Such an amazing software. I am so happy being your customer and I am so glad to see the effort behind this. Longing for the desktop version, though. Thank you!
After I bought photopills a long time back, this is when I actually learnt the actual planning (my laziness). This is excellent explanation. Now on to planning.
Demonstrating once again the power of PhotoPils. The only bit left to do, apart from taking the shot, is to ensure you can actually see the subject from the red-pin spot. It might be a bit hard in NYC to have a clear view of the Empire State from the NJ shoreline.
Thank you David! The better you know the location the better. But in this case I'd recommend you to use google street view to have a better idea of it.
I got an amazing photo of the moon right behind the Empire State Building last night (October 1st, 2020) thanks to this awesome tutorial. Thank you so much! You're amazing!!! PhotoPills puts us in the right place at the right time :)
@@Epicfail911 Hi Carl. Sure. It was right by where "Amanda Bananas" ice cream is. You can Google it. Notice that the location changes based on the date/time you're taking the photo so the app really shows you exactly where to be. I got to the location the app showed me an hour early, and then I turned the app on and walked to the best exact location. I hope this helped!
@@PhotoPills Thanks PhotoPills for this clutch video on the moon. I was actually going around youtube searching for moon planning video for this friday's Moonshot. My first time shooting the moon and first time fully utilizing the such a comprehensive application. Just a feedback, maybe add the night AR function when you are at location (personally my favorite feature to try to predict and visualize the upcoming moonshot ) From my side of earth, it seems like the moon elevation is really high with 60+ degrees and height from blackpin of 1.2km, I think i might faced an issue here. I tried shifting around the different timing but seems like thats the best i can do.
I drove 4 hours to photograph the Supermoon setting behind a famous rock formation. Spent the night in a hotel and was out on location early the next morning. Unfortunately, the weather did not cooperate and the moon was completely obscured. Oh well, I'll try again.
I am inspired to get started with your app! You have created a truly comprehensive set of videos, written tutorials and practical examples that I have started to work my way through. I look forward to putting the theory into practice on the Mornington Peninsula, near Melbourne, Australia. Well done!
Raffi thank you so much for all the tuition you do its so helpful, but I really wish that it were possible to roll out a desktop version, as most planning would be done from home in any case, and the mobile used when not if that was available, I am absolutely sure there would be so much more use of the app if there were a desktop version as well. I know there is always TPE for desktop but much prefer my Photopils
I'm finally getting around to learning how to use PhotoPills. I've been watching a lot of your videos which are great. I'm planning on shooting the next full moon rising next to the Utah State Capitol in Salt Lake City. I have everything planned out, but the only thing I can't figure out how to do in PP is determining if the moon will be visible above an object that falls between the moon and my subject. In my case the Wasatch mountains fall between the capital and the moon. I know how to figure this out using the Photographer's Ephemeris so I know the moon will be visible when I want it to be, but I can't figure out how to determine this in PP.
Hi Ray, the way we do it is by placing the Black Pin on the Wasatch mountains right on the moon's azimuth thin blue line. If the line turns dashed, then, the mountains hide the center of the moon. Also on Panel 2 you have the height of the center of the moon above the ground level of the black pin. And it's apparent diameter.
@@PhotoPills Thanks for the quick reply. I don't ever get the blue azimuth line to be dashed even when I know the moon is below the mountains. The height of the moon in panel 2 works great though. Thanks again.
Best app ever. So much knowledge inside! To this video I have a question Raphael. Why is the black pin set in the middle of the ESB which is/should be ground level? To my understanding it should be set on street level?
thanks for the video Couldn't it be quite "easy" for you to draw the line on the map with all position where the moon will be seen at this eight... so we can simply find the best place along the line? It seems you have every thing to compute as you use terrain elevation. You could at least do with a 15 minutes period and draw those points.... which are intersection of the line moon object-at-height and terrain?
Super well explained! I just bought the app and want to try to plan a photo where the moon is above a church. When doing everything like you explained in the video I get that the moon will be at a height of 193m from the black pin. The church tower that I also want to be in the picture is 60 meters height. Is there a easy way to figure out with the lens I'm using and where I'm standing if I both the moon and tower will fit in the picture? Also could you please allow the Ipad version of the app to be installed on m1 macs? I know it won't be perfect but it would be so nice to have a version on my computer.
If the Moon is at 193m above the ground level of the black pin and the building is 60m... the moon will be 133m above the Moon. That might be too high for a cool compo. I suggest you to bring the Moon down. You can use the Field of View (FoV) Pill when you're in the field to see the field of view in angle and in distance. This will give you an understanding on the focal length you need to fit both. And I agree... the Desktop version would be so cool!
How would you figure that size of the moon you want? You mentioned 50 meters, but I have no point of reference as to how big or small 50 meters is. With a tape measure I can see that from where I am standing to a tree is 50 meters, but how do I relate that to the moon size behind a building? 50 meters could be 2x the size of the building or be hidden by the building. Thanks
Hi Helen! It's a Moon of diameter 50m and then you can compare it with the size of the building. That's the way it works. PhotoPills gives you the apparent size of the Moon at the Black Pin position so, if you place the Black Pin on your subject, then you can compare it with the size of your subject.
