Photo

Sun and Moon Times and Aziumth
MPG V2.8, January 2013

Background

One of the best times for scenic landscape photographs are the periods from morning twilight to just past sunrise and evening twilight to sunset. Many photographs in Mt. Rainier NP are taken during these periods. To help photographers working in the NP, below are links to the current months for sunrise and sunset, moonrise and moonset, and sunrise and sunset azimuth, along with some links to Websites to do your own calculations or this information over any time period you want.

Sun and moon information for recent and current months are listed below.

Sun and Moon Information 2008
July 2008 August 2008 September 2008
October 2008 November 2008 December 2008
Sun and Moon Information 2009
January 2009 February 2009 March 2009
April 2009 May 2009 June 2009
July 2009 August 2009 September 2009
October 2009 November 2009 December 2009
Sun and Moon Information 2010
January 2010 February 2010 March 2010
April 2010 May 2010 June 2010
July 2010 August 2010 September 2010
October 2010 November 2010 December 2010
Sun and Moon Information 2011
January 2011 February 2011 March 2011
April 2011 May 2011 June 2011
July 2011 August 2011 September 2011
October 2011 November 2011 December 2011
Sun and Moon Information 2012
January 2012 February 2012 March 2012
April 2012 May 2012 June 2012
July 2012 August 2012 September 2012
October 2012 November 2012 December 2012
Sun and Moon Information 2013
January 2013 February 2013 March 2013
April 2013 May 2013 June 2013
July 2013 August 2013 September 2013
October 2013 November 2013 December 2013
Sun and Moon Information 2014
January 2014 February 2014 March 2014
April 2014 May 2014 June 2014
July 2014 August 2014 September 2014
October 2014 November 2014 December 2014
Sun and Moon Information 2015
January 2015 February 2015 March 2015
April 2015 May 2015 June 2015
July 2015 August 2015 September 2015
October 2015 November 2015 December 2015

Information

Azimuth.-- Azimuth is the compass point in degrees from true north of the position of the sun on the horizon at sunrise and sunset. Altitude, which is not included in these Web pages but available on the Websites below or from downloadable software, is the angle of the sun above the horizon from the viewers perspective.

The azimuth is important to understand where the light from the sunrise or sunset will be coming from during that part of the day for your images. Altitude is also important to understand the shadows the sun will cast for the subjects in the scene and your images. Some of the Websites will calculate this information for any individual day in a printable format.

Terrain.-- An important note about the information on the sun and moon rise and set times and azimuth is that the terrain of Mt. Rainier NP changes everything, and unless you have the calculations adjusted for the specific spot of your interest, then the times will vary, less in the open upper elevation areas to considerably more in valleys or forests. This consideration should be used in your trip to accomodate time changes due to the terrain.

Additional Resources

Applications.-- In addtion to on-line information sites, below, for sun and moon times and directions, there are several good applications which provides photographers with a host of sun and moon information with more information, tools and features to determine the best times and locations for taking photographs.

The first of these is the Photographer's Ephemeris, which is a free Web browser-based app which can store specific locations (cookies) for future use. They offer this applications for the iPad and some smart phones too through the Apple iTunes Store. The second is the Time Palette. This application is a Mac-only application at this time and available through their Website or the Apple App store.

Websites.-- Below are some Web-based calculators for sunrise/sunset, moonrise/moonset and sunrise/sunset azimuth. Knowing your exact location in the NP isn't that critical as you can use the calculation for Seattle, Washington to be sufficiently close to make any minor adjustments in the field. Otherwise, Paradise is 46.77 ° north 121.73 ° west and the crest of Mt. Rainier is 46.85 ° north and 121.76 ° west for exact calculations.

Please use the contact link to send e-mail.

[Top] [Guide] [Home]

Web Updates
Image Copyrights
Browser Optimization
WSR V2.8, January 2013