>> I'm John Rummel,
and this is my Wisconsin Life.
>> It's a frigid night
in February, and John Rummel
has a date with a heavenly body.
>> So this is a good night.
>> Venus is an outdoor girl,
so John must brave the cold.
>> I can't feel my fingers.
>> But it's worth it.
>> We got a nice shot here.
>> John is a celestial
photographer, and he's hoping
to capture Venus
paired with a crescent moon
over the Madison skyline.
>> Venus has disappeared.
>> But the clouds
are not cooperating,
as Venus and then the moon
move in and out of a haze.
Eventually, he runs out of time
as the moon sets.
>> If I'm too late,
you know, try again next month.
>> That's how it goes when you
literally need planets to align
to get the photo you want.
>> So, I got some good usable
shots.
My fingers are completely numb.
>> Over the years, John has
figured out the right place
and the right time
to capture some striking images.
John says his love of astronomy
came first.
>> I was that ten-year-old kid
with a telescope
that my parents got me
for Christmas at Sears,
sitting out in front of my house
looking at the moons of Jupiter,
or looking at the moon,
or looking at Saturn.
>> Soon, he wanted to photograph
what he was looking at.
But eventually,
even that wasn't enough.
>> That gets boring,
because if you've seen
one picture of Saturn,
you know, you've seen a million.
The challenge became
to take pictures that were
interesting for other reasons.
And living in Madison,
I just had this fantasy
of the skyline of Madison
with the beautiful dome
of the Capitol lit up at night
with a big beautiful moon
in the background.
For years I thought about
how to get that shot.
I have to get the moon
behind the Capitol.
And unless you're God,
you have to work with
the geography that you're given.
>> John eventually figured it
out.
And the result ended up
on the cover of the Blue Book,
the official state almanac.
>> You could Photoshop that
easily.
I always pride myself on
wanting to get the real thing,
and thus doing the homework.
You need to put yourself
in the exact geometric position
where you need to have the
moon set in the right location.
>> John uses a computer program
to tell him the angular
measurement, or azimuth,
of the setting moon.
>> I'll identify
the setting point of the moon,
draw a line through the center,
which is where the Capitol is,
and then watch where that line
intersects the lakeshore.
If I wanted to get
the crescent moon bisecting
the Capitol as it sets,
this line gives me less than
50 feet of wiggle room.
>> For one lunar eclipse, John
had to ask a stranger in Monona
for access to her yard.
>> I showed her some of
my photography.
I said I have an opportunity
to take a great picture, but
I have to be in your backyard
next Saturday morning
at sunrise.
>> John also takes his gear
on the road.
[shutter clicks]
These photos are from
the Apostle Islands
in Lake Superior.
>> We take these pictures
of the Milky Way over these
beautiful historic lighthouses.
>> Most of John's favorite shots
take place at night,
but sometimes
the sun draws him out,
like this partial eclipse.
>> These are homemade
solar filters.
So by using these
over my camera lenses, I can
photograph the sun directly,
and get the eclipse in progress.
>> It's a festive atmosphere
as John is with members of the
Madison Astronomical Society.
>> It should be
less than one minute.
>> But of course,
John wants something more
than just a shot of the eclipse.
>> There we go.
[shutter clicks]
>> There we go.
First bite.
>> He's hoping for
a hazy horizon that will
allow him to take the filter
off his camera.
>> Tonight, that big orange ball
will have a big ol' bite
taken out of it by the moon.
I'm hoping that I can take this
off tonight, and I can actually
photograph the sun eclipsed
with the trees
and with the landscapes
that we see here
at Donald park without this.
But the odds of that happening
are somewhat slim, and I have
the filter just in case.
>> Once again,
the clouds get in the way.
>> Clouds can make the shot,
and clouds can also
completely obliterate the shot.
>> While he didn't get
the exact photo he wanted,