Where it still gets complicated for me is when the height of the object and the height of the proposed point I will take the photo from are not precisely known. I guess I should measure those beforehand.
@@PhotoPills Yes. I plan to use a laser distance measurement tool to measure distance as well as the angle to the target to get a more precise plan in a hilly surrounding.
As my understanding, Photopills indicates always on red and black pins the elevation of the ground level. If want to stand on a roof top of a building or any elevated structure, the alignment of the moon with my subject (black pin) and the photographer ( red pin) will change. How can I manage this situation with Photopills?
I assume you can also use this to plan to shoot the setting moon over a subject (like Jetty) over the west horizon a couple of night after the full moon (waning Gibbous moon)?
Your tutorials are great... I'm running into a problem where the menu. When I go 2 over from the full moon, I have times for blue hour and golden hour. Do you have any idea what setting might be wrong?
Hey Guys PhotoPills is awesome! but need some help .... I want to plan a Supermoon moon shoot with the Spinnaker tower Portsmouth UK in the foreground? but unsure how to make the most of it using PP, I believe we have a SUPERMOON 27th April ....any help appreciated keep up the great work
Rafael: I am planning a shoot of the lunar eclipse behind the Teton Mountains. My shooting spot is near Oxbox Bend. I've placed the black pin on the top of the Tetons. Distance 25km and altitude difference of 1900m. At 5:19am Moon Height is 50m from Black Pin. Does that mean it is 50m above the mountains? When Moon Height indicates negative, does that means the moon is descending behind the mountains? Also, Size = 230m. Does than mean the moon starts to go behind the mountains at a Moon Height of 280m? (I recall watching a video on how to calculate when the moon will go behind the mountain range, but I can't find it). Thanks.
Hey DJ! When it says Moon height is 50m above Black Pin it means the center of the Moon is 50m above the mountains. If you want the moon to be all above the mountains Moon height above Black Pin should be the Radius of the moon (115m). This is going to be fun!
great video. I'm new to photopills and this is going to help out a lot. Is there something inside the app where it can tell you if you are standing right where you put your red pin drop at?
Yes! You can switch on your position on the map. Tap the (+) map button and then tap the icon with the shape of an arrowhead. A blue circle will appear on the map. Then walk till the blue circle is concentric with the spot the Red Pin digs the ground: ruclips.net/video/0tZCuMgjtfM/видео.html
Hi - thanks for this, some new features I didn't know were there! Must look again at that bit and practise. Just one question - having made your plan, you can see exactly where you should stand to take your photo(s). I'm planning a moonrise shot for Monday 3rd August and I will need to stand on a failrly featureless beach so finding my way to the exact spot is going to be difficult. Is there a way to show my current position in addition to the red pin etc? I could then walk along the beach and home in on my chosen spot. Thanks! By the way - Photopills is awesome, just love it and use it a lot.
First of all, thank you very much for these tutorials. I would have a question: how I should set the altitude of the moon if the building in the forefront is standing on a hill? E.g. the ruin of the castle which I would like to shoot with the full moon in the background is on a hill with 375 m above sea level. The castle is approx. 20 m high. My shooting position is on 182 m above sea level. Should I take the difference of the sea level into consideration, or only the height of the building? (The "black dot" is set to the place where the castle meets the ground.) Thank you very much in advance for your answer.
Hi Gabriel! Do it like I do in the video. Panel 2 takes into account the terrain altitude. So , if you place the Black Pin on the mountain, the height above Black Pin is the height above the mountain of the center of the Moon.
@@PhotoPills Thanks for the fast response. So if I got it correctly, the altitude of the black pin is calculated automatically by the app and then I only need to set the height of the building. Please confirm or correct me. Thank you
@@gabrieljakab Yes, you can compare the height above Black Pin (on Panel 2) with the height of your subject. Terrain is automatically taken into account in the calculations.
If your plan doesn't happen at golden hour or blue hour (6 deg to -6 deg) do you have to pick another full moon date as that one won't work for a single shot?
Yes, we do that. Also, depending on the Moon elevation you need the day before or after the Full moon might give you better light. We always check the days around full moon too :)
I was wondering if the Moon size rule, the rule of 100, works the same in feet, as it does in meters? Or is the calculation different? Thanks for the great videos, I am trying it out tomorrow.
Hey, maybe I'm wrong, but if the moon appears to be about 30m in size and the building is 380m high, shouldn't the altitude of the center of the moon be at 395m? If we set it to 380m like in this video, we would see only half the moon... ?
That's right! The video shows the workflow you need to follow. But you first need to make the creative decision of where you want the Moon to be vs your subject. If you want the moon to be above your subject then you need a height for the center of the moon above the building height + moon radius :)
That's a very good question. It depends on how big is your subject and also on how far the location allows you to go away and still see your subject agains the sky. So it's really a matter of location limitations and the subject size vs moon size you'd like to have in the photo. For example, with a human figure... Moon sizes between 3 and 10 meters work great. If you wish to learn more about moon photograph check this guide: www.photopills.com/articles/moon-photography-guide
Does it hast to be one day after Full moon, f.e. 24th Juli this Montag. I was hoping to Do it at the 23rd? Moon rises 10 minutes after sunset, but I need the moon at 2° above Horizon, it takes arpund around 30mins after sunset To Reach this height. Is the skytooo bright to see the moon? What time would you recommend after sunset. I live in Germany 52° North
What we do is to plan for the full moon date and the day after and before to see the light we'll have. In Panel 3 you have the elevation of the Sun (which tells you the light). Golden hour is 6 degrees till - 4 degrees. Blue hour from -4 to -6... For us the best light is when the Sun elevation is between 0.5 and -6 degrees.
