Natural Wonder

 Over two nights in May I was able to fulfil a dream of observing the night sky properly. In the UK there are very few true dark sky areas and my previous attempts to observe the sky at night have been hampered by clouds, light pollution and poor timing. 

So on a recent holiday in the United States I was able to time a camping trip in the desert near Page AZ at the time of a new moon and with clear conditions.

On the first evening I concentrated on a start trail because there was a little cloud in the southern sky. I wanted to include the covered wagons as part of the foreground so I have managed to locate Polaris in the top left of the shot so the stars sweep upwards from the desert floor. Additional lighting was provided by people returning to the campsite and lighting everything up with their headlights. This image is a stack of around 270 images.

On the second night I had hope for clear skies so that I could point my camera south to get the milky way arching across the desert. However as the evening wore on heavy clouds gathered and I went to bed a little dejected feeling that an opportunity had been missed. However at 2am I woke up to answer a call of nature. As I stepped outside the tent I experienced such a sense of awe and wonder as I saw the sky as I had never seen it before. There were no clouds and there above and in front of me was the biggest expanse of star filled sky I forgot that I had needed the loo and set up my camera to capture a few shots. 

Whenever I look at my photos I think I could have done better, or I wish I could have framed it differently... however I am so happy that I got to see this and these images will serve as a reminder of that wonderful experience and the feeling of wonder. I hope that one day I will be able to capture something similar but if I don't I can still say that on this trip one of my ambitions was achieved.

Hilbre Island at Night

 After just over two hours taking star trail images I decided to finish off the evening (it was actually well after midnight) with a few single shot images. The first was a 30/1s exposure with ISO 800, the others are all 15/1s exposures with ISO 1000

I have then adjusted the settings in lightroom to create the final images. In each case I have had to meticulously remove some annoying noise artefacts caused due to the sensor heating up during long exposures but the effort was worth it. The tide had come in while I was shooting and so in these images the surface of the sea has a nice milky smooth appearance as it reflects the light from North Wales and the wind farm on the horizon and Hilbre Island which sits at the mouth of the River Dee. The light from the Hilbre Lighthouse can also be seen reflected.

As these are single shots there is less colour and definition in the stars, and star clusters than I would get if I I had used my star tracker and stacked multiple images but I was not set up for that. I really like the effect that the long exposure has produced. It has given me some ideas of what I can try next time I get out after dark.

Star Bright

 So after a disappointing night Tuesday I went out again on Wednesday, but to a different location where there was less light pollution in the immediate vicinity and as the sky remained clear I was able to stay out longer.

I managed to get two light trails and a few individual shots (which I will come back to tomorrow).

For the first image I tried to get more of the sky in the shot as there was little in the way of foreground interest. For some reason (carelessness on my part) this was shot at 19mm rather than 17mm which would have been optimal. It was a 58 minute exposure cut short because the camera battery died and due to the added complication of the incoming tide which forced me off the beach and up onto the rocks.

It was quite an eerie sensation listening to the sea bubbling its way across the sand towards me, in near complete darkness. It was only in the last 10 minutes that I could see the water approaching and it was a stark reminder of how fast the tide comes in around here and the dangers of being out on the sand. That being said I was in a nice little bay and the tide at its height only just reached the spot where my tripod had been set up. By the time I had finished my other shots the sea had receded sufficiently that I could walk back on the sand rather than have to clamber over the rocks in the dark with all my equipment.

In the first image I have cleaned it up slightly by removing the light trails of two passing jets which cut across the scene and were a real distraction in the image.

By contrast in the second image (a 61.5 minute exposure shot this time at 17mm) I have left the many aircraft trails in, partly to show how difficult it is to get a clean image but also because with so many crisscrossing trails it looks quite cool. I may try to clean it up at some point that will mean excluding some individual shots from the composite image and that could amount to 9 or 10 minutes worth and could result in gaps in the star trails; we shall see.

