"By the Light of the Moon"

Last night I was driving home around 10:30pm-ish and as I went around the corner before I reached my block, I looked over to the ocean on my right and saw this amazing view....the moon was lit in the shape of a large crescent, shining right above the ocean, which then left this gorgeous light trail over the water.  It was breathtaking.  I was then determined to capture that moment on my camera.

I drove home, ran up the stairs, got my camera ready, pulled out my brand new tripod that I hadn't even taken out of the box yet....couldn't figure out how to use it so tossed it on the couch and proceeded to tear apart my house looking for my old tripod.  Almost went back to the car thinking it was in there, but then spotted it on a shelf...got out the tripod and ran back down the stairs out to the back of the parking lot that looks out over the ocean....then I stood there fumbling with the tripod realizing I should have set it all up in the house where there was actually light so I could see what I was doing...but I knew that the moon's distance changes so rapidly sometimes and I had to get it just like it was....mind you, I also had my 4yr old son running after me through all of this commotion.

Finally, somehow in the dark I got it all set up and tested a couple of settings, then finally settled on one and started taking pictures.  I keep telling myself that I need to figure out if my camera came with a remote...I can't remember, and I don't know where it is if it did....but I need one.  When you take long exposure shots like this, the tiny bit of camera shake just from pushing the button will kill the image.  I did manage to get one shot that was pretty clear though....a bit grainy, but still focused.

So below is what the end result was...I did two different versions because I loooooved the purplish skies when I lightened it up....but then when I played around with it a bit, all of a sudden this darker image that highlighted the stars even more popped up on my screen and I loved it too....so I couldn't decide which to use, and ended up just going with both....

Which one do you like better??

These are both up for sale in my Etsy shop in case you're interested!