I use the PhotoPills app to plan a lot of my photography, from sunrises and sunsets, to astrophotography. I really pushed it to the limits though, when I decided to use it for a very long distance, rising full moon image, using my new Sigma 150-600mm lens. I needed an iconic location though and that was my biggest problem. Rising full moons limit your “window” to just a handful every year. Unlike sunsets, which although in the west, at least give you a wide range from mid-winter to mid-summer.
It wasn’t just the limitation with the direction though. My subject needed to be large, to be seen from at least 2.5 kilometers away and photographed at 600mm. Naturally, there could be no obstructions in the way, such as buildings, trees, or hills. After about two months of fruitless searching, I finally discovered that Dover castle had an excellent view from a nearby hill and the direction was perfect to have the moon rising directly above the Great Tower in April.
I can’t begin to tell you the mathematics involved in getting this shot. The height of the hill where the castle stands. The height of the tower, plus half the apparent height of the moon given the distance to my location and the length of my lens. I had to keep refining my plan, not forgetting that I was trying to pick my location on the hill where the view wouldn’t be obscured by trees. What3Words would be used to direct me to the spot and I had already found where to park by the public footpath leading up the hill.
There were two problems. Huge traffic delays had been reported in the area for the previous week. I nearly didn’t go, but in the end I just left very early. Much to my amazement, there was virtually no traffic on the motorway and I arrived two hours ahead of time. Whilst that didn’t really matter, there was a chilly wind blowing up on the hill and I shivered as I waited. The biggest problem was poor air quality, made worse by the sheer distance to the castle. I very nearly gave up, but thought this would at least serve as a test run and anyway, I couldn’t repeat the shot for another year.
In the end, this is what I got. Perhaps the most incredible thing is that while I stood alone on the hill and watched this unfold before my eyes, everybody in the streets below seemed to be going about their business completely unaware. I felt very privileged to be there.
Ulrike Stanley
24 May 2022Amazing how you managed to get this shot. Sounds very complicated and yet you managed to get such a stunning photo.
Zooey
24 May 2022PhotoPills does the heavy work, but you do need to understand how to use it. I’m still not entirely happy with this because I know how bad the pollution was at the time. I have a new plan to go back in a few months 🙂
Sid
3 Jun 2022It’s the first time I see the Dover Castle: impressive, must say!
Great photo ♥️
Mathematics and I don’t match but your calculations were perfect 😜
Ciao
Sid
Zooey
3 Jun 2022I haven’t done maths for a very, very long time. Let’s say that I got lucky this time 😀