The Altitude difference -N meters means the shooting point is lower than the target? Hope, -6m shouldn't be a problem if I'm planning to shoot a 25m building?
Hi Ivan! If the Height of the Moon from Black Pin is Negative, it means that the center of the Moon will be below the ground level of the Black Pin... so the Moon is not visible. If you want the Moon at the same height of your building... then the height of the center of the Moon from Black Pin needs to be the height of the building :)
Hi Ivan! Yes, tap on the (+) button you see on the map (bottom right) and then tap the arrow head icon (4th button starting from the right). Your position will appear on the map as a blue circle. Here you'll find what all the buttons do: www.photopills.com/user-guide#step5
hi rafael a question here about he altitude difference ( in your video 16 Meters between red and black pins ) my question is do I have to adjust the height of the moon ( minus 16 Meters ) 381 - 16 = 365m , so adjust to moon height at 365 instead of 381 , do have it centered at 381 with the altitude difference between the red and the black pins ? thanks
Hi Steve, if you place the black pin on your subject, then Panel 2 tells you the height of the center of the moon above the black pin ground level. For example, if your building is 100m tall, then having a height above the black pin of 100m means that the center fo the moon will be aligned with the top of the building. PhotoPills takes into account all the terrain calculations for you.
@@PhotoPills ok but in your video of punta nati, you made this calculation like i mentioned in my first message !! ruclips.net/video/WG9eaaJLsD0/видео.html
ok so if I understand now even if the black pins is a mountain or even ground or whatever else, we do not need to take the altitude difference in to account ? for example, the altitude difference is 3M ( the black pin is higher ) and in the panel #2 the sun height is at 5.5m, I don't need to have the sun at 8.5m to have it at the "same" 5.5m ( 5.5m ( sun ) + 3m ( altitude ) ) , I just take in account of the height of the sun and that's it ?
Hi Flora! It is not!! The Moon is the more difficult celestial body to plan. It's an iterative process. I recommend you to Plan your shot the best you can and go and take it. You'll learn a lot by trying 2-3 full moons for training. It's much easier to learn by practicing. And it's normal to fail in the first attempts. Also, check our Moon Photography guide, it'll help you a lot: www.photopills.com/articles/moon-photography-guide
Hi! Question about shooting the full moon over a small mountain peak. Does the height of the moon over the black pin already incorporate the height of the mountain peak or do I need need to know the height of the mountain peak and add that to the black pin height? I hope this question makes sense. Thank you!
We already take into account he the height of the mountain peak. Check this video if you want to learn how to plan a moon shot over a mountain :) ruclips.net/video/uQWWV-DY6M0/видео.html
Please, instead of a building, if I want to take a picture of the moon on top of a mountain : for planning with satellite map, i have to place the black pin on the top of the mountain, correct ?
@@PhotoPills Thank you Do I understand correctly? if the black pin is higher than the red pin by 10 m and there is a 10 m building in the black pin, the position of the moon must be 10 m or 20 m? I see some people add the height of the black pin
Hi and thanks for the great videos. I joined PhotoPills a few months ago and am still in the learning process. I'm planning a shot with the moon behind a historic building. the subject is located on the top of a hill 280 meters above sea level. I placed the black dot in the middle of the building. the building is 42 meters high from the top of the hill. Should the correct height of the moon next to the building be (280+42) approximately 300 meters or 42 meters? furthermore, if the red dot is not at the same altitude as the black dot, but lower, how does this affect the programming and the other black dot from the moon? Thank you for your time. Christian
Hi! You have to have the moon at 42m to align the center of the moon with the top of the building. We take into account the terrain difference between the two pins to calculate the height of the moon above the black pin terrain.
Really good tutorial but it leaves out one step. When I actually go out to shoot the full moon, how can I use PhotopPills to show me when I'm at the spot I need to shoot from?
Tap the (+) on the map to show the map toolbar. Then tap the 8th button in this toolbar to enable to show your current location on the map. You'll see it appears a blue circle showing your current location. Then you can walk towards your shooting spot and make sure you are at the red pin position.
Your tutorials are phenomenal! Thank you! I have a question regarding elevation. Does PhotoPills take into consideration the altitude of where I'm standing/red pin? In this video, it all works well because across the Hudson I will stand at the same level as the ground floor of the Empire State. But what if I were on a rooftop or at a different height than the ground level? How does it come into play? Again, incredible app and explanation. Thank you!
Hi! We take it into account. But only the ground level. If you are on a rooftop you'll have to manually set the building height by tapping "More > Altitudes" . You'll see you can add an offset to the altitude, this way you don't need to work out the number, just add the building height as offset.
Loving your app and tutorials. I need help with something. In the planner I have an altitude difference of 3,579 ft with the object pin higher than the shooting position. The altitude angle though is -0.04 degrees. How is the altitude difference positive but the angle negative? angle negative because it takes into account the curvature of the earth? My two points are 82 miles apart. Thanks for all.
