Plan ahead for your landscape shoots. There's a lot to be said for managing your time when it comes to landscape photography and in particular sunset and sunrise shoots. Knowing in advance exactly where the sun will rise or set is important as you will then be able to scout your preferred locations and know where the best vantage points will be. Add the moon into the mix and your planning is even more crucial. If you can be at a location when a full moon is rising at about the same time as the sun is setting then you have a marvelous combination for stunning landscape photography. If you are planning a shoot near the ocean then tides also come into play.
I prefer low tide as the exposed foreshore is usually a lot more interesting.
Queensland's Sunshine Coast has some fantastic locations for sunset / moonrise opportunities. Point Cartwright is one of my favourites and indeed, a number of our Trekabout Photography Workshops 'Mountain to Beach Experience' photography workshops have been worked in with full moons. The resulting photographs have been awesome.
But you don't need to be on the Sunshine Coast to enjoy a full moon-rise at sunset. I have encountered amazing sights in the Red Centre for example with incredibly coloured moon-rise opportunities.
So how do you plan these shoots to be there at the right time. There are a number of tools that I use to good effect. The first of these is called The Photographer's Ephemeris or TPE. This is a free download for your desktop PC, Mac or laptop computer. You can also purchase the TPE app for iPhone and iPad and Android devices are also catered for.
TPE is easy to operate. In a nutshell it provides you with a map overview of your planned camera location and a graphic illustration of sunrise, sunset, moonrise and moonset. You do need to be online for the mapping which is where the app on a portable device is a great advantage. You can check out TPE by following this link...
It just so happens that the next full moon is on Thursday 2 August, and the moonrise is at 5.34pm with sunset being a few minutes earlier at 5:22pm. This has potential for some awesome seascapes as the moon rises out to sea into the pink afterglow of the sunset. Rest assured I will be on a foreshore somewhere :-) That same morning will also be a good for sunrise / moonset combination with the moon setting not long after sunrise.
Unfortunately, the tide won't be perfect as for sunset it will incoming and around 3/4 in. I don't think I'll let that stop me though.
I prefer low tide as the exposed foreshore is usually a lot more interesting.
Queensland's Sunshine Coast has some fantastic locations for sunset / moonrise opportunities. Point Cartwright is one of my favourites and indeed, a number of our Trekabout Photography Workshops 'Mountain to Beach Experience' photography workshops have been worked in with full moons. The resulting photographs have been awesome.
But you don't need to be on the Sunshine Coast to enjoy a full moon-rise at sunset. I have encountered amazing sights in the Red Centre for example with incredibly coloured moon-rise opportunities.
So how do you plan these shoots to be there at the right time. There are a number of tools that I use to good effect. The first of these is called The Photographer's Ephemeris or TPE. This is a free download for your desktop PC, Mac or laptop computer. You can also purchase the TPE app for iPhone and iPad and Android devices are also catered for.
TPE is easy to operate. In a nutshell it provides you with a map overview of your planned camera location and a graphic illustration of sunrise, sunset, moonrise and moonset. You do need to be online for the mapping which is where the app on a portable device is a great advantage. You can check out TPE by following this link...
It just so happens that the next full moon is on Thursday 2 August, and the moonrise is at 5.34pm with sunset being a few minutes earlier at 5:22pm. This has potential for some awesome seascapes as the moon rises out to sea into the pink afterglow of the sunset. Rest assured I will be on a foreshore somewhere :-) That same morning will also be a good for sunrise / moonset combination with the moon setting not long after sunrise.
Unfortunately, the tide won't be perfect as for sunset it will incoming and around 3/4 in. I don't think I'll let that stop me though.
Moonrise over the East McDonnell Ranges near Alice Springs, Central Australia
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