Webinar: NP111 Catching the Moon and the Sun

Not Scheduled but usually 7:00 PM PDT (7 MDT / 8 CDT / 9 EDT) for 2 hours
In this 110 minute Webinar, you will be introduced to several free (and almost free) tools that you can use to plan a moon (or sun) shot - including a tool written by Steven and made available only to attendees. Have you wanted to capture the moon "right where you want it" but weren't sure how? If you know you could resort to photo editing and fake it but you'd rather get the real deal then this class is for you. Steven will demonstrate how to determine when and where to go to capture an image like the Moon over Lick Observatory or the moon at the Transamerica Building or the sun shining through a portal in the Pacific Ocean (below). This is a Webinar so you can conveniently attend from your computer at work or home anywhere in the world. This course includes notes, access to a private page with details - including landmark events Steven has already solved for you, an online viewable recorded webinar with unlimited online viewing that you can watch NOW before the webinar is held. One indispensable tool covered in detail is the Photographer's Ephemeris by Stephen Trainor.

What You'll Learn

Steven will show

1. How to Plan a moon or solar "contact" shot.
2. How smartphone based tools may help - or sabotage - your attempts to get an alignment
3. How to use the moon to illuminate your foreground,
4. How the presence of the moon affects photos of the night sky,
5. How to find information about interesting celestial events,
6. How to find compelling locations for "alignment" images, and
7. What camera settings you need to get it all exposed just right.

Remember that this event INCLUDEs online videos, notes, and access to a special tool that Steven uses to solve lunar and solar contact shots.

Please refer to the IMPORTANT INFORMATION page before signing up for access.

How many of these questions can you answer? The answers will tremendously help you capture the moon when and where you want it.

1. By definition a new moon is when what occurs?
2. What time of day is it when the Full moon rises?
3. How big (in angular degrees) is the moon? What focal length lens would you need to fill the frame with a shot of the moon?
4. How many days are there in a lunar cycle?
5. By approximately how much does the moonrise time change from one day to the next?
8. A full moon, directly overhead in the sky requires approximately what length of exposure at f/9, ISO 200 to preserve detail? How long would that exposure need to be for a fully eclipsed moon?
9. How long does it take for the moon to move it’s full diameter in the sky?

Questions

1. Will there be a recording of the webinar in case I want to listen again?
   Yes. A recording of a prior webinar is included.
2. Will you repeat this webinar? When?
   Most likely. But we make no guarantees.
3. Where should I send any questions I have?
   During the webinar we will let you know where to send your questions. If you have a question before the webinar, please post it in the comments below.
4. What about notes, can I get notes?
   Notes are included! There is also access to a private web page.

Student Comments

• This was a lot easier back when we used a map, pencil and ruler. Except for the part about having the moon actually show up where you expected it to be. What I’m now saving in maps and pencils will more than pay for the class. Thanks Steven. ~ John
• Steven’s technique for teaching webinars is perfect for the beginner as well as the more advanced student. With the tools Steven provides, anyone willing to spend the time can catch the moon at iconic locations around the world. ~ Mary
• Very, very cool webinar. My second Catching the Moon, and even better than the first. ~ Tom
• informative class. Great help on finding right location for the shot. ~ Francis
• Steven really knows his stuff and is very willing to share. ~ Tyler
• Steven rocks!! Very informative webinar. Highly recommended. ~ Ravi
• I would have appreciated spending more time with the tools (TPE and others) and more exercises to better master them. ~ Gerard
• This presentation was so interesting!!! Steven in an excellent presenter. He is very organized and I really appreciate the notes that he gives out ~ Jean
• Steven’s got everything down to a science, one that novice like me would have no trouble following. Though I haven’t attended many photography workshops, I can confidently claim this to be one of the best workshops I’ll ever attend. ~ Syed
• The Web Seminar was awesome. The seminar is well structured with lots of examples. We got lots of good and detailed information from the speaker. Steven was very clear, patient and funny during the lecture. He is very knowledgeable and I am glad he is willing to share his notes with us. ~ Fabian
• If you want to understand more about photographing the moon, this IS the meet-up to attend. I’ve shot the moon before but this will help eliminate a lot of the “just got lucky” shots. Steven is a great instructor, pausing and asking if there are any questions before he proceeeds further. ~ Voltaire
• Steven provided us with a wealth of information to get us to start crunching numbers to figure out the best date, time, and place to catch the moon to take interesting photos as well as tips and techniques to use to capture them. He was quite engaging and provided us with more than a handful of tools to get us started. For all the wonderful nitty gritty details, I recommend that you check out one of his webinars ~ May
• Very informative webinar with well organized/presented material. Good stuff ~ Ajay
• Steven is very knowledgeable about the subject and presented the material in a manner that was easy to follow and understand. ~ Earl
• I had some audio problems ~ Walker
• This was a great webinar. In-depth and informative. Really super. ~ Tom
• Lots of very good information, well presented! ~ Susanne
• Very informative. ~ Val
• Great subject but Very fast pace. Also very technical. ~ Bill
• Steven did an excellent job with the training ~ Judy
• SteveC is a great teacher! ~ Roger
• Was very informative.. Got to know some great fundamentals about the moon and its ways.. Now I always keep an eye on the sky to check whats happening there.. and thanks to the lack of rain this winter, its helping 🙂  ~ Gautum
• Wow. Steven really knows the material and was able to take some relatively complicated things and condense it down into a very manageable and understandable form. It was especially nice that he asked participants if they were following and even offered valid examples of how to apply what we were learning. I was a little concerned since, sometimes, webinars are lacking, but this definitely wasn’t. ~ Larry
• Extremely informative and powerful information!!! … Steven has amazing technological skills and presented information in a very professional way with images of examples, answered all questions and was very friendly and patient with me.  ~ Nataliya
• Top notch, even for a novice such as myself. ~ Jack
• Wow did I ever learn a lot. I have been trying to shoot the full moon every month this past year. Some pics were okay and some not. After this class, I feel like I have some new tools to plan my shots and get a lot closer to my vision of the shot or maybe realize it won’t work after all and revise accordingly. ~ Marsha
• Great presentation! Steven offers a perfect balance between inspirational shots, moon facts and figures, and calculations to make our own moon compositions. ~ Phil