Timing the Sun and Moon

Our ancestors quarried and hauled gargantuan stones many miles to build monuments that could predict where the sun and moon would rise and set. Photographers now days have it a little easier.

The Photographer's Ephemeris is one tool that combines centuries of observed astronomical and gravitational data with Google maps and shows you in exqusite detail where the sun and moon will be directing their light and the corresponding shadows, at any time of the day or night, at any place on earth, even allowing for elevation of the surrounding terrain. Well, maybe not every coordinate on earth, yet. I have not tested it's limits.

Stephen Trainor is the author of this free program. An iPod app will also be available on April 17.

Watching the short tutorials reveals the power of this program. Mark my words, this is something we all will applaud today, take for granted tomorrow and some will actually complain about in the future. Since this will actually save you time and money, Stephen provides a donation link to help maintain the service. Please consider contributing.

Here is the link to his blog or click the picture above. Thank you Stephen, for making my life that much simpler.

Kite Aerial Photography

Kite Aerial Photography is a technique I am itching to try and this photograph taken by George Lawrence after the 1906 earthquake in San Francisco is inspiring. Someone (at the USGS?) did a great job of creating a zoomable high resolution version.