Let’s let geometry and the big plan work for us

You are here: Nature Science Photography – Natural light – Orienting in the field

Now we have learned a lot about the basic conditions in the sky, but we still lack the tools to practically translate them into good images. Normally, we move ourselves to place the sun or moon in a given situation in relation to another object on the ground in the picture. The closer the foreground is, the easier this is. At distances up to a few hundred meters, a few steps to the side are enough to move the sun by one or more of its diameters. Anyhow, knowing the sun’s direction is helpful. In the northern hemisphere, it moves south with its rising and north with its setting. In the southern hemisphere, the direction of movement is reversed. The way, which it takes thereby, runs to the spring and autumn, beginning as a straight line, and inclines with the summer more strongly to the north and/or with the winter more strongly to the south. To get a direct idea of these paths, you can take a startrail image aligned with the western or eastern horizon. The sun will take the same path as the stars at the appropriate time of year as it passes through each section of the sky.

Dealing with a more distant foreground presents more challenges, as you must move yourself several hundred meters at distances of a few kilometers to move the sun by one of its diameters.

But this is a trial-and-error method and depends to a large extent on chance. And we don’t necessarily always want to rely on chance – „Luck favours the prepared mind“ Galen Rowell once wrote, and that should be our claim. So we want to know beforehand when and where the sun, the moon or a certain star constellation will appear in the sky. The most crucial information we require for this is our geographical position on the earth’s surface, expressed as longitude and latitude, the celestial direction represented by the azimuth angle, and the height of the star above the horizon, expressed in degrees. The first information can be obtained from a map, a GPS device or Google earth. An accuracy of 1° is sufficient for our purposes. The second information we get from a compass, the third from an inclinometer (clinometer) or alternatively from the fist on the outstretched arm (we will come back to this).

Next The compass

Main Natural light

Previous Startrails

If you found this post useful and want to support the continuation of my writing without intrusive advertising, please consider supporting. Your assistance goes towards helping make the content on this website even better. If you’d like to make a one-time ‘tip’ and buy me a coffee, I have a Ko-Fi page. Your support means a lot. Thank you!