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Author Topic: The Photographer's Ephemeris  (Read 7403 times)

robertwatcher

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The Photographer's Ephemeris
« on: December 22, 2009, 01:12:58 pm »

There are a few Adobe Air products that I have been playing with recently. I think that we tend to dismiss the value of these little apps - and probably for many of us we have never really heard of Adobe Air, or looked into the products.

The Adobe Air applications install very easily on your computer, and many seem pretty easy to use. Simple functionality appears to the be the design purpose behind them - plus some nice looking and slick GUIs (graphical user interface) in many cases .

This particular Air application called "The Photographer's Ephemeris" may prove extremely valuable to some photographers. While it's main design objective appears to be Landscape Photographers who need to plan their shoots around the times of sunrise/sunset or twilight, or alternatively when the moon is in a particular place in a particular phase - - - I think that this data can be very valuable for any photographer who wants to know when the sun is rising or setting, so as to know when to schedule shoots (a lot of my outdoor shoots are early in the morning or late in the evening).  Particularly do I find this type of chart valuable, when I am booking dates into the next year or two and have different times not considered the restricted daylight  and changes sunset/sunrise times in say late fall.



One thing I found of great value, was the integration with Google maps - making it possible to drag the coordinates around to very precise locations around the world, or in your shooting area - - - and watch the data change and reflect the changes that would be in place for those areas.

The App can be downloaded from the Adobe website - http://www.adobe.com/cfusion/marketplace/i...marketplaceid=1

More information for this Free product is available on the website of Stephen Trainor - http://stephentrainor.com/tools/
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Eric Myrvaagnes

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« Reply #1 on: December 22, 2009, 02:03:48 pm »

Looks quite useful. It would be nice if it included tide tables, too.
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Luis Argerich

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« Reply #2 on: December 22, 2009, 02:32:05 pm »

I use this app, and I like it, very useful for planning shots/trips.
I found it not 100% accurate so somes scouting at the location is still needed before deciding that the sun will fall just between two trees
It's nice and saves time

EduPerez

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« Reply #3 on: December 22, 2009, 03:54:16 pm »

I use Google Earth for this same task; I can use a simulation to place the camera anywhere, preview the composition, and even see the sun at the hour I plan on taking the photograph. Here is a comparison of a simulation and the real photograph from my latest work.
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wolfnowl

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« Reply #4 on: December 22, 2009, 04:48:17 pm »

I have The Photographer's Ephemeris... never thought of using Google Earth in that way...

Mike.
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wirehunt

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« Reply #5 on: December 22, 2009, 09:53:48 pm »

I swear by TPE myself, I find google used in that way very slow and it doesn't have half the stuff that TPE has.
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Roger Calixto

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« Reply #6 on: December 23, 2009, 05:57:41 am »

Wow, you have made my year!

A couple months ago I sat down with a compass and ruler and tried to calculate by hand the best time of year to shoot a local castle. I want the whole front bathed in light. 2 clicks with this software and I'm done!!
Sweet!

Nice Christmas gift =)

The castle is Marienburg Schloss (on google maps)

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Roger
« Last Edit: December 23, 2009, 05:58:20 am by Roger Calixto »
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Shirley Bracken

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« Reply #7 on: December 23, 2009, 07:43:05 am »

That is an amazing tool.  I don't shoot landscapes.  But if I did, I would use it.  It's nice to see what is out there and available if I needed it.  Always tuck it in my "if needed bucket".  Thanks for sharing that.
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jclipperton

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« Reply #8 on: December 23, 2009, 09:12:25 am »

I wish Google Earth showed the track of the sun beyond sunrise and sunset... and showed the moon too. Also, GE doesn't show many 3 dimensional structures so it's kind of hard to know how a composition is going to turn out in many cases.

Of course whatever you use the weather can throw a spanner into the works!
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Shirley Bracken

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« Reply #9 on: December 23, 2009, 09:14:25 am »

Well, yeah, thank God for the variance!
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framah

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« Reply #10 on: December 23, 2009, 04:32:31 pm »

Well, I tried to download them but even tho I got the Ephemeris to download, i can't get the Adobe AIR to work. Even tho it first says that it downloaded successfully, it then says that an error occurred and it didn't.

I even tried to go at it from Adobes site and got the same results.  

Mac G5 with 10.5.8
Looks like it would be great to have, sigh.
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wirehunt

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« Reply #11 on: December 23, 2009, 08:11:27 pm »

Quote from: Shirley Bracken
That is an amazing tool.  I don't shoot landscapes.  But if I did, I would use it.  It's nice to see what is out there and available if I needed it.  Always tuck it in my "if needed bucket".  Thanks for sharing that.


It's even good for through the day so you can work out the sun's position
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