[Leica] IMG: Moon Over Tennessee

[rgacpa at yahoo.com (Bob Adler)]

It's raining cats and dogs! But there are other dates. A piece of software 
called The Photographers Ephemeris (TPE) is very useful.
Per Jeff Sullivan:

"If you catch the moon rising a short while before sunset, the landscape 
starts 
brighter and ends up darker than the moon, so at some point between moonrise 
and 
twilight, for a few minutes the moon and landscape are in balance in a 
single 
exposure. For a few minutes on either side of that ideal illumination, minor 
editing techniques can salvage a successful result. Taking this approach, I 
don't worry much about exposure at all, I can work that out in real time as 
the 
light changes. I do use automatic exposure bracketing to provide a range of 
exposures to use (especially after the sweet spot of balanced light, when 
the 
moon gets too bright and it might be important to have one exposure for the 
moon 
and one for the landscape). It is important to keep exposures short, and I 
regularly review results on my DSLR's LCD. 
With the goal of shooting during a balanced moon/landscape exposure in mind, 
the 
day before the date of the full moon often offers the best opportunity for 
landscape photography, since the moon comes up earlier and can clear the 
horizon 
while there's enough light to properly expose the landscape. Given that the 
horizon is rarely at zero degrees in elevation, this also give the moon time 
to 
clear surrounding terrain as sunset color approaches. The moon is often just 
a 
few hours from full (say 99% full), essentially indistinguishable from a 
full 
moon to most viewers of the resulting image (and the image is pretty likely 
to 
be compelling enough to make any noticeable difference completely 
unimportant).

Back in December I suggested the best dates for moonrises in 2011 on my 
blog, 
with approximate times and compass bearings noted as well (accurate for 
mid-California):

Put Sunset Full Moon Rise Dates on your 2011 Calendar
http://activesole.blogspot.com/2010/12/put-sunset-full-moon-rise-dates-on-your.html


While the best sunset moonrise dates tend to occur a day before the full 
moon, 
you can also catch the full moon setting at times close to sunrise. The best 
day 
for that tends to be the day after the full moon. In this way you can 
feature a 
nearly full moon in images taken eastward or westward. Crescent moons can 
also 
be caught close to sunrise or sunset. To research these dates in advance, 
try 
the U.S. Naval Observatory Web site, which provides sun and rise and set 
times 
for towns close to your shooting location.

Plan Ahead for Great Full Moon Rise and Set Shots!
http://activesole.blogspot.com/2006/11/plan-ahead-for-great-full-moon-rise-and.html


The moon position also oscillates from south to north and back with the 
seasons, 
so for advanced users (not in intimidated by installing software), The 
Photographer's Ephemeris (already mentioned) enables you to see sun and 
moon rise/set angles on a Google Earth satellite image, and see how those 
angles 
(and elevations) change from one moonrise to the next and at any given time 
of 
day. You can even seen when the moon will clear the horizon. All of this 
enables 
you to choose a shooting position which lines the sun or moon up with 
specific 
landmarks, and to determine which month of the year enables particularly 
favorable compositions/lineups to occur:

Anticipating Sun and Moon Position for Moonrise 
http://activesole.blogspot.com/2010/03/anticipating-sun-and-moon-position.html

TPE is also available (for a fee) for iPhones, so you can check details from 
the 
field, but only when (IF) you get AT&T or Verizon service coverage.

There are only few full moons per year, even fewer that you'll have clear 
weather to shoot, and they're a nice addition to many landscape photographs, 
so 
it makes sense to plan ahead and make the best of those few great 
opportunities 
that you have.

Jeff Sullivan
Moon (and sun) 
Gallery: 
http://www.flickr.com/photos/jeffreysullivan/sets/72157623567602630/show/


" 

But most times it's just easier and smarter to lean against the wall, hold 
your 
camera up and shoot!
Bob Adler
Palo Alto, CA
http://www.rgaphoto.com




________________________________
From: Jim Nichols <jhnichols at lighttube.net>
To: Leica Users Group <lug at leica-users.org>
Sent: Fri, March 18, 2011 10:11:13 PM
Subject: Re: [Leica] IMG: Moon Over Tennessee

Thanks, Bob.  I appreciate the heads-up on the date of the full moon.  It 
was 
just too high here to include any landscape features.  Maybe you will get 
lucky 
on the West Coast.

Jim Nichols
Tullahoma, TN USA
----- Original Message ----- From: "Bob Adler" <rgacpa at yahoo.com>
To: "Leica Users Group" <lug at leica-users.org>
Sent: Friday, March 18, 2011 11:45 PM
Subject: Re: [Leica] IMG: Moon Over Tennessee


> Man that is sharp! I think I see an abandoned Hassy there... :-)
> Great capture.
> Tina taught you well!
> 
> Bob Adler
> http://www.rgaphoto.com
> 
> On Mar 18, 2011, at 8:25 PM, "Jim Nichols" <jhnichols at lighttube.net> 
> wrote:
> 
>> Bob Adler mentioned Thursday that the moonrise can be seen around sundown 
>> in 
>>California on March 19th, so I started looking here.  In the East, it 
>>rises too 
>>early in the day to make a useful photo.  I noticed tonight that it was 
>>approaching an overhead position and I had a clear shot, though there was 
>>a 
>>slight haze around the moon.  Not trusting the weather forecast, I decided 
>>to do 
>>my thing tonight.
>> 
>> After trying several tripod shots that were disappointing, I decided to 
>> go to 
>>the old standard approach, which Tina Manley mentioned sometime back.  
>>Camera on 
>>Manual, ISO 200, Sunny 16 exposure, manually supported, but leaning 
>>against a 
>>wall.  I gave up trying to manually focus, and set the scale at infinity.  
>>This 
>>was the best of five shots.
>> 
>> http://gallery.leica-users.org/v/OldNick/Moon+Over+TN.tif.html
>> 
>> E-510 with Leica Telyt-R 250/4
>> 
>> Comments and critiques welcomed.
>> 
>> Jim Nichols
>> Tullahoma, TN USA
>> 
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> 
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