So how do we know where the moon will rise and where we should shoot from? We'll use the great FREE program The Photographer's Ephemeris, it's a great program for planning your photo shoots for Sunrise, Sunsets, Moonrise and Moonset. It's also great for seeing the angle of the sun during other times of day. The desktop version is free and there are apps for smartphones.
Here's when will meet up:
Saturday: 4pm
Sunday: 4:30pm
Monday: 5:30pm Optional
Tuesday: 6:30pm Optional
Note: Saturday and Sunday are the best night, and that's when I'll be there, Monday and Tuesday are optional and I'll be there if the weather was bad on Saturday and Sunday.
We will be shooting from Upper Edgewater park, the entrance is at the intersection of West Blvd and Cliff Drive. DO NOT program your gps for Edgewater Park or you'll end up in the lot by the beach and fishing pier. I will have a google map with directions at the bottom of this post. Here's a photo of where to park. Park where it says "Park Here". If the lot fills up then park in the Overflow lot. We will be shooting from the bluff where the red balloon is.
This weekend the moon will be rising a little north of the city and at different times each night, lets look at each night and see where the moon will rise and at what time....
Saturday 11/16
Sunset: 17:06
Moonrise: 16:40 97.3% Full Moon
Saturday will be the day for the best balanced light between the moon the city since the Moon will rise about 26 minutes before the sun sets. The moon rise is at 16:40 and sunset at 17:06 so there will be some nice sunlight on the city as the moon rises. The Moon will rise over Lakeside Ave. which is a little North of the Key Tower, we won't see the moon exactly at 16:40 since the moon will have to rise above the buildings in the city. It will be twilight so there will be blue in the sky and the buildings lit with the last rays of the Sun. It should look something like this only the Moon will be to the left of Key Tower...
Saturday Moonise - Click for large view |
Sunday
Sunset: 17:05
Moonrise: 17:21 Full Moon
Sunday is the actual Full Moon, the Moon will rise over the RR tracks South of Browns Stadium. The Moon rises 15 minutes after the Sun sets so it will be dark when the moon rises.
Sunday Moonrise - Click for large view |
Monday
Sunset: 17:04
Moonrise: 18:05 99.9% Full Moon
Tuesday
Sunset: 17:03
Moonrise: 18:53 98.2% Full Moon
On Monday and Tuesday the moon rises well after the sun sets and will rise farther to the North over Browns Stadium. If the weather is bad on Saturday and Sunday or if you couldn't make it over the weekend you could try and photograph the moon on these nights.
Monday and Tuesday Moonrise - Click for large view |
Moonrise Photo Tips and stuff to bring:
1. A flashlight so you can see what you're doing after the sun sets
2. A remote cable release if you have one
3 A sturdy tripod and DON'T EVEN THINK ABOUT RAISING YOUR CENTER POST!!! Raising the center post is very unstable and will cause camera movement, its very windy by the lake and you will be using some long exposures, so you want your camera to be as stable as possible.
For the best quality shoot at low ISO's of 100 or 200, if you want to keep the exposure times down you could go as high as 400 ISO.
I like to get a lot of the building and sometimes the Lake in focus so I like to shoot at an aperture of around F7 or F8, if you close down more you end up with some really long exposure times which would be ok and a still night, but if the wind is blowing it could cause some blurry photos. Shooting at wider apertures or even wide open is ok too, but you'll have less depth of field.
Anyway hope to see a lot of you down by the Lake for this Cool Photo Op! Everybody is welcome to join in the fun, bring family and friends if you want!
And if you enjoy going on fun casual photo ops like this then check out the Cool Photo Ops Facebook Group, where we post cool places to take photos in Ohio and beyond, everyone is welcome to join in the fun from beginning photographers to more experienced photographers the only prerequisite is Ya Gotta Have Fun!!!!!
Here's a map of shooting locations and where to park:
View Cool Photo Ops Oct Full Moonrise Over Cleveland in a larger map