Close your eyes. Picture a landscape under the night sky. Chances are you’re picturing a shadowy landscape under the milky way, taken on a moonless night. This field trip is going to challenge you to try the opposite. To go out on and explore the landscape under a full moon. While the stars may be dimmed by the moon, it brings its light to the surreal landscape.
Camera – Something that can make long exposures. Bulb mode if possible as exposures can extend past 30 seconds.
Lens – While fast lenses can provide a degree of flexibility in low light. The moonlit landscape also provides opportunities to experiment with longer exposures that can accommodate slower lenses.
Tripod – Low light images require long exposure times. Long exposure times require the stability of a tripod.
Flashlight/Headlamp – A flash light or headlamp is handy for navigating after dark. A headlamp with the option of a red light is handy not to ruin your night vision (or that of those around you). A flashlight can also be used to paint some light on a subject.
Cable Release – Wired or wireless, a cable release is handy to reduce the chance of vibration. The camera self timer is another option.
Spare Batteries – Long exposures and cooler nights cause batteries to deplete more quickly. A single battery that dies is a quick way to end a night of photography.
Timer/Stopwatch – Exposures under the full moon can sometimes exceed 30 seconds and run into bulb mode. If your camera doesn’t easily tell you how long your exposure is, you’ll want to have something that can.
Saturday, September 17, 2016
We’ll be heading to Medford Beach, in Medford (just outside of Canning).
With sunset (7:23pm) just before low tide (7:42pm) we should be able to get some good sunset images and still be left with plenty of time to work on some images under the full moon (moonrise at 8:06pm) and head in long before high tide at 1:55am.
It takes approximately an hour to get there from Acadia Hall. So the plan will be to meet at the hall at 5:30. There is limited parking there, so plan on carpooling as much as possible.
There is bit of a hike/climb down to the beach. It’s not far, but could be a little tricky getting back up after dark. Be sure to bring a flashlight and/or headlamp to help in navigating.