Autumn Schrock (@autpops) is a travel, astro and landscape photographer currently based out of Salt Lake City, Utah. The Alpha Collective member is as passionate about the seas as she is the skies, and Schrock strives to showcase the immense beauty of our world by encouraging mindful exploration. We connected with Schrock to learn more about how she builds stunning images through multiple shots to showcase the beauty of the place.

Photo by Autumn Schrock. Sony Alpha 7R III. Sony 24-70mm f/2.8 G Master. Foreground: 1/8-sec., f/4.5, ISO 160. Moon: 1/80-sec., f/8, ISO 640.

Alpha Collective member Autumn Schrock shares how she builds stunning images through multiple shots to showcase the beauty of the place.

Stumbling Upon A Scene

This photo belongs to my Happy Moonday collection, a photographic series that blossomed from my intense fascination with the moon. Gazing up at its golden reflection brings me peace and makes me feel at home, and I wanted to share that feeling with the world. Nobody likes Mondays, so I set out to cure those Monday blues with a series that I call Happy Moonday consisting of photographs of the moon saying hello over serene landscapes.

My partner and I were having our camper van converted when the pandemic struck in 2020. It was finished in the spring, so we opted for a desert road trip to escape out into nature. One of the first places we went was Valley of the Gods in southern Utah, and we originally chose this location to photograph the Milky Way. After using PhotoPills to align everything up for the stars, I realized that the moon was going to perfectly rise above this unique spire around sunrise. 

As much as I'd like to say that I diligently planned this image out, I stumbled upon it. It’s fascinating to me how I often find myself in scenarios where I’m able to align the moon over remarkable landscapes with little to no planning. Time and time again, it seems that I get lucky when it comes to aligning the moon. But is it luck? Is it a coincidence? I am constantly stunned, but then I wonder if it’s simply my affinity for looking up—my curiosity for the worlds outside of our own.

Camera & Lens Combination For Low Light Travel Photography

I used my Sony Alpha 7R III and Sony 24-70mm f/2.8 G Master lens to create this image. Five years later and the Sony Alpha 7R III is still an amazing camera with excellent low-light capabilities and the resolution to allow me to crop in quite a bit. My Sony 24-70mm f/2.8 G Master lens is hands down my most-used lens. The versatility of that focal range matched with the wide aperture make it the perfect travel and landscape lens.

Experiment With Shooting & Editing

Usually when I photograph the moon at phases fuller than a crescent moon, I take multiple shots and combine them together for optimal exposure and composition. This photo is a combination of two images taken from a tripod: one taken at 47mm for the landscape and a second zoomed in to 70mm on the moon. I then combined and edited these two images using Adobe Photoshop. The moon is quite small at 47mm, so using the enlarged photo of the moon gives the composition a little more impact.

My camera settings for the foreground were: 1/8-sec., f/4.5, ISO 160 and my settings for the moon were: 1/80-sec., f/8, ISO 640. I needed to take two sets of exposures as the moon is quite bright at this phase and gets a little blown out with settings geared for the foreground. I wanted to photograph the foreground with a lower ISO for a cleaner image, but I wanted to stop my lens down to f/8 for the moon shot to sharpen it a bit.

Over the years, I’ve learned that it’s important to experiment and play around with different shooting and editing techniques to help find your voice and style. I encourage you to go out and explore as much as you can; you never know what amazing scene you'll stumble upon!

See more of Autumn Schrock’s work on her Alpha Universe Profile and on Instagram @autpops.