Using my Smartphone for Future Photo Opportunities: So here is a photo I took with my IPhone 8+ back in April of this year. I'm always looking for scenes that might make a nice Star...

Fstop12 Loc: Kentucky

So here is a photo I took with my IPhone 8+ back in April of this year. I'm always looking for scenes that might make a nice Star Trail image. I really like the leading line of the brick wall and the old tree in the foreground of that old barn. This scene ticked all the boxes for me so I took a shot of the scene with my IPhone. This was early spring and there were leaves on that tree, I knew that I would have to wait until fall and the leaves fell because I didn't want the leaves to block the star trails. Just recently, I asked for and was granted permission to be on this property long after sunset so I started planning the shot on my phone using the PhotoPills Planning app. Every time I take a photo with my IPhone, it records the location along with the GPS numbers. Inside of PhotoPills I go to " Planner" and then choose "Load" to load the photo I took and it brings it up. At this point I can do many things with the app. For this example I put the RED Pin in the spot I thought I would be standing and placed the Black Pin over top the barn. I have the Sun and Moon times selected to show me when in this case, where and when the sun will set and when and where the Moon will rise and set. For those of you that don't know, for Star Trails you want to have very Dark Clear skies without a Moon presence. So now I needed to know when the next NEW Moon would be. It was easy, I just kept scrolling through the dates until the app showed me that my next NEW moon would be on November 14. The app told me that the sun will set at 4:40pm and that the moon will not be present in the sky after 4:34pm. Now all I have to hope for is a Clear Cloudless night. Oh and I have a couple of apps that will give me that info as well. Wouldn't do much good to drive all the way to this location only to find out an hour into my shooting a bank of low hanging clouds are gonna come rolling through. PhotoPills is an amazing app for Photoplanning and it has a lot of other nice features. You can use the app to Plan well into the future when a Full Moon or a Setting Sun will be just in the right spot over whatever it is your are shooting. So remember the next time you are out and about and see an interesting scene, take a shot with your phone and then use it to plan a shot of that scene for sunrise, sunset, or moonrise.

Taken Early Spring Last April
Taken Early Spring Last April...

leftj Loc: Texas

Fstop12 wrote:

So here is a photo I took with my IPhone 8+ back in April of this year. I'm always looking for scenes that might make a nice Star Trail image. I really like the leading line of the brick wall and the old tree in the foreground of that old barn. This scene ticked all the boxes for me so I took a shot of the scene with my IPhone. This was early spring and there were leaves on that tree, I knew that I would have to wait until fall and the leaves fell because I didn't want the leaves to block the star trails. Just recently, I asked for and was granted permission to be on this property long after sunset so I started planning the shot on my phone using the PhotoPills Planning app. Every time I take a photo with my IPhone, it records the location along with the GPS numbers. Inside of PhotoPills I go to " Planner" and then choose "Load" to load the photo I took and it brings it up. At this point I can do many things with the app. For this example I put the RED Pin in the spot I thought I would be standing and placed the Black Pin over top the barn. I have the Sun and Moon times selected to show me when in this case, where and when the sun will set and when and where the Moon will rise and set. For those of you that don't know, for Star Trails you want to have very Dark Clear skies without a Moon presence. So now I needed to know when the next NEW Moon would be. It was easy, I just kept scrolling through the dates until the app showed me that my next NEW moon would be on November 14. The app told me that the sun will set at 4:40pm and that the moon will not be present in the sky after 4:34pm. Now all I have to hope for is a Clear Cloudless night. Oh and I have a couple of apps that will give me that info as well. Wouldn't do much good to drive all the way to this location only to find out an hour into my shooting a bank of low hanging clouds are gonna come rolling through. PhotoPills is an amazing app for Photoplanning and it has a lot of other nice features. You can use the app to Plan well into the future when a Full Moon or a Setting Sun will be just in the right spot over whatever it is your are shooting. So remember the next time you are out and about and see an interesting scene, take a shot with your phone and then use it to plan a shot of that scene for sunrise, sunset, or moonrise.

So here is a photo I took with my IPhone 8+ back i... (show quote)

I have the PhotoPills app on my iPhone but have not used it because it seems way to complicated. You make me want to learn so guess I'll look for a good tutorial.

berchman Loc: South Central PA

Fstop12 wrote:

So here is a photo I took with my IPhone 8+ back in April of this year. I'm always looking for scenes that might make a nice Star Trail image. I really like the leading line of the brick wall and the old tree in the foreground of that old barn. This scene ticked all the boxes for me so I took a shot of the scene with my IPhone. This was early spring and there were leaves on that tree, I knew that I would have to wait until fall and the leaves fell because I didn't want the leaves to block the star trails. Just recently, I asked for and was granted permission to be on this property long after sunset so I started planning the shot on my phone using the PhotoPills Planning app. Every time I take a photo with my IPhone, it records the location along with the GPS numbers. Inside of PhotoPills I go to " Planner" and then choose "Load" to load the photo I took and it brings it up. At this point I can do many things with the app. For this example I put the RED Pin in the spot I thought I would be standing and placed the Black Pin over top the barn. I have the Sun and Moon times selected to show me when in this case, where and when the sun will set and when and where the Moon will rise and set. For those of you that don't know, for Star Trails you want to have very Dark Clear skies without a Moon presence. So now I needed to know when the next NEW Moon would be. It was easy, I just kept scrolling through the dates until the app showed me that my next NEW moon would be on November 14. The app told me that the sun will set at 4:40pm and that the moon will not be present in the sky after 4:34pm. Now all I have to hope for is a Clear Cloudless night. Oh and I have a couple of apps that will give me that info as well. Wouldn't do much good to drive all the way to this location only to find out an hour into my shooting a bank of low hanging clouds are gonna come rolling through. PhotoPills is an amazing app for Photoplanning and it has a lot of other nice features. You can use the app to Plan well into the future when a Full Moon or a Setting Sun will be just in the right spot over whatever it is your are shooting. So remember the next time you are out and about and see an interesting scene, take a shot with your phone and then use it to plan a shot of that scene for sunrise, sunset, or moonrise.

So here is a photo I took with my IPhone 8+ back i... (show quote)

Helpful advice for those interested in taking pictures of star trails, setting suns, and full moons.

Fstop12 Loc: Kentucky

leftj wrote:

I have the PhotoPills app on my iPhone but have not used it because it seems way to complicated. You make me want to learn so guess I'll look for a good tutorial.

I agree it has a bit of a steep learning curve. I'm still learning everything it has to offer. I suggest you go to this link for tutorials and help. https://www.photopills.com/academy

This link is also a good start. It was a PhotoPills Planning Master Class they put on awhile back. The class is 2 hours long but it is broken down into sections so you can go to whatever interests you.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=uQWWV-DY6M0&fbclid=IwAR2BiNlLHpt1We5X5n1COEoxPI8adufa6_2f_2bnFngws6T1SwSxcPwPrz4

Ourspolair

Thanks for sharing this info! Stay well and good luck with the star trails!

juan_uy Loc: Uruguay

Great info shared here. Photopills is the number one app for photography I think, and they have great free content between PDFs, tutorials and their YouTube channel.

Fstop12: already wanting to see your results. Good luck and clear skies!

PD: You may want to also visit the Astro section: https://www.uglyhedgehog.com/s-109-1.html

Fstop12 Loc: Kentucky

juan_uy wrote:

Great info shared here. Photopills is the number one app for photography I think, and they have great free content between PDFs, tutorials and their YouTube channel.

Fstop12: already wanting to see your results. Good luck and clear skies!

PD: You may want to also visit the Astro section: https://www.uglyhedgehog.com/s-109-1.html