon shoots and then to replace the Moon in the landscape with the correct phase and orientation. You can fiddle with the size a bit for artistic licence. I don't regard it as any more cheating than cloning things out of an image.