The Photographer's Ephemeris

Bill

New Member
Location
Brisbane, Australia
Name
Bill
If you're only looking for the time of the sun or moon rise then the local paper is the easiest source.

But if you want to know on what day the sunrise can be seen straight down a particular street, when the sun will set between two hills from a particular vantage point, or whether the sun will come around far enough to shine in the windows on a particular side of a house before sunset, then you need to know about the The Photographer's Ephemeris (TPE).

TPE is free on your computer. They call it an app, but it works just like many other interactive pages on your browser.

Much of the relevant ephemeris information in TPE is overlaid on Google Maps. This means that it works for everywhere, except at the poles (yeah, I had to try). And that means you can use either the map or satellite views for working things out. And, of course, you can search for places in the usual Google Maps way.

If you want The Photographer's Ephemeris on your iPhone or Android phone, however, it will cost you a few bucks. For those you can go to either the App Store or Google Play.

The home page for The Photographer's Ephemeris is HERE.

The 0nline Photographer's Ephemeris (browser based) app is HERE

Their free, quick-start, 2-page guide is HERE.

And finally, the latest, 80-page, PDF version of Understanding Light with the Photographer's Ephemeris, by Bruce Perry, is available for purchase (£9.99) HERE. Understanding Light talks about more than just the use of the ephemeris. I found it very useful.

(I have no association with TPE and the links above are just their links. I get no benefit.)

My blog is at www.billdanby.com
 
Bill, we are naturally skeptical of newcomers here who "get no benefit" and post links in their first post.

Feel free to share something about yourself here and say hello. It's late and time for me to retire for the evening, but trust someone will recommend your post as good or needing to be banned before I arise tomorrow morning.
 
Bill, we are naturally skeptical of newcomers here who "get no benefit" and post links in their first post.

Feel free to share something about yourself here and say hello. It's late and time for me to retire for the evening, but trust someone will recommend your post as good or needing to be banned before I arise tomorrow morning.

Don't be so suspicious without having a look. I posted this because I genuinely find it to be useful and wanted to share it. I don't regularly do landscape, but still find that I use the app regularly.

And I don't get a benefit.
 
Morning.

Well, that's a first post that required a lot of work for "no benefit".

As Luke said, we are a bit more used to newcomers introducing themselves rather than just pitching a product, however useful. I'm therefore closing this thread. Would you like to try again, starting with hello, what attracts you here, a little about yourself, your preferences and your experience. It helps to build a rapport.

In other words, at least buy us dinner first...
 
Okay, after a bit of Googling, I see what has happened. Bill, I can see you are a regular on Micro Four Thirds and have posted identically there. I can also see that the text is a verbatim copy of what you have posted on your blog, which explains the amount of work in the post.

I'm therefore re-opening this thread. But my earlier point still stands. Please take the time to introduce yourself - we don't "know" you here - yet.

Carry on (bimbles back on Dawn Patrol)
 
Just a little addition. This app has also saved me money in a roundabout way . In transport costs. Just checking on the PE before leaving for an event I can tell at a glance if the light is going to be for or against me. So before I embark on my photographic adventure I'll always check. What side of the railway is best ? What side of the river etc. and all this can be worked out in advance .
If you want to know when the sun sets straight down a certain street (or even if it does)

I'll have a prawn cocktail to start please Bill :)
 
Even the closest Bill's would be a little far (16000+ k's from my neighborhood).

The Toowong McDonalds, on the other hand, is closer.

(I have no association with McDonalds, and the Toowong Google Maps links above is just their link. I get no benefit.)
 
I've been using TPE on computer and iphone for about 5 years. (I think) I have found it very very useful on many occasions (eg best spot to get the red moon the other night). Its an app well worth having. Someone was touting something else... somethingPills in another forum I go to but it seemed very expensive for what it was (altho it does seem to do more than TPE). I'll see if I can find the link again.

Here we go. Here's the website. Its an iOS app only and theres a link on the site. Not sure which firmware is compatible.
PhotoPills | Shoot legendary photos
 
+1 for Sue's comments. I used TPE for moon photos the other night to get both direction (which was pretty obvious) and elevation (a bit more significant in terms of determining what buildings and trees might need to be worked around).

It will also calculate sun shadow length for a given height object at any time of day. I find this useful when checking to see in advance whether a particular target would be in the shadow of a nearby building or trees.
 
Okay, after a bit of Googling, I see what has happened. Bill, I can see you are a regular on Micro Four Thirds and have posted identically there. I can also see that the text is a verbatim copy of what you have posted on your blog, which explains the amount of work in the post.

I'm therefore re-opening this thread. But my earlier point still stands. Please take the time to introduce yourself - we don't "know" you here - yet.

Carry on (bimbles back on Dawn Patrol)

Yes..I for one don't know all the regulars on Amin's other forums...
 
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