Night Photography Trip

Sorry for the delay in getting this out. Here are the details about the photo trip:

There will be TWO trips this week, one on Thursday night, and one on Sunday night. Thursday night will be visiting an outlook at Tilden Park, and requires a car to get to. Sunday night will be a visit up to the Lawrence Hall of Science, which we'll get to via the AC Transit 65 bus. Because Thursday requires a car, there's going to be limited spots (10, unless the drivers feel like breaking laws or shuttling).

A few notes to keep in mind:

For Thursday, it is a bit of a hike up to the ridge from the trailhead. It will probably take 30-40 mins as a group. If you've ever been up to the Big C, it's like hiking up two of those.
Lawrence Hall of Science actually offers better views of the bay/surrounding area, and doesn't require a hike. There is more light pollution, so it is not as ideal for astronomy photos (star trails and the like). For other low-light photos (if you want to do light-painting or creative camera shake or things like that), both locations are equally good.

2009-11-5 Thursday Night Tilden Park details

Meet up at to-be-determined location (likely Underhill, possibly on-campus parking lot if people have classes) at 4pm.
If there are more than 5 or 10 people, the rest will meet up at North Gate bus stop by 3:30pm
Drive to Big Springs Trail trailhead on South Park Drive, hike up to lookout point on Bay Area Ridge Trail. People taking the bus will be driven there from the Grizzly Peak Blvd bus stop
Sunset at 5:06pm
Stay for however long shooting (Moonrise at 7:29pm?)
Head back down, drive back. It's possible for one car (five people) to leave early.

It *is* possible to get up there without a car, through a combination of the bus and walking/biking. The 65 bus gets you within 1 mile of the trailhead:

Map: http://photodecal.org/gallery/main.php?g2_view=core.DownloadItem&g2_itemId=53234

2009-11-8 Sunday Night Lawrence Hall of Science details

Meet up at North Gate by 3:30pm. Take 65 bus up to Lawrence Hall of Science. Bus comes every HOUR so make sure you catch this one, otherwise you'll miss sunset =/
Sunset at 5:03pm
Stay until last bus at 6:57pm

AC Transit 65 schedule

Going up to Lawrence Hall: http://www.actransit.org/maps/stoptostop.php?version_id=11&line=65&current_schedule=5846

Going down to Berkeley: http://www.actransit.org/maps/stoptostop.php?version_id=11&line=65&current_schedule=5848

Since transport is purely by the AC Transit bus, people can both come early/late and leave early/late. If enough people are interested in staying late enough for the sky to get really dark (which won't really happen til about 6:30 or even 7pm), I don't mind staying and trekking back down to Berkeley as a group

Useful things to bring:

A partial list - if you have suggestions go ahead and email me

The essentials: cameras, lenses, memory cards
Tripod
Remote shutter release (cable release or wireless remote)
Flashlights (both for seeing and for light painting)
External flash units
Good shoes!
Light coat (or heavy one for Sunday if you'd like, since there's no hiking involved)
Gloves
Some food, or make sure to eat beforehand.

Sign up on the google doc

Make sure you sign up on this google doc, ESPECIALLY if you are planning to come Thursday. I will likely be calling/texting you all on the day of.

https://spreadsheets.google.com/ccc?key=0AgXf2ijME4yGdEFrdGRZcXl4NmdpLVo5emV1LWc0QlE&hl=en

Let me know if any of you have any questions. And if you have any friends who want to come along, feel free to invite them for Sunday. And if you happen to acquire a car very suddenly, or know a friend who has one that wants to come, let me know so I can further plan out logistics for Thursday.