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3 Tools To Help Prepare You For the Annular Eclipse This Weekend

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This Sunday, May 20th, there will be an annular solar eclipse, visible from parts of Asia and the western United States. I wrote a detailed post about the eclipse last month, which includes some great links to maps, but I forgot to list some tools to help you scout out a location to photograph this rare event. So, if you’re a procrastinator like me and still haven’t planned out your shot, here are some helpful tools:

#1 – Photographer’s Ephemeris

Photographer's EphemerisThe Photographer’s Ephemeris is an essential tool for any landscape photographer, because it helps show you where the Sun and moon will rise or set, and overlays that on top of a Google map. If you’d like to try and photograph the eclipse as part of a landscape, then this software can help show you where the Sun and moon will be in relation to a particular landscape feature (such as a mountain or lake). There’s a free desktop version, and an inexpensive iPhone/iPad/Android version as well. [Read more…] about 3 Tools To Help Prepare You For the Annular Eclipse This Weekend

5 Great iPhone Apps for Nature Photographers

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With mobile phones getting more and more powerful these days, they’re starting to become some pretty useful tools. They’re not just phones anymore. Many of them allow you to install different “apps” that can significantly help you take photos while you’re out on the trail.

For example, here’s a list of some great apps available for the iPhone:

#1 – Photographer’s Ephemeris

The Photographer's EphemerisI’ve discussed this app before (it also has a free desktop version): it’s the ultimate iPhone app for landscape photographers. It’ll tell you sunrise and sunset times, moon times, azimuth and elevation of the sun/moon at a specific time (useful for planning landscape shots), and tons more stuff.

The app easily lets you switch between dates, so you can see what time of the year the sun will set where you want it to, and all of this is projected on top of a Google map, making it super easy to visualize where things are going to be. [Read more…] about 5 Great iPhone Apps for Nature Photographers

6 Reasons Why Flickr is a Great Tool for Nature Photographers

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FlickrAs you might already know, I’m a big fan of Flickr. Although it’s primarily just a place for you to store and share your photos, there’s a lot more reason to use it as well. Especially as a nature photographer. Here are some reasons why:

#1 – Learn from other photographers

There are a ton of photographers on Flickr. In fact, as of October 2009, Flickr has over 4 billion photos. The best part? Every single one is searchable by you.

This means you can search for photos of your favorite subject, and see how other photographers have photographed that same subject. I think we all see the world in a completely unique way, so seeing through the eyes of another photographer can help inspire you.

Some photographers on Flickr also make the technical details of their photos public, so you can see what aperture, shutter speed, and ISO they used for a photo. [Read more…] about 6 Reasons Why Flickr is a Great Tool for Nature Photographers

Photographer’s Ephemeris now available for iPhone!

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The Photographer's Ephemeris (TPE)I’ve written about The Photographer’s Ephemeris before: it’s a free desktop application that runs on Windows, Mac, and Linux.

It’s a tool that helps show you the exact position of the sun and moon on a particular time of day, overlaying their azimuths on top of a Google Map.

It’s hard to explain the entire program in one sentence because it does so much. But, it’s a tremendous tool for landscape photographers, because it can help you scout out areas and determine ahead of time if the sun will shine on a particular mountain peak at sunset.

Well, this great tool is now available for the iPhone too! Here’s a list of the app’s great features: [Read more…] about Photographer’s Ephemeris now available for iPhone!

Free software for landscape photographers

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photogephFor landscape photography, it’s good to always be aware of the sunrise/sunset times, and the sun’s azimuth at these times. It helps to know this for the moon too (as well as the current phase). Lots of information to keep track of, huh?

Well, luckily there’s a free program out there that will help you do all this and more! It’s called The Photographer’s Ephemeris, and it’s developed by Stephen Trainor.

Here’s a quick look at some of this tool’s great features: [Read more…] about Free software for landscape photographers