New Planning Tools for Photographers with TPE Web 4.0

TPE Web 4.0: rebuilt for the toughest photographic planning challenges

TPE Web 4.0 is a major new release of The Photographer’s Ephemeris web app that introduces:

A streamlined power-user interface
Integrated weather for photographers
High-performance viewshed and horizon tools
Dynamic terrain and light overlays that change with the selected time
Real camera and lens field-of-view planning
Expanded support for planets, stars and deep-sky objects, with celestial planning calendars
Enhanced 3D scouting mode with Milky Way, stars and first-person composition tools

The 4.0 release is of particular relevance to nightscape and deepscape photographers, providing comprehensive, in-depth capabilities for planning successful shots that place solar system targets, the Milky Way or deep-sky objects behind a natural foreground.

See how the light will fall on the land

TPE 4.0 brings together solar, lunar, terrain and atmospheric planning tools so photographers can understand how light will behave long before they arrive on location.

Dynamic map overlays show day, night and twilight boundaries, terrain shadows, hillshade, elevation, slope, aspect, irradiance, 3D buildings and light pollution, helping photographers evaluate both the direction and quality of light across the landscape.

Locate viable viewpoints with viewshed and horizon planning

High-performance viewshed and horizon-profile tools make it easier to assess whether a subject, mountain peak or valley floor will in fact be visible from a chosen location.

Calculations can cover distances up to 300 km, with dynamic updates designed for rapid location scouting and comparison. Multiple digital elevation models provide a choice of terrain sources for improved coverage and resolution. Adjustable height above the ground allows for drone and aircraft shot planning.

Plan around weather that matters to photographers

Integrated photographic weather tools help evaluate the conditions that affect real-world image making, including multi-level cloud, visibility, transparency, seeing and related atmospheric factors. TPE 4.0 connects conditions to practical photographic planning decisions: whether atmospheric visibility matches physical line of sight, or how cloud movement will interact with the rising Moon.

Compose with the gear you plan to use

A comprehensive camera and lens knowledge base makes adding gear a breeze – no need to look up sensor sizes or lens characteristics.

The field-of-view overlay supports camera bearing, subject distance, focal length, orientation and teleconverters, making it easier to judge whether a composition is realistic before setting up in the field. Photographers can then preview the plan in a 3D virtual viewfinder to check what will be captured.

Wide Field Nebulae Annual Visibility Calendar

Plan the Sun, Moon, Planets, Stars and Deep-Sky Targets

TPE 4.0 expands celestial planning beyond the Sun and Moon, with support for the visible planets, stars and deep-sky objects.

A full celestial target catalog, curated deep-sky object lists and location-specific monthly and annual visibility calendars help photographers evaluate when targets are photographable under user-specified constraints for darkness, Moon conditions, altitude, azimuth and visibility windows.

Aligning the Galactic Center with Longs Peak

Complex Shot Alignments Made Easy

The new shot-alignment tool helps solve the reverse planning problem: where should a photographer stand to align a celestial target with a terrestrial landmark? As a target‘s direction and altitude change over time, finding the right position used to involve repetitive “ pin-hunting ” – no more.

The alignment heatmap shows exactly how viable shot positions evolve over time, even in variable terrain.

Visibility overlays show where a target such as the Moon, a planet, a star, or a nebula is blocked because of intervening terrain, helping photographers to identify workable positions at a glance.

3D Virtual Scouting for Photographers

The enhanced 3D view provides a first-person planning environment for previewing terrain, light conditions, sky position and composition. With accurate Sun and Moon shadows, a dynamic sky dome, a choice of map type and style, and multiple digital elevation models, this powerful visualization tool supports both wide-angle and telephoto planning.

A refraction-corrected high-resolution Milky Way and star overlay, combined with field-of-view-aware camera scouting, lets photographers evaluate potential compositions through a virtual viewfinder before committing time, travel and equipment.

What’s New in TPE Web 4.0?