Wha I usually do is to look for it on Google or compare it with another building. If it looks like a building of 4 floors. Assuming that each floor is 4m... then 4x4 is 16m. Then the day of the photo I get to the location early, check the view with the AR button... and I'm always ready to move a bit when I see the Moon :)
Hi Rafael, I have just down loaded Photo Pills, I have watched quite a few videos and have noticed the on one of them it had Pin to Pin geodetic info in the top line second page, my down load has the red and black pin on the second page. Has there been an up date where Pin to Pin has been removed. I have an Android phone. Is there any difference of the program between Android and IOS?
It’s the same panel, we redesigned it a couple of years ago. Now It has the same info and more. For example the height of the moon/sun/galactic Center over a subject. We explain it in this video :)
@@PhotoPills Hi Rafael, thanks for your quick reply, I have been catching up on alot of the videos on Photo Pills as I had it on my phone a few years ago, I had some phone issues back then and I uninstalled Photo Pills. I am planning on getting out to take some night time photos. Robert Vict' Aust'.
hola, recien instale PP pero me aparece un "REQUEST DENIED", al capturar "load" el nombre y me aparace : "an error ocurred when selecting a place(REQUEST DENIED) This API projectin not authorized to use this API" . . . podrias ayudar?
Tiene la pinta de que estás utilizando una versión muy antigua de la app. Descarga la última versión de la Play Store y te funcionará. Mándanos un mail a info@photopills.com si te sigue fallando
Koko Koko you need to watch the photopills screen on the left. There are some small yellow arrows that appear as Rafael speaks. Also, make sure you are working on your photopills app at the same time. You’ll have to pause the video a few times to keep up. You’ll be able to do it if you don’t let the video run ahead of you. Take your time with this and you’ll be fine. Hope this helps. Happy shooting.
Insane that this is $10. You are a genius. Is easily pay $100 for this app.
Wow! Thanks so much :D
Such an amazing software. I am so happy being your customer and I am so glad to see the effort behind this. Longing for the desktop version, though. Thank you!
Thanks so much!!!
After I bought photopills a long time back, this is when I actually learnt the actual planning (my laziness). This is excellent explanation. Now on to planning.
Thanks so much Sathya!
Same here
Well explain in clear simple language. An excellent guide for shooting the moon.
Thanks so much Fulin!
So nice, it seems you’ve thought of and included everything we need. Great job!
That's the goal!
You guys are simply great. I can't believe one gets so much with such a small investment.
Kudos!
Thanks so much Fabio!
Demonstrating once again the power of PhotoPils. The only bit left to do, apart from taking the shot, is to ensure you can actually see the subject from the red-pin spot. It might be a bit hard in NYC to have a clear view of the Empire State from the NJ shoreline.
Thank you David! The better you know the location the better. But in this case I'd recommend you to use google street view to have a better idea of it.
absolutely awesome !! thanx a lot !!!!
Thank you Ben!
It's so cool that you divided the timeline into parts for easy access to the parts I like to view🔥🔥👍🏻
Thanks so much Aashirwad. Work Smarter not Harder! 😜
I got an amazing photo of the moon right behind the Empire State Building last night (October 1st, 2020) thanks to this awesome tutorial. Thank you so much! You're amazing!!! PhotoPills puts us in the right place at the right time :)
hello, would you willing to share the location you shot from in jersey?
@@Epicfail911 Hi Carl. Sure. It was right by where "Amanda Bananas" ice cream is. You can Google it.
Notice that the location changes based on the date/time you're taking the photo so the app really shows you exactly where to be.
I got to the location the app showed me an hour early, and then I turned the app on and walked to the best exact location. I hope this helped!
Amazing, love the way you explained. having PhotoPill from long time without knowing it has this many features ;) thanks for sharing.
Thanks so much Salman!
Great descriptive video as always Rafael
Thank you!
Great! What a phantastic piece of software that is.
Thank you Mac!
Excellent tutorial, thank you. I’m inspired to attempt a legendary Full Moon Photo or two this Friday... fingers crossed!
Plan&Pray!
@@PhotoPills Thanks PhotoPills for this clutch video on the moon. I was actually going around youtube searching for moon planning video for this friday's Moonshot. My first time shooting the moon and first time fully utilizing the such a comprehensive application. Just a feedback, maybe add the night AR function when you are at location (personally my favorite feature to try to predict and visualize the upcoming moonshot )
From my side of earth, it seems like the moon elevation is really high with 60+ degrees and height from blackpin of 1.2km, I think i might faced an issue here. I tried shifting around the different timing but seems like thats the best i can do.
Thank you. You explain it all so well.
Thanks!
Who's the muppet who downvoted this!? Incredible work dude, best app ever keep it up! :)
Thanks so much Matt!
wow, thanks for answering my question that i emailed you about! this is so great. very comprehensive. your app is the best!
Thanks so much Ming!
is there a way to toggle between the moon and sun height with the black pin?
Very good thanks
Thank you!
I drove 4 hours to photograph the Supermoon setting behind a famous rock formation. Spent the night in a hotel and was out on location early the next morning. Unfortunately, the weather did not cooperate and the moon was completely obscured. Oh well, I'll try again.
