Night Skyline Take Two

Sunday evening we were driving home from our day in Richmond and I noticed the biggest, most gorgeous moon hanging in the sky. I was dying to pull over and capture it, but it had been a long day, we were all spent, and there was no way I was gonna manage it. I made a mental note to try on Monday. Since it rained Monday, I had to wait until Tuesday, but the local weather reported a 98% full moon so I was hopeful I'd get a good shot.

Hubs was at school, so I drug the kiddos downtown to try to get a clear shot from the riverfront. Unfortunately, it was partly cloudy and the moon was not to be seen. But, instead of wasting the trip, I set up to recapture the city skyline shot I had taken a couple of weeks ago.

Here's my first try:

What I like about it is the funny bird in the foreground (somewhat hidden by my watermark), and the extra holiday lights. The focus didn't seem quite sharp enough to me though.

And the second (yes it is a slightly different section of the skyline):

I've included my camera settings so you can see what I did differently. I also used the remote shutter release for the second shot, but not the first. This one seems a little clearer to me, but not quite as brilliant. Which do you prefer?


Later that night, the moon did make and appearance and I captured this:

Not the giant luminous low hanging globe in a dusky sky that I was hoping for. Oh well, maybe next month  ;)

Linking up today at debduty.com. Stop by and check out her gorgeous pics!