Planning The Perfect Landscape & 'Reading' The Tides, Sun, Weather, Etc

68lbs

68lbs

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April 2008
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Ok, I think I've asked around this subject before, but it's still something I am struggling with. I am now at the stage (mentally, if not technically) where going out 'when I am free' is resulting in frustration and me just producing a pile of digital manure! My landscapes suck!

So, I want to start planning, but am struggling to know how to plan.

I have a picture in mind that I want to take. I know the location well and know what lens I'll be using. I even know that I want it to be colour (but will rely heavily on the sun to get the right colour I am after), but can make it work in B&W if necessary. I can 'see' the image in my head. Now how do I make sure the elements are right? Or at least improve my chances that they'll be right?

I need the tide to be out, but want the sand to be wet, so I have my tide timetables and am thinking that if I plan to arrive when the tide is just starting to go out (maybe 25% out) that should give me plenty of time to sort myself and await the opportunity. I also have my sunrise/set times so can check how high the sun is likely to be at any given tide time. BUT... how do I know where the sun is going to be because this changes at different times of year, yeah? I can't 'think' where it would be from past experience, so is it possible to look at an OS map and say "right, this is me, according to the charts the sun will be over here at sunset in January and move around to here by July, so if I want it at xxx location then sometime in March should be good for the shot"?

Also... how do I 'predict' cloud formation? This too seems to vary through the year. I ideally want that thin whispy stuff that looks like someone has stirred milk into the sky.

And finally... any other factors should I be thinking about, looking at, etc?
 
You can buy (or probably find free on the net) a sun finder, this shows where the sun will rise and set at various times of the year, you will need a compas to work with this. Timetable you already have (free on net anyway) Weather forcast the met ones will give cloud types sometimes.
Spend a few days working all this out, and when you get there they will be hoards of trippers and a tractor on the beach in the middle of your proposed shot.
This is one of those great ideas that most lightly won't work in practice, yes check if the tides on the way out, that makes sense, maybe even work out when the sunset is in roughly the right place, but trying to plan a landscape shoot like this, right down to the right kind of clouds is pushing your luck.
My advice, go to your location every day (or whenever you can) and stay as long as you can. The lights and clouds are changing all the time, if your lucky you'll get the ideal shot you want, but it could take a while.
Just my 2c worth. Wayne
 
Luck and persistence our your best friends here, the pro's will return to a scene over and over until it's right. You seem to have all the right info now you just need some luck.
 
swanseamale47 said:
You can buy (or probably find free on the net) a sun finder, this shows where the sun will rise and set at various times of the year, you will need a compas to work with this.
Click to expand...

This is the one I have & can recommend it thoroughly. Not cheap (there's cheaper + free/DIY around) but it's well made, has an integral compass and will last a lifetime. Gives sun inclination (how high in the sky) details as well. One of those things that's always in my bag :)

http://www.warehouseexpress.com/product/default.aspx?sku=1013005

Cheers, Dave B.
 
I went through this for one location. It still took two visits but was worth it in the end

I have a 1:25000 map of the area
I use an online link (Can't remember now, but it is out there) to get the sun position from as close to my location as possible (For the northeast coast I checked Newcastle & Edinburgh and split the difference). If I am in the area for a week I plot it for each day - then look at the tide tables - and hopefully there will be a day or two where the tide is on it's way out when the sun is rising in the appropriate direction.
 
Forbiddenbiker said:
For the sun rising and setting in the uk..

Imagine a watch face, hold it flat pointing 12 oclock to the south.

Midsummer, sun rises 20 too the hour, sets 20 passed the hour.

Midwinter, sun rises 10 too the hour, sets 10 passed the hour.

So based on that you can guesstimate everything else. :thumbs:
Click to expand...
That's awesome - great for on the fly work - thanks :thumbs:
 
Pooks said:
For exact Sunset/Sunrise times for your location I have always used goflying.org
Click to expand...

Another fantastic link. I just use BBC for tide and sunrise/set, but now I can print off 12 months in advance :)
 
The Large Format Photography website has http://www.largeformatphotography.info/sunmooncalc/

It's dead useful. Apart from sunset/sunrise times, it gives the bearing and two other extremely useful things: the height of the sun in degrees and the length of the shadows, both of which are extremely handy to know.

HTH

Mark
 
68lbs said:
Also... how do I 'predict' cloud formation? This too seems to vary through the year. I ideally want that thin whispy stuff that looks like someone has stirred milk into the sky.
Click to expand...

That would be cirrostratus (latin for cirrus is "wispy and curly" and stratus for "layer") and is most certainly always associated with an approaching warm front. Because it forms so high up in the atmosphere, it is always composed entirely of ice cyrstals - hence why halos and mock sun (that faint rainbow ring that circles the sun) occurs with that type of cloud cover. But because of it's great hieght, any precipitation that comes down from it will always evaporate before reaching sea level.
A warm front is always seen at the leading edge of a depression system and since warm air is less dense than cold air so it rises and "ride" over the top of the cold air way ahead of the actual warm front (when the warm air reaches sea level). Sometimes the leading edge can stretch for hundreds of miles, and that's where you most often get to see your "thin wispy stuff". Then it will give way to the thicker nimbostratus stuff (the thick dark heavy cloud that produces persistent rain or drizzle and a light increase in temperature) as the actual front nears you.
So if you want that cloud in any of your photography, look at the weather chart for a warm front (black line with red spots) moving towards the UK in from the Altantic, and then in a couple of hour's time, you'll have your ideal cloud cover. It usually last anything from an hour to a whole day depending on the speed of that warm front.

Here's a picture of a typical cirrostratus cloud cover: http://acampamento.wikidot.com/local--files/meteorologia/cirrostratus.jpg

Hope this helps. :)
 
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