There is another one in May :)
@@PhotoPills Cool! This time I'm only going if forecast is 100% to be decent weather! LOL
Awesome! I like it.
THank you!
Another excellent 'how to' video! Thank you for doing these as they are really good practical examples.
Thanks so much Kevin!
Great tutorial. Thanks!
Thank you Rodney!
I am inspired to get started with your app! You have created a truly comprehensive set of videos, written tutorials and practical examples that I have started to work my way through. I look forward to putting the theory into practice on the Mornington Peninsula, near Melbourne, Australia. Well done!
Thanks so much Geoff!
Thanks
Thank you!
Fabulous advice once again - thank you :-)
Thanks so much Alison!
Raffi thank you so much for all the tuition you do its so helpful, but I really wish that it were possible to roll out a desktop version, as most planning would be done from home in any case, and the mobile used when not if that was available, I am absolutely sure there would be so much more use of the app if there were a desktop version as well. I know there is always TPE for desktop but much prefer my Photopils
We'll make it. I promise :)
Thank you!!!
Thanks!
I'm finally getting around to learning how to use PhotoPills. I've been watching a lot of your videos which are great. I'm planning on shooting the next full moon rising next to the Utah State Capitol in Salt Lake City. I have everything planned out, but the only thing I can't figure out how to do in PP is determining if the moon will be visible above an object that falls between the moon and my subject. In my case the Wasatch mountains fall between the capital and the moon. I know how to figure this out using the Photographer's Ephemeris so I know the moon will be visible when I want it to be, but I can't figure out how to determine this in PP.
Hi Ray, the way we do it is by placing the Black Pin on the Wasatch mountains right on the moon's azimuth thin blue line. If the line turns dashed, then, the mountains hide the center of the moon. Also on Panel 2 you have the height of the center of the moon above the ground level of the black pin. And it's apparent diameter.
@@PhotoPills Thanks for the quick reply. I don't ever get the blue azimuth line to be dashed even when I know the moon is below the mountains. The height of the moon in panel 2 works great though. Thanks again.
Awesome tutorial, would love to see what the actual final shot looks like though - do you have a link to see it?
I'm afraid not! But you can see many cool Moon shots on our instagram: instagram.com/photopills
Outstanding! Depth of field: please include f/15 as it is a typical f ratio of some refractors. Please...
Thanks for the feedback!
Best app ever. So much knowledge inside! To this video I have a question Raphael. Why is the black pin set in the middle of the ESB which is/should be ground level? To my understanding it should be set on street level?
Hi Bert! Yew, when I say ground level I mean street level :)
@@PhotoPills Thanks Rafael (with f ;) Shouldn't be the pin then more downwards till the street?
Nope... place it at the center of the building if you want the Moon aligned with it. The building is a vertical structure :)
thanks for the video
Couldn't it be quite "easy" for you to draw the line on the map with all position where the moon will be seen at this eight... so we can simply find the best place along the line? It seems you have every thing to compute as you use terrain elevation. You could at least do with a 15 minutes period and draw those points.... which are intersection of the line moon object-at-height and terrain?
Hi Eric! Thanks for the suggestion!
Nice, thank you!
Super well explained! I just bought the app and want to try to plan a photo where the moon is above a church. When doing everything like you explained in the video I get that the moon will be at a height of 193m from the black pin. The church tower that I also want to be in the picture is 60 meters height. Is there a easy way to figure out with the lens I'm using and where I'm standing if I both the moon and tower will fit in the picture?
Also could you please allow the Ipad version of the app to be installed on m1 macs? I know it won't be perfect but it would be so nice to have a version on my computer.
If the Moon is at 193m above the ground level of the black pin and the building is 60m... the moon will be 133m above the Moon. That might be too high for a cool compo. I suggest you to bring the Moon down. You can use the Field of View (FoV) Pill when you're in the field to see the field of view in angle and in distance. This will give you an understanding on the focal length you need to fit both.
And I agree... the Desktop version would be so cool!
Seems to easy but takes a lot time to plan and learn the App.
It's a matter of watching the video you need for the photo you want and then practice :)
How would you figure that size of the moon you want? You mentioned 50 meters, but I have no point of reference as to how big or small 50 meters is. With a tape measure I can see that from where I am standing to a tree is 50 meters, but how do I relate that to the moon size behind a building? 50 meters could be 2x the size of the building or be hidden by the building. Thanks
Hi Helen! It's a Moon of diameter 50m and then you can compare it with the size of the building. That's the way it works. PhotoPills gives you the apparent size of the Moon at the Black Pin position so, if you place the Black Pin on your subject, then you can compare it with the size of your subject.
Where it still gets complicated for me is when the height of the object and the height of the proposed point I will take the photo from are not precisely known. I guess I should measure those beforehand.
Scouting is key. Also looking for images of your subject online. The more you understand the location the better of course.
@@PhotoPills Yes. I plan to use a laser distance measurement tool to measure distance as well as the angle to the target to get a more precise plan in a hilly surrounding.
As my understanding, Photopills indicates always on red and black pins the elevation of the ground level. If want to stand on a roof top of a building or any elevated structure, the alignment of the moon with my subject (black pin) and the photographer ( red pin) will change. How can I manage this situation with Photopills?
Tap on More (at the bottom) and then on Altitudes. There you can manually adjust them.
