iesmith

<p>Mark,</p>

<p>In response:<br>

1. Good idea, I'll see what I can do. Shouldn't be tough to implement.<br>

2. Well spotted, I'd missed that entirely!</p>

<p>Micheal,<br>

It actually picks it's default location based on a GeoIP (<a href="http://www.maxmind.com/">http://www.maxmind.com/</a>) database. It works well a fair percentage of the time, but when it gets it wrong, it gets it very wrong, as I gather it did in the case of Chicoutimi!</p>

<p>I was thinging of including an option to turn it off actually... It creeps me out a little bit how accurate it is for my home computer!</p>

<p>The angular diameter at apogee versus perigee is only about 5 seconds of arc I think, it probably isn't detectable with the naked eye (or lens).</p>

<p>Atmospheric refraction does tend to play a part close to the horizon, but it's effect is just to squash it slightly in the vertical axis: <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Moon_illusion">http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Moon_illusion</a></p>

<p>It might have more of an effect in the amount of light it casts at a full moon, which might have an application for those night-time and astro-photographers, but I honestly wouldn't know as it's not something I've tried.</p>

<p>In response to Micheal's suggestions:<br /><br />1. I'm still on the fence about this issue to be honest. That said, I do find myself doing the same, so I agree you have a valid point. I'd thought of storing the last used zoom level, but that presents the problem that when searching for a new location there is a tendency to get a bit lost and have to zoom out again. <br /><br />2. Agreed, and an excellent idea. <br /><br />3. I'd actually already looked at implementing weather reporting, but I'm a bit reluctant to add in another XML call to an external server, as I'm worried that too many of these calls will slow the application down unduly. I may add a 'ready-made' hyperlink to a third party weather site, assuming I can find a good one with worldwide coverage that will accept a latitude/longitude query in the URL.<br /><br />4. Again, I already looked at this, and it is already built into the algorithms for both magnetic declination and sun/moon positions. I've disabled it for the moment however, since I'm not convinced by the preliminary results I'm seeing, and have found it difficult to get an independent confirmation of the numbers. If I can find a good reference source that I know for certain accounts for local elevation (anyone know of one?) and I can verify my results with it, I'll re-enable the feature. <br /><br />Yes, it does kind of look like TPE. :-) I guess that's down to the fact that they both use the Google Maps API at their heart, and use similar map overlays to plot sun & moon positions. They are otherwise quite different though, and I've made many different design decisions along the way, such as magnetic declination and graphically illustrated moon phases. TPE is a fantastic tool though, and it's been helpful as one of the sanity checks of my results. I just find a web app more useful to me personally - all down to preference.</p>

<p>Bernard, I would have loved to have been able to account for someone inconsiderately placing a building in what would have otherwise been a perfectly placed sunrise! ;-) Sadly beyond me I suspect, though you have made me wonder what might be possible in Street View...</p>

<p>Thanks for your feedback...</p>

<p>Hi,</p>

<p>A while back I posted a link here about a new web application I'd put together at <a href="http://www.iesmith.net/tools/solarcalc.html">http://www.iesmith.net/tools/solarcalc.html</a> to calculate where in the sky the Sun is at sunrise/sunset and at other arbitrary times. I'd done this with photographers in mind primarily, and so the application plotted these positions against a Google Map of the area rather than just raw numbers.</p>

<p>Hope you don't mind me posting the link, but I received some requests here at the time to enable the application to plot Lunar positions (and phase) as well... It's taken a while, but the new features have finally gone live today.</p>

<p>Other new features include magnetic declination calculation, autodetection of location time zones and much improved accuracy.</p>

<p>Obviously it's new, so if you do find any bugs or inaccuracies feel free to point them out. Feature requests are more than welcome also!</p>

<p>thanks,<br>

Iain</p>

<p>Lunar data actually crossed my mind... If I come across the right formulae for it I'll maybe include it - time permitting. Time in front of the computer is time not spent behind the lens! ;-)</p>

<p>I still need to sort out a few niggles with time zones I think, so I'll be prioritising that for now.</p>

<p>Hi,<br>

I'm taking a trip to Ireland soon, flying into Dublin and out of Cork. Google has turned out of few places to visit, and I'm quite keen to drop by the Rock of Cashel amongst others. I thought I'd turn to the collective wisdom here for any must-see locations?<br>

