I was asked to join a couple of my fellow New England photographers, Liz Mackney and Tom Gaitley, and another excellent photographer and good friend, Susan Cole Kelly. Their plan was to be out on the headlands at the mouth of Rockport’s harbor for the moon setting over Motif #1 and the sunrise over Straitsmouth Island Lighthouse.
Photographer’s tools
We use a variety of tools to capture images, including cameras, tripods, lenses, and filters. Some of these tools are software applications that help us prepare to be in the right place at the right time. One such tool is called The Photographer’s Ephemeris (TPE).
This software app plots points on a map and shows us where the sun and moon will rise and set on any given day. This allows us to position ourselves strategically and be mindful of any foreground obstacles, such as tall buildings or mountain ridges. Additionally, TPE helps us align foreground objects, like lighthouses or other focal points, with the positions of the sun and moon.
Photographic challenge: Getting detail in the moon
The challenge of photographing the moon at night lies in its brightness, which often outshines the surrounding landscape. When you capture the moon with detail, the landscape appears black, and if you focus on the landscape, the moon looks like a glowing orb. To address this issue, I use an automatic bracketing technique that takes three images: one overexposed, one underexposed, and one correctly exposed, and combine them.
Since the moon can be 5 to 7 times brighter than the landscape, I first meter for the moon and take a shot, then meter for the landscape and capture that image as well. Later, I combine these images in Photoshop, keeping the correctly exposed moon and layering it over the properly exposed landscape.
The sun rises, and the rules change slightly
Within a few minutes of the moon setting over Rockport’s motif number one, I stood up and stretched, and went over to the other side of the headlands to photograph the sunrise coming up behind Straitsmouth Island Lighthouse.
Unfortunately for us, the Sun did not come up directly behind the lighthouse, but there were some wonderful clouds above the lighthouse to catch the sun’s morning rays, which glowed orange then proceeded to a pinkish red, just prior to the sun cresting the horizon.
Soon the show was over, and these tired photographers made their way back to their cars to go catch breakfast in downtown Rockport and discuss their successes and their failures, and of course, their cameras.
Finishing Up the Morning’s Shoot
As you can see from the image above, photographers will always struggle when the sun is in the equation. Here, it has not broken the horizon quite yet, but the technique is the same as before. This was done in 2013, and my Canon 50D would only bracket 3 shots.
The newer cameras will bracket 5-7 images and they have better processors and If I was to do this again, I would bet, the resulting image would be much better.
The Red Skiff and Breakfast
The 4 of us walked back onto the main drag and made our way to the Red Skif. Remember, this is March in New England, and we had been out in the cold since 4:54AM…
The Red Skiff is a time-honored tradition of locals and visitors alike. When you stop in Rockport, I highly recommend stopping in there for a bite.
Jeff “Foliage” Folger
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