Just for Fun No C&C will be given: Belt of Venus

The subtle band of color above the horizon is called the Belt of Venus and involves earth's shadow among other odds and ends. I suspect there are several folks here who can provide further details. The tricky thing here was trying to balance the light of the moon with the light of the sky. The moon grew darker as it got closer to the horizon, at the same time the sky was getting brighter.

Canon 90mm t/s used with horizontal shift to take three frames, which were then combined in PS5.

Tom Robbins said:

Tom Robbins : Marsh and Moon​

The subtle band of color above the horizon is called the Belt of Venus and involves earth's shadow among other odds and ends. I suspect there are several folks here who can provide further details. The tricky thing here was trying to balance the light of the moon with the light of the sky. The moon grew darker as it got closer to the horizon, at the same time the sky was getting brighter.

Canon 90mm t/s used with horizontal shift to take three frames, which were then combined in PS5.

Click to expand...

This is a wonderful eye catching panorama. Once again Tom, your effort to get to the right place at the right time from the right position paid off admirably. The composition of the delicate Belgian lace array of bare branches, pulling the eye across the image balanced by the small static glow of the waning moon is perfect.

Tell us how you came to this shot.

Asher

Thank you Asher,

Illinois' DeKalb County Wilkinson Renwick Marsh is a marvelous place located at the juncture of two long-ago abandoned rail lines. After many years of attempts to drain the place, it was finally allowed to be as terrain and nature dictates. As a result, it is a wonderful place for migrating birds and nesting waterfowl. It is a small area, however, and surrounded by row crop farmland. A thin line of scrub trees line the perimeter of the marsh.

The place is located only twenty minutes travel time away from my house. So, one glance out the window is all it took to get an idea of the possibilities. The lack of clouds took the usual sort of sunrise ops off the list, but earth shadow remained doable. One quick check of the moon and the die was cast.

Tom

This is a delicious composition and the saturation level is great. This kind of capture is very easy to over do for color.

Best of all, it’s the kind of work that one can look at and get blissfully lost in.

Thank you Tracy! You are right about the temptation to over do the colors. The subtlety of the common phenomenon is what makes it often go unnoticed. It is very easy to "turn the knobs to the right" while processing in an attempt to make it more visible.

Hi Tom,

I haven't been ignoring you but I had nothing more to write than I like the picture, so I'll do just that eventually.

Thanks for the info re the belt of Venus, I didn't know that.

Very nice, Tom.
More info on The Belt of Venus

Evidently, it's just back-scattered red light from the sun-rise/set. Other colors scatter too much in air to make it from the sun, to the far horizon, and back to your eyes, as it scatters least of colors.

Same low dispersion/refraction of red light also allows for a Hunters' Moon.