A sunrise thanks to Photopills

Saturday 15 June 2024, 22:44 by Nando Harmsen | 2,481 views | 2 comments

This article was translated from Dutch with the help of AI. Read the original.

The village of Campagnac lies in the French Tarn. If you stand in the right place, the sun rises exactly behind this photogenic village. You do need to know where to stand. Thanks to the app Photopills, that is no problem at all.

The village lies on a hilltop. On the south-western side of the village, there is another hill with a beautiful view over the rolling landscape. And it is in the direction of the sunrise.

A fantastic unobstructed view of the village of Campagnac in the French Tarn. But what about the sunrise? (Canon EOS R5 + RF100-500L @ 135mm / ISO 200 / f/9 / 1/800s)
Thanks to Photopills, it is easy to check on location where the sun will appear above the horizon. It is simply a matter of using Augmented Reality. This gives you a good idea of the possibilities on location.

The sun rises in the right direction, but not exactly where I want it. I want the sun exactly behind the church tower of Campagnac, which can be seen on the left in the image.
Photopills allows you to plan the right time, but also the right location. After some calculations by the programme, it became clear that at around 6:19 am the sun would be exactly behind the church tower. I had to stand at the location marked by the red pin.

The location marked by the red pin was easy to reach and gave me an unobstructed view of the church tower. The sun would be visible exactly behind the church tower at 6:19 am.
That meant getting up before dawn, driving to the location, walking a little way and setting everything up. It turned out to be a fantastic morning, with mist above the vineyards and a lovely crescent moon in the sky.

On location before dawn. What a lovely morning. (Sony A7C R + FE24-50mm @ 24mm / ISO 800 / f/11 / 1/60s)

Beautiful colours in the sky, then waiting for the sunrise. (Canon EOS R5 + RF100-500L @ 114mm / ISO 100 / f/11 / 1/13s)

And then it happens. The sun behind the church, exactly as planned. (Canon EOS R5 + RF100-500L @ 428mm / ISO 100 / f/11 / 1/50s)
For this kind of photo, you need to scout the location beforehand. That way, you know what the situation and the view are like. Everything went perfectly, and I am very pleased with the result.

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About the author

Nando Harmsen has been photographing for more than 40 years. He specialises in wedding photography and landscape photography. Nando also gives talks, workshops, masterclasses and photo trips, and regularly reviews new and interesting equipment.

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2 comments

Donald Willemsen wrote on Saturday 15 June 2024 at 23:10 | reply
Fantastic photos Nando. I knew you could make such a plan with PhotoPills, but I myself make too little use of it. The weather also has to cooperate with such a plan.
Translated from Dutch.

Marcel wrote on Tuesday 18 June 2024 at 15:37 | reply
Ah yes, I'm back for a bit, Nando
Coincidentally (?) I was just thinking about delving more into Photopills. So thanks!
Kind regards, Marcel
Translated from Dutch.

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