As you can see in this image the tide was in and the long exposure has left us with a milky smooth sea. The reflection on the sea is also a composite reflection of the light from Venus over the course of one hour. Venus is the bright white object/line central in the image finishing just above the horizon (it also features in the first image and it should be obvious which one it is).

All in all I had a great time and had I not risked hypothermia I would have stayed out another hour or two. I really hope you enjoy these images and I hope to be able to get out and try some more star trails in future. 

Starlight

 

Last night there was the promise of a clear sky, no clouds and no moon so I nipped down to the beach to capture a circumpolar star trail image over the wind farm at Burbo Bank. 

I was delayed starting because on my first attempt I realised I had the wrong footplate for the tripod so I had to go home and start again.

All set up I wanted to get some of the lights from the wind turbine and the bright white line along the bottom is ship traffic in and out of the port of Liverpool which looks quite good. Next time, since there is nothing else in the foreground I think I would focus a little higher to get more of the stars and less beach.

Unfortunately the session was cut short by the arrival of cloud from the east, at least one hour earlier than expected, and with all the light pollution from Liverpool and along the coast there was little point continuing.

I wasn't really expecting very much of the night so I am quite pleased with the above image which is a stack of 64 x 30 second exposures. I had to skip a couple of shots in the stack to remove the lights of a passing airplane which were very bright. Although I was hoping for much longer trails I think the overall effect is still pleasing.

The forecast says there should be clear skies tonight as well and so I will be out again, hopefully for a much longer shoot and from a slightly different vantage point  so look out for the next image in a day or two.

Light Trails On the Grand Canal

 I have just got back from a short break in Venice. One of the things I was keen to try was capturing light trails on the Grand Canal. I had been to Venice a few times before but had never taken a tripod with me so long exposures were out of the question. This time rather than pack an extra jumper and a second pair of shoes I packed one of my tripods and a variable ND filter along with my other kit.

I tried a few different shots and above is just one of them but in colour and in black and white. It is a composite image from three 30 second exposures which I have blended in Photo Shop. It is the first time I have ever tried this and some of what I had hoped would remain in the final image is not there so I need to practice a bit to see what else I can do.

Being early in March there was less traffic on the canal than there would be on a summers evening so again the light trails are not as standout as I had hoped but nonetheless I think these are really effective and for a first attempt I am pretty pleased. I have other shots to work on which will be composite of up to 12 exposures so there is the possibility that there will be even more detail in them although of course 12 images may be too many and I really need to experiment to get the best possible final result. 

This shot was taken from the Ponte dell'Accademia facing out towards the lagoon. I really like the black and white image because it has a cool night time feel however because Venice is such a colourful city I prefer the second image as it highlights the warmth and richness of the buildings and also because of the long exposure the stars are visible and show up in colour too, not just as the white or yellow dots we normally see when we look up at the night sky.

One Night in Alsace

 I have not long returned from a week's holiday in Alsace, a truly beautiful region of France. We stayed in a fabulous cottage on a hillside 700m above a village called Fraize. On the second night of the stay there was a beautifully clear sky and although the moon was in its third quarter and very bright it was still possible to look up and see more stars than I would ever see in the sky above my home in the North West of England. So of course I couldn't resist getting out there to capture some pictures of the stars.

For the first image I have stacked 22 separate 20 sec shots to try to capture part of the spiral of the milky way. It is far from perfect I know; I did not use enough dark frame shots to reduce noise in the image hence the annoying horizontal line, and of course despite using the tree to the right of the image to mask the moon it was so bright and some of the colours are washed out. Even so the number of stars visible in this shot is incredible.

For the second image I have gone for my second ever attempt at a star trail and I am really pleased with this one...

I took a few test shots to try to get the image framed right. The illumination of the house is entirely from the moon across the valley. The cottage had a security light over the front door and to avoid setting that off I had to climb in and out of the dining room window which was fun especially when I startled a local cat that was hunting in the hedges close by.