I am confused where you placed the black pin, you mentioned placing it on the ground floor, would that not be at street level? Love Photopills!!
Hey Gerry! yes, it's street level :)
I assume you can also use this to plan to shoot the setting moon over a subject (like Jetty) over the west horizon a couple of night after the full moon (waning Gibbous moon)?
Yes, it's the same exact workflow but using the Moonset line as a guide.
Your tutorials are great... I'm running into a problem where the menu. When I go 2 over from the full moon, I have times for blue hour and golden hour. Do you have any idea what setting might be wrong?
Hi Eileen! I don't quite understand the issue. Could you send us an email via support@photopills.com with more details? Thank you!
@@PhotoPills I just sent an email. Thank you!
Hey Guys PhotoPills is awesome! but need some help .... I want to plan a Supermoon moon shoot with the Spinnaker tower Portsmouth UK in the foreground? but unsure how to make the most of it using PP, I believe we have a SUPERMOON 27th April ....any help appreciated keep up the great work
Follow the same workflow I explain in this video: ruclips.net/video/u8OLTsKTDwY/видео.html
About the elevation of the moon at the black pin, is it for the center of the moon? Or the top, or the bottom?
Center of the Moon :)
What is the Altitude? is it the level (hight) of your position or the object's?
Altitude is measured from sea level.
Rafael: I am planning a shoot of the lunar eclipse behind the Teton Mountains. My shooting spot is near Oxbox Bend. I've placed the black pin on the top of the Tetons. Distance 25km and altitude difference of 1900m. At 5:19am Moon Height is 50m from Black Pin. Does that mean it is 50m above the mountains? When Moon Height indicates negative, does that means the moon is descending behind the mountains? Also, Size = 230m. Does than mean the moon starts to go behind the mountains at a Moon Height of 280m? (I recall watching a video on how to calculate when the moon will go behind the mountain range, but I can't find it). Thanks.
Hey DJ! When it says Moon height is 50m above Black Pin it means the center of the Moon is 50m above the mountains. If you want the moon to be all above the mountains Moon height above Black Pin should be the Radius of the moon (115m). This is going to be fun!
great video. I'm new to photopills and this is going to help out a lot. Is there something inside the app where it can tell you if you are standing right where you put your red pin drop at?
Yes! You can switch on your position on the map. Tap the (+) map button and then tap the icon with the shape of an arrowhead. A blue circle will appear on the map. Then walk till the blue circle is concentric with the spot the Red Pin digs the ground: ruclips.net/video/0tZCuMgjtfM/видео.html
@@PhotoPills this is great. Thank you so much.
Hi - thanks for this, some new features I didn't know were there! Must look again at that bit and practise. Just one question - having made your plan, you can see exactly where you should stand to take your photo(s). I'm planning a moonrise shot for Monday 3rd August and I will need to stand on a failrly featureless beach so finding my way to the exact spot is going to be difficult. Is there a way to show my current position in addition to the red pin etc? I could then walk along the beach and home in on my chosen spot. Thanks!
By the way - Photopills is awesome, just love it and use it a lot.
Yes! Tap the (+) button on the map, there you'll find the button you need. Here you have the info: www.photopills.com/user-guide#step5
@@PhotoPills thanks! Just tried it, perfect for my needs.
First of all, thank you very much for these tutorials. I would have a question: how I should set the altitude of the moon if the building in the forefront is standing on a hill? E.g. the ruin of the castle which I would like to shoot with the full moon in the background is on a hill with 375 m above sea level. The castle is approx. 20 m high. My shooting position is on 182 m above sea level. Should I take the difference of the sea level into consideration, or only the height of the building? (The "black dot" is set to the place where the castle meets the ground.) Thank you very much in advance for your answer.
Hi Gabriel! Do it like I do in the video. Panel 2 takes into account the terrain altitude. So , if you place the Black Pin on the mountain, the height above Black Pin is the height above the mountain of the center of the Moon.
@@PhotoPills Thanks for the fast response. So if I got it correctly, the altitude of the black pin is calculated automatically by the app and then I only need to set the height of the building. Please confirm or correct me. Thank you
@@gabrieljakab Yes, you can compare the height above Black Pin (on Panel 2) with the height of your subject. Terrain is automatically taken into account in the calculations.
If your plan doesn't happen at golden hour or blue hour (6 deg to -6 deg) do you have to pick another full moon date as that one won't work for a single shot?
Yes, we do that. Also, depending on the Moon elevation you need the day before or after the Full moon might give you better light. We always check the days around full moon too :)
I was wondering if the Moon size rule, the rule of 100, works the same in feet, as it does in meters? Or is the calculation different? Thanks for the great videos, I am trying it out tomorrow.
Yes! It works the same way :)
Hey, maybe I'm wrong, but if the moon appears to be about 30m in size and the building is 380m high, shouldn't the altitude of the center of the moon be at 395m? If we set it to 380m like in this video, we would see only half the moon... ?
That's right! The video shows the workflow you need to follow. But you first need to make the creative decision of where you want the Moon to be vs your subject. If you want the moon to be above your subject then you need a height for the center of the moon above the building height + moon radius :)
What is the minimum distance to the forground subject, getting the moon of a reasonable size into my picture?
