If you don't use the Photographer's Ephemeris application, then I would strongly urge you to look into it. I use it all the time to figure out the sunrise and sunset times wherever I am, twilight times and also for figuring out where the angle of the sun will be during certain times of the day.
A preview of The Photographer's Ephemeris 3D, a new app for iOS coming soon.
http://apple.co/2tmOfHG
TPE 3D is the next generation of The Photographer's Ephemeris, showing simulated sunlight, moonlight and starlight on a 3D topographic model of the Earth.
3D Sun, Moon and Night Photography Planning For Outdoor Photographers.
The Photographer's Ephemeris 3D (TPE 3D) is a unique natural light visualization tool for outdoor and landscape photographers. It's a 3D map-centric Sun, Moon and Milky Way calculator: see how the light will fall on the land, day or night, for any location on earth.
Watch a sunrise from the future in a rich simulation of sunlight, moonlight and starlight set against the actual topography of your planned shooting location.
Need to see when the arch of the Milky Way will rise between two mountain peaks? Need to see what time in the afternoon the valley will lose direct light in September?
Watch the light unfold under clear skies hours, days, weeks or years before you're actually there in person.
Key features includes:
- 3D topographic maps with simple navigation options
- Sun, moon and galactic centre continuous timeline showing key rise, set and transit events
- Full search capability to find your location (or enter decimal or DMS coordinates directly)
- Automated playback to watch a realtime or faster-than-realtime simulation of the light
- Flying mode for quick movement around a scene
- Enhanced mode for maximum topography and shadow detail
- Symbolic represetation of the Milky Way in Flying mode
- High resolution Milky Way and stars in Enhanced mode
- Direct elevation control for the 3D model camera
- Camera pitch and bearing indicators
- Moon phases are rendered accurately in the 3D scene
- Zoom in/out to equivalent 35mm focal length in enhanced mode
- Daily and annual events lists
- Shared location database with TPE
- Navigation and Artificial Highlights lighting modes
- Support for multiple map pins
- User settings for controlling scene complexity
If you like to plan your natural light photography to capture the photo opportunities others miss, TPE 3D is a must-have tool!
Note:
- This app is CPU and graphics intensive: modern device models provide the best user experience
- Requires an internet connection
- Does not currently provide simulation of lighting during solar and lunar eclipses
- Satellite maps are not included
- Topographic data is available only between 83°N and 83°S: data may contain artifacts and errors
- Availability of map types is subject to change, due to 3rd party map service availability, terms or conditions
Credits: Jim Trainor (voice artist)
© Crookneck Consulting LLC, 2017.
Stephen Trainor, the app designer will be releasing a 3D version of it soon, which incorporates a 'Google Earth' like view of the terrain so you can see how the light will fall on certain areas.
You can find out more about the current 2D version of TPE from the link below. It runs on most portable devices: