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Phil Douglis | all galleries >> Galleries >> Gallery Eighteen: Light and Landscape – combining personal vision with nature’s gifts > Moonrise at Mohonk, New Paltz, New York, 2006
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05-AUG-2006

Moonrise at Mohonk, New Paltz, New York, 2006

While visiting New York, we stayed for a weekend at a secluded Victorian Resort known as the Mohonk Mountain House. Located in the Hudson Valley just 90 minutes from New York, Mohonk was founded in 1869, and today its 265 rooms sprawl across the crest of Shawangunk Ridge along Mohonk Lake. Looming on a cliff over that lake is a tower, offering hikers a view of numerous neighboring states. I made this image of that tower at the moment the moon drew equal to its cupola, just as the setting sun turned the limestone ridge to a deep reddish gold color. Less than a minute after I made this image, the light faded from the cliff. This image echoes a prime maxim of landscape photography – be there when the light is on the edge, just before it goes away.

Leica D-Lux 2
1/160s f/4.9 at 25.2mm iso80 hide exif
Full EXIF Info
Date/Time05-Aug-2006 17:50:39
MakeLeica
ModelD-LUX2
Flash UsedNo
Focal Length25.2 mm
Exposure Time1/160 sec
Aperturef/4.9
ISO Equivalent80
Exposure Bias
White Balance (10)
Metering Modemulti spot (3)
JPEG Quality (6)
Exposure Programprogram (2)
Focus Distance

other sizes: small medium large original auto
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Guest 29-Jun-2012 23:22
Fantastic photograph.
Phil Douglis26-Oct-2006 02:48
I liked the contrasts, too, Shirley. The day is gone. The night has not yet come. Meanwhile, the moon talks to the tower and the tower talks to the moon.
Shirley Wang25-Oct-2006 23:57
I like this. The contrast of colors is beautiful! A great capture of a moment of transition.
Phil Douglis23-Oct-2006 20:23
Whispering secrets? A delightful interpretation, Xin. Thank.
Sheena Xin Liu17-Oct-2006 23:34
What a wonderful capturing of the moon as if it was a neighbor of the tower on the roof of the hill, and it was whispering secret talks to the folks inside. A dream like picture. I like the serenity this picture narrates.
Phil Douglis18-Aug-2006 19:22
Thanks, Ai Li, for pointing out the importance of the dual light sources here. Actually they are one and the same source -- the sun. Its last rays bathe the earth in fading gold, while at the same time brilliantly illuminating a rising moon, which, in turn, reflects the light back to us. Both earth and the moon are illuminated by reflection. But I see what you are seeing -- nature cycling. One light goes, another comes. I would not have made one without the other. It would be description, not expression. With the two elements -- sunlight and moonlight -- playing against each other to complement a romantic tower, the imagination is activated far more than it would be with just another sunset or moon shot.
AL18-Aug-2006 09:02
No matter where you're, there's always a hidden paradise waiting to be discovered and to escape to :-) Phil, you'd wonderfully captured two opposing light sources, the sun and the moon. One setting to give a beautiful golden color, and the other rising to give a moody dawn color. Best of both worlds! It would be so different if you only captured one without the other. A great example of photographing light in the natural environment at the right time at the right place. Love it!
Phil Douglis14-Aug-2006 18:26
You are right Kal, this is not what you would expect to see in New York. In fact, it's not in the city. New Paltz is an hour and a half drive north of Manhattan, and as you can see, it's another world. We leave the urban jungle behind us and spend sunset and moonrise in a Victorian paradise.
Kal Khogali14-Aug-2006 14:53
Not a stereotypical image of New York...instead you remind us that the Urban Jungle is just that a jungle...outside it there can be paradise...K
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