That's a very good question. It depends on how big is your subject and also on how far the location allows you to go away and still see your subject agains the sky. So it's really a matter of location limitations and the subject size vs moon size you'd like to have in the photo. For example, with a human figure... Moon sizes between 3 and 10 meters work great. If you wish to learn more about moon photograph check this guide: www.photopills.com/articles/moon-photography-guide
Does it hast to be one day after Full moon, f.e. 24th Juli this Montag. I was hoping to Do it at the 23rd? Moon rises 10 minutes after sunset, but I need the moon at 2° above Horizon, it takes arpund around 30mins after sunset To Reach this height. Is the skytooo bright to see the moon? What time would you recommend after sunset. I live in Germany 52° North
What we do is to plan for the full moon date and the day after and before to see the light we'll have. In Panel 3 you have the elevation of the Sun (which tells you the light). Golden hour is 6 degrees till - 4 degrees. Blue hour from -4 to -6... For us the best light is when the Sun elevation is between 0.5 and -6 degrees.
The Altitude difference -N meters means the shooting point is lower than the target? Hope, -6m shouldn't be a problem if I'm planning to shoot a 25m building?
Hi Ivan! If the Height of the Moon from Black Pin is Negative, it means that the center of the Moon will be below the ground level of the Black Pin... so the Moon is not visible. If you want the Moon at the same height of your building... then the height of the center of the Moon from Black Pin needs to be the height of the building :)
@@PhotoPills that's obvious, I meant the Altitude (it's not changing)
@@ivan_12345 If the altitude difference is -N meters, it means the shooting spot is N meters above the target.
@@PhotoPills oh, good, thanks
Is there an option to show my current position? to make sure I came to the right place (esp. if it's an unknown location)
Hi Ivan! Yes, tap on the (+) button you see on the map (bottom right) and then tap the arrow head icon (4th button starting from the right). Your position will appear on the map as a blue circle. Here you'll find what all the buttons do: www.photopills.com/user-guide#step5
@@PhotoPills great, thanks!
Can you make a video of how to photograph The new moon
Thanks for the suggestion
Señor Rafael, is there a way to plan the moon height when the moon is setting?
Use Panel 2 (height of the Moon above Black Pin. That's the height of the center of the Moon above the terrain where you place the Black Pin.
@@PhotoPills gracias Rafa👍🏽
hi rafael
a question here about he altitude difference ( in your video 16 Meters between red and black pins ) my question is do I have to adjust the height of the moon ( minus 16 Meters ) 381 - 16 = 365m , so adjust to moon height at 365 instead of 381 , do have it centered at 381 with the altitude difference between the red and the black pins ?
thanks
Hi Steve, if you place the black pin on your subject, then Panel 2 tells you the height of the center of the moon above the black pin ground level. For example, if your building is 100m tall, then having a height above the black pin of 100m means that the center fo the moon will be aligned with the top of the building. PhotoPills takes into account all the terrain calculations for you.
@@PhotoPills ok but in your video of punta nati, you made this calculation like i mentioned in my first message !!
ruclips.net/video/WG9eaaJLsD0/видео.html
It's an old video... now Panel 2 is different ;)
ok so if I understand now even if the black pins is a mountain or even ground or whatever else, we do not need to take the altitude difference in to account ? for example, the altitude difference is 3M ( the black pin is higher ) and in the panel #2 the sun height is at 5.5m, I don't need to have the sun at 8.5m to have it at the "same" 5.5m ( 5.5m ( sun ) + 3m ( altitude ) ) , I just take in account of the height of the sun and that's it ?
Thank you for explanation but for a first time user of photopills it does not seem at all easy.......
Hi Flora! It is not!! The Moon is the more difficult celestial body to plan. It's an iterative process. I recommend you to Plan your shot the best you can and go and take it. You'll learn a lot by trying 2-3 full moons for training. It's much easier to learn by practicing. And it's normal to fail in the first attempts. Also, check our Moon Photography guide, it'll help you a lot: www.photopills.com/articles/moon-photography-guide
Hi! Question about shooting the full moon over a small mountain peak. Does the height of the moon over the black pin already incorporate the height of the mountain peak or do I need need to know the height of the mountain peak and add that to the black pin height? I hope this question makes sense. Thank you!
We already take into account he the height of the mountain peak. Check this video if you want to learn how to plan a moon shot over a mountain :) ruclips.net/video/uQWWV-DY6M0/видео.html
and how to plan otherwise - I have a place and a photo and I want to check if and when there will be a moon over the building - it can be done?
Here you have it: ruclips.net/video/9X2Z65sXoFQ/видео.html
Please,
instead of a building, if I want to take a picture of the moon on top of a mountain : for planning with satellite map, i have to place the black pin on the top of the mountain, correct ?
Yes, that's right! And Panel 2 will tell you the height of the center of the Moon above the Black Pin ground level (this is the top of the mountain).
@@PhotoPills Thank you very much for the quick response ;-)
do you not take into account the difference in the height of the terrain of the black and red pin?
ruclips.net/video/0D-n7y9ud6g/видео.html
Panel 2 takes into account the terrain differences automatically :)
@@PhotoPills Thank you
Do I understand correctly?
if the black pin is higher than the red pin by 10 m and there is a 10 m building in the black pin, the position of the moon must be 10 m or 20 m?
