The Photographer's Ephemeris...from Watermen Art

by Bill Hudson

On Friday, September 24th, at 6:30 a.m., I was waiting on the first tee at the local golf course for my son Will to show up. He was running a little late. The sun was just rising, birds were beginning their flights and it was the promise of a great day. At about 6:35 a.m. I heard the sound of geese in flight coming my way with the sunrise at their backs. As I watched the geese I noticed an extraordinary event unfolding. A full moon was waiting for their silhouettes on the west horizon. Within seconds those geese flew right into that moon. It was perfect timing for the perfect painting.

I thought a lot about that moment. Yeah, I missed it on my camera, but maybe it would occur again.....maybe the next day. Maybe I could reposition both objects in a painting even if I didn't get them simultaneously in a photo. Interestingly, I thought about what just occurred and that I was probably the only person who noticed or even cared.

Well, I got beat in golf by Will, but I kept thinking how lucky I was to have been there and that I'd return the next morning with my camera. So that night I began to study some aspects of the moon hoping to know its size and location in the sky the following morning. Being a fisherman, I knew that tides change about 1 hour from day to day. And since the moon is the cause of high and low tides, then its position in the sky is roughly 1 hour different each day. I just didn't know if it was going to be higher or lower in the sky. I looked up moon rise and set times and determined the moon would be about 12 degrees higher in the sky. So, unfortunately, at sunrise the appearance of the moon would be much different. And it wouldn't appear to be the destination for the geese. Rather, it would be an object they were flying under.

But, to me, the wonder of it all is that we always see only the near side of the moon and never the far side. In fact, the first time we had images of the far side was from a Russian lunar rocket in 1959. The reason our moon is so unique is that it has been "locked" in place by those same tidal forces.

I was at the golf course by 6 a.m. the next morning to make sure I didn't miss anything. I took plenty of pictures of both geese and ibises in flight. I did get the nearly full moon, but it was much too high to duplicate its appearance the morning before. I also talked with Martin, the retired old gentleman who does the daily crossword puzzle every morning while having coffee at the course. Martin told me how he was from Iowa where nothing was like seeing a "war bonnet sunrise." He told me how that occurs as the sun rises through a thin layer of fog on the horizon of an open corn field. The resultant rays of bright light piercing through the fog look like an Indian war bonnet. It sounded like the stuff of another painting.

I got to my studio at the Bear Street Gallery later that morning. I told my friend and fellow studio-artist Eric Good about the experience and how I wondered when similar conditions would occur. Well Eric is a photographer by trade and a great one (ref www.ericgoodphotography.com). Eric told me about the Photographer's Ephemeris (ref. www.photoephemeris.com). He brought it up on his laptop and showed me how to use it. A great tool! For any location on the earth that you select, it provides: the % of moon illumination, and the position of the sun and moon as a function of time. The positions include both elevation and azimuth. So with Eric's help and the Photographer's Ephemeris I'm determined to be back at the golf course on the mornings of October 23rd and 24th. On the 23rd the sun rises at 7:03 a.m., when the 100% illuminated moon will simultaneously be at 6.6 degrees above the horizon. On the 24th the 99.1% moon will be at 17.8 degrees when the sun comes up.

Being a professional photographer and remote camper, Eric uses the Ephremeris to determine when the sun will break over mountains and other terrain. Being a watercolor painter, I'm very careful to avoid direct sunlight on my paintings at shows. The light heats the painting surface causing the pigments and binder to outgas. These gases condense on the inner surface of the glass, which is cooler, and can quickly damage a painting. The Ephemeris allows the artist to plan his outdoor exhibit as soon as his booth is assigned. For example, I have had the same booth for both the October and May shows in Beverly Hills. However, the sun is further south in October, shines into my tent and would impinge on some of my up-front paintings. A 2-foot canopy is sufficient protection. In May, the sun is further north and all paintings within the tent are in complete shade.

Please come see me in booth #344 this Oct 16th and 17th at the Affaire in the Gardens in Beverly Hills.