Thanks,<br>

Iain</p>

<p>Thanks Scott, I was aware of TPE and it looks like a good program. I specifically developed as a web-based application as I'm not one who carries a laptop with me when on the road. I generally have to carry all my equipment on my back, so I wanted something I could drop into a friends house or cafe and use. For that reason, I'd like to think they were complimentary rather than competing.</p>

<p>Chas, Yes I'll be working on grabbing the local time rather than the server time, as it will save that extra step. I'll post back when done. I've probably been a bit UK-centric in my thinking when developing it, but at least the data looks right for 00:45! ;-)</p>

<p>I think I know what the problem was... Did you alter the time (in the Date & Time box) to reflect your local time? At the moment the calculator defaults to the current time in GMT. You'll need to alter the time to 15:40... It then brings up 260° az and 51° elevation.<br>

It looks like one enhancement I could make would be to try to pick up the local time from the browser, rather than the server. Or perhaps better still to work it out from the time zone data.<br>

Thanks,<br>

Iain</p>

<p>Hi Gary,<br>

Thanks for looking. Go right ahead, you're welcome to link to the site.<br>

Thanks,<br>

Iain</p>

<p>Hi,<br>

I had an idea a little while back to plot the Sun's position against Google Maps data to allow me to approximate when and where the sun is going to rise and set on any given date. There has been a fair bit of cursing and swearing getting it up and running, but finally I think it is ready to give it a shot...<br>

Hopefully this will be a useful tool for photographers other than myself (or maybe I'm just getting too anal about planning ahead) but in order to do that it needs to be reasonably accurate. I've tested it against as many Internet sources as I can find, and though the results have been very positive I don't feel that is a substitute for looking out of the window. With the view from my window now thoroughly checked, perhaps some of you kind people could take a look and let me know if the the map is accurate for your location?</p>

<p><a href="http://www.iesmith.net/tools/solarcalc.html">Solar Calculator & Map</a></p>

<p>Remember though, it is only meant to give you an approximation... It can't account for altitude or local terrain, both of which will effect the time the sun sets or rises on the local horizon. There is also some work to do in improving the interface I feel, so I'd welcome any feedback in that respect.<br>

In any case, I hope it will be of some use to someone.<br>

On another note, the site in general is a new venture so I'd geniunely appreciate any feedback anyone feels inclined to give.<br>

Thanks,<br>

Iain</p>

<p>Hi,<br>

It's looking like I'll be making a trip to Fairbanks, Alaska for a week later in June. Sadly, this isn't a photography trip but rather as part of my day job. This means time will be short, and free time will probably be confined to evenings, though I may be able to grab some photo time at the weekend before flying back to the UK for Monday morning.<br>

It would be a crying shame to leave without a few picures, so given the restrictions can anyone make any recommendations for places to visit? I'm a landscape photographer primarily, but truthfully, I'll photograph anything that will stay still long enough (and many things that won't.)<br>

Thanks,<br>

Iain</p>

<p>I did feel conflicted about posting to<em> classic</em> manual cameras with this one, but in the absense of a 'crappy plastic manual cameras' forum... :-) In retrospect though, perhaps alternative cameras would have been more appropriate.<br>

 <br>

Kozma, perhaps it's my fault, but I think you missed my point. It's just about having a bit of fun with it for a few weeks... Any advice asked for was purely in the spirit of avoiding <em>some</em> of the gotchas I won't be used to seeing with the Bronica, which for example is notable for it's complete lack of gaffer tape and cardboard. I'm not planning on toting the Holga aound trying to look cool and artsy; that would be an entirely futile effort at my age anyway! :-)</p>

<p>Thanks... That's a few things to think about. In some ways I'm looking forward to it's arrival as much as the DSLR.</p>

<p>I imagine I'll take off the tape for a couple of rolls, and see what the famous light leaks get up to.</p>

<p>Hi,<br>

I'm afraid I got a little impatient waiting for a new DSLR to arrive in the post, and picked up a cheap Holga 120 CFN (is there any other kind?) I've aware of <em>most</em> of the limitations of the camera, and to be honest I bought it on impulse simply for a bit of fun... Or pain, depending on your viewpoint. ;-)<br>

Most seem to recommend taping the case shut, and I'll certainly be taking a roll of gaffer tape with me. Does anyone have any other tips or pointers for a Holga newb? I also own a Bronica ETRSi, so I'm used to shooting 120 film.<br>

Thanks,<br>

Iain</p>