I see some people add the height of the black pin
@@PhotoPills Everything is clear once again, thank you. Powerful application
Hi and thanks for the great videos. I joined PhotoPills a few months ago and am still in the learning process. I'm planning a shot with the moon behind a historic building. the subject is located on the top of a hill 280 meters above sea level. I placed the black dot in the middle of the building. the building is 42 meters high from the top of the hill. Should the correct height of the moon next to the building be (280+42) approximately 300 meters or 42 meters? furthermore, if the red dot is not at the same altitude as the black dot, but lower, how does this affect the programming and the other black dot from the moon? Thank you for your time. Christian
Hi! You have to have the moon at 42m to align the center of the moon with the top of the building. We take into account the terrain difference between the two pins to calculate the height of the moon above the black pin terrain.
@@PhotoPills Gracias
Really good tutorial but it leaves out one step. When I actually go out to shoot the full moon, how can I use PhotopPills to show me when I'm at the spot I need to shoot from?
Tap the (+) on the map to show the map toolbar. Then tap the 8th button in this toolbar to enable to show your current location on the map. You'll see it appears a blue circle showing your current location. Then you can walk towards your shooting spot and make sure you are at the red pin position.
How do we copy the coordinates to paste into the Google maps? They just hide when I tap.
It's a bit hidden. Tap on the more button (bottom right), then action and then copy.
@@PhotoPills thanks
Your tutorials are phenomenal! Thank you!
I have a question regarding elevation. Does PhotoPills take into consideration the altitude of where I'm standing/red pin? In this video, it all works well because across the Hudson I will stand at the same level as the ground floor of the Empire State. But what if I were on a rooftop or at a different height than the ground level? How does it come into play?
Again, incredible app and explanation. Thank you!
Hi! We take it into account. But only the ground level. If you are on a rooftop you'll have to manually set the building height by tapping "More > Altitudes" . You'll see you can add an offset to the altitude, this way you don't need to work out the number, just add the building height as offset.
@@PhotoPills Perfect! I just looked at it and saw how it works. Thank you for your quick response.
@@tomersi Thanks!!
Loving your app and tutorials. I need help with something. In the planner I have an altitude difference of 3,579 ft with the object pin higher than the shooting position. The altitude angle though is -0.04 degrees. How is the altitude difference positive but the angle negative? angle negative because it takes into account the curvature of the earth? My two points are 82 miles apart. Thanks for all.
Hi! Yes, we take into account the curvature of the Earth :)
How do you plan a crescent moon?
It's the same workflow. Set the date of the crescent moon an start planning :)
What if I do not know the height of subject and where to retrieve infos about it?thx in advance
Wha I usually do is to look for it on Google or compare it with another building. If it looks like a building of 4 floors. Assuming that each floor is 4m... then 4x4 is 16m. Then the day of the photo I get to the location early, check the view with the AR button... and I'm always ready to move a bit when I see the Moon :)
@@PhotoPills thanx!
When the app says the moon height is "400m above the black pin" is that measured from the center of the moon or the bottom edge?
Hi Bob! From the center of the moon.
@@PhotoPills Thanks. Now I just have to hope Mother Nature cooperates for my plan to work.
@@BobDevlin Plan and Pray!
Hi Rafael, I have just down loaded Photo Pills, I have watched quite a few videos and have noticed the on one of them it had Pin to Pin geodetic info in the top line second page, my down load has the red and black pin on the second page. Has there been an up date where Pin to Pin has been removed. I have an Android phone. Is there any difference of the program between Android and IOS?
It’s the same panel, we redesigned it a couple of years ago. Now It has the same info and more. For example the height of the moon/sun/galactic Center over a subject. We explain it in this video :)
@@PhotoPills Hi Rafael, thanks for your quick reply, I have been catching up on alot of the videos on Photo Pills as I had it on my phone a few years ago, I had some phone issues back then and I uninstalled Photo Pills. I am planning on getting out to take some night time photos. Robert Vict' Aust'.
hola, recien instale PP pero me aparece un "REQUEST DENIED", al capturar "load" el nombre y me aparace : "an error ocurred when selecting a place(REQUEST DENIED) This API projectin not authorized to use this API" . . . podrias ayudar?
Tiene la pinta de que estás utilizando una versión muy antigua de la app. Descarga la última versión de la Play Store y te funcionará. Mándanos un mail a info@photopills.com si te sigue fallando
I've been following along but I'm still confused...he keeps saying super easy tho, maybe something wrong with me.
Maybe this guide can help you see the light: www.photopills.com/articles/moon-photography-guide
Koko Koko you need to watch the photopills screen on the left. There are some small yellow arrows that appear as Rafael speaks. Also, make sure you are working on your photopills app at the same time. You’ll have to pause the video a few times to keep up. You’ll be able to do it if you don’t let the video run ahead of you. Take your time with this and you’ll be fine. Hope this helps. Happy shooting.
Quit taking beauty shots and start shooting what you see. Incase photographers didn't get the memo: There are no more calendars to sell to.
Thanks for the feedback!
Massive APP...!!!!
Thank you!
I believe you are a very nice guy and passionated of what you’re doing, but your English is foggy and hard to follow.
Thanks for the feedback!