Just have a look at this to inspire you!

My guess is it's a composite photo.

Agreed, but that is what makes them look so different :shock:

You need to be in the right places!

You bet, a lot of thing have to come together - the weather for a start, then the moon - there or not, the location, the timing, your equiptment....

all to play for, real shots of this nature need a lot of planning in advance
Keith..

Lune a Dessus de Ville - Being able to see the background stars through the Moon ruins this shot. Nice effort, but anyone could do this kind of thing - indeed they do it all the time in Hollywood. Disappointing.

Great effects and thought put into those images.
The guy sure knows how to run his camera and photoshop :shock:

Yea, it goes without saying that images have been combined together here. It's more on the artistic rather than scientifically-accurate side of astrophotography. Having said that, they are very nicely put together.

Careful inspection of these photos will reveal several artifacts which confirm they are composites. Also, the author does mention that they are composites in his descriptions of exposure and general comments.

Some tricks to confirm these photos are composites ...

(1) www.astrophotodigitale.com/Sky_Moon_Claude.htm .... no reflection of full moon on the water ... full moon is too low and too near the horizon ... light gradient (moon?) to the northwest of the moon and at the top border ... note tree tops on the far left with the darkened green

(2) www.astrophotodigitale.com/Moon_City_Claude.htm ... check out Mare Crisium and its position angle (a dead give-away) ... phase of the moon suggests a magnitude around -10 and which would blow away any surrounding stars ... city skyline is way too bright to allow any stars to show up

(3) www.astrophotodigitale.com/Venus_Christmas_Tree_Claude.htm .... Venus and the horizon are very bright and suggest early morning photo ... angle of Mare Crisium (and phase) are late afternoon (with sun low on the horizon and not set)

There are not many images where I go "wow, thats very cool", the second image "the moon + city" had that effect.