Streamlined power-user interface for faster, more efficient photographic planning
Integrated weather tools designed for photographers, including multi-level cloud, visibility, transparency, seeing and related atmospheric conditions (access varies by plan)
Choice of multiple digital elevation models for improved terrain coverage and resolution (access varies by plan)
Dynamic map overlays for understanding light, terrain and sky conditions, including day/night/twilight terminator, terrain shadows, hillshade, elevation, aspect, slope, irradiance, 3D buildings and light pollution
High-performance viewshed and horizon-profile tools for evaluating location visibility over distances up to 300 km, with interactive updates for rapid scouting (MAX plan)
Camera and lens planning using the TPE camera and lens knowledge base, allowing photographers to model shots with their actual equipment (all plans)
Field-of-view map overlay with controls for camera bearing, subject distance, focal length, orientation and teleconverters (all plans)
Full planning support for visible planets, stars and deep-sky objects (access varies by plan)
Expanded celestial target catalog, including curated deep-sky object lists
Comprehensive astro-landscape and deepscape planning tools, including location-specific annual and monthly visibility calendars with user-defined constraints for conditions and target position windows (multi-target calendars require a MAX subscription)
Target visibility map overlay showing where objects such as the Moon, planets, stars and deep-sky targets are not visible due to intervening terrain
Shot-alignment tool for solving the reverse alignment problem: where to stand to align a celestial target with a terrestrial landmark
Enhanced 3D map with high-resolution Milky Way and star overlays
Field-of-view-aware first-person 3D scouting for previewing compositions from a virtual viewpoint

For reviewers and press

Review Access

We’d love for you to try TPE Web 4.0. Review access is available for journalists, editors, reviewers and creators covering photography, mapping, astronomy, outdoor imaging or creative technology.

To request access:

Visit next.photoephemeris.com and create an account
Please email support@photoephemeris.com with your name, publication or channel, and the email address you used to create your TPE account
Approved reviewers will receive temporary access to the full 4.0 feature set and a guide to illustrative use cases

Alternatively, for a guided demo or product walk-through, contact Stephen below.

Launch Date

TPE Web 4.0 will be generally available on Thursday, July 2, 2026. It will be available at its permanent home at app.photoephemeris.com, replacing the current 3.x version.

Pricing

Basic features in TPE Web 4.0 are available to use free of charge. The following paid plans will be available:

Supporter – for regular users needing only basic features: USD $9.99 per year
PRO – for serious photography planners: USD $29.99 per year
MAX – for power users needing the most powerful planning tools: USD $49.99 per year (introductory price)

Note: All MAX features will remain available at no additional cost to PRO subscribers until July 16, 2026

Pricing is subject to change and varies by region.

Platform Support

TPE Web 4.0 runs in most modern browsers on both Windows and macOS. The site is designed for desktop or laptop use and is not compatible with mobile phones. Certain advanced visualization features, such as high-resolution Milky Way textures, are intended for higher-end computers with a dedicated GPU, and may exhibit slow performance or stalling on lower-spec equipment.

Contact

For inquiries, demos, or review access questions, please contact Stephen Trainor, founder and developer or by email at marketing [at] photoephemeris.com.

“TPE 4.0 includes some very exciting new features for Astro, Astro-landscape, and Deepscape photographers. The new tool enables highly efficient target selection and excellent situational awareness for celestial imaging. Once an alignment is selected from the heatmap, the 3D viewfinder gives an amazingly accurate depiction of the interaction between the landscape and the celestial target. For deepscapes in particular, these features are priceless for planning shots that require perfect timing and alignment.”

Rick Whitacre , Astro and Deepscape Photographer

Product Gallery

Alignment Heatmap Shows Viable Camera Locations — The alignment heatmap shows viable camera locations over a given time window to achieve the required landmark-to-target alignment.

Deepscape Simulation in 3D — Deepscape shot plans can be previewed at the target focal length through the first-person view camera, against accurate terrain.

Virtual Viewfinder with Milky Way — Virtual Viewfinder showing the Milky Way

3D Buildings Overlay in Melbourne, Australia — Showing the 3D Buildings overlay for Melbourne, Australia, for urban shot planning.

Target Alignment Timing Heatmap — The Shot Alignment tool includes a "time" mode that shows where on the ground the alignment occurs, color-coded to indicate when the corresponding moment occurs in the planning window.

Accurate sunlight and moonlight — Accurate Terrain-aware Shadows

Rho Ophiuchi Annual Visibility Calendar shows when the nebula can be imaged at the specified location, under the given conditions, e.g. minimum altitude, maximum moon illumination and minimum separation.

Slope Map for the Colorado River — The Slope Map shows the steepness of terrain, with steep areas in red and gentler slopes in green. Flat areas are clear (black in this particular map style). Useful for quickly assessing how rugged an area may be to access.

Irradiance Map for Crested Butte, Colorado — The irradiance map is useful for photographers concerned about sun exposure during extended outdoor periods. The map shows solar irradiance based on the slope and aspect of the terrain.