This image is a composite of 204 shots each of 30 seconds so taken over a 2 hour period. There was a 3 sec cooling down period between each exposure and I have had to eliminate some shots because of a plane flying through which left an annoying yellow streak through my first attempt at processing this. Actually this was the third attempt because for the first one I was aligning the stars rather than setting up for a star trail so it was very disjointed and I thought I had messed it up. However taking the time to review it meant I finally got it right even though i had been ready to abandon the project altogether. I am so glad I stuck with it and hopefully you will agree that it was worth it.

Night Skies 3

 

Normally when I go out with my camera for  3 or 4 hours I will come back with hundreds of shots and several that I will want to share via this blog. However, when I went out to photograph the night sky I was left with effectively just two views one to the south with the headland illuminated by the beam from the lighthouse and a second facing west taking in the lighthouse itself and the skies above. Not a lot for the time and effort you might think, but actually I learned a lot from this trip and I am very pleased with the images I got. If you look at the posts over the last two days you will see some of the better images and today I have posted my favourite images from the night.

Firstly you have the view to the south, this was a 90 second tracked exposure (ISO 1600, 17mm F/4.0). The bright orange star slightly above the horizon and slightly to the left is Antares, the 15th brightest star in our night sky and the brightest star in the constellation of Scorpio. If you can zoom in you will see the other stars in Scorpio fanning outwards. Above that you have the constellation of Libra, and then above that slightly to the right is the bright white star Arcturus the brightest star in Bootes. 

I know it is hard to make things out and so I am aided by a neat app called Stellarium and another called Star Walk 2 which help to nicely map the sky and get my bearings on what is where. Stellarium is great because I can go back to the sky map for the exact date and time I was there and it takes out the guesswork.

In the second image, which I love, we have the lighthouse casting its beam into the Irish Sea. We are looking west and in the sky above the lighthouse we can see the constellation of Leo, the two bright stars in the centre sitting almost horizontally to each other mark the top of the constellation they are Denebola and Zosma and then towards the top of the frame almost directly above is a lovely cluster of stars, which are part of Coma Berenices, they just have numbers instead of names (eg 12 Comae Berenices).

I don't know about you but I am fascinated by the night sky, just being there in the early hours, despite the biting cold, it was a real treat to be able to look up at the vastness of space and to be able to see so many celestial bodies and to marvel at the beauty that we so rarely get to see.

Night Skies 2

 

So here are two more night sky shots from South Stack Lighthouse. They were taken about an hour apart, the first one was a 20 second exposure (ISO 1600,  17mm  F6.3) and the second was a tracked shot with a 60 second exposure (ISO 1600, 17mm F/4.0)

The camera is pointed almost due west and you can see the constellations of Cancer (centre) Hydra (left of centre) and Leo  upper left.

Depending on how large you are viewing these images it is possible to make out a blue cluster of stars (Praesepe) about 3/4 of the way up just right of centre in the first image.

In the second image you can see how the constellations have moved further to the right as the night has progressed.

The bright white light on the horizon in the second image is a Holyhead to Dublin ferry.

Starry Starry Night

 

So I have interrupted my intended series of "A Few Days in December" by posting these night sky images that I shot last night and really didn't want to put them off to a later date.

As you can see from the first image (taken using the night sight mode on my Pixel 6Pro) I had set my camera up on the beach using my Sky Watcher Star Adventurer 2i Pro star tracking mount. It really is a cool piece of kit that I am just getting to know.

There have been a couple of nights recently when we were promised clear skies and I have been desperate to get out to shoot the night sky. Last week there was very little moon but sadly too much cloud spoiled things and I couldn't get any good images, I just got very cold for nothing. Although every minute getting to know your kit is time well spent (that's me putting a positive spin on a failed trip).

Last night however the sky was clearer but the moon was more than half full and very bright so as well as the light pollution from Liverpool and Deeside I was up against excess light. Never mind, I am not making excuses and I didn't let that or the biting cold stop me.

In the first image you can see my camera mounted on the tripod and tracking mount pointed north west over Liverpool Bay, the lights along the bottom are from the Burbo Bank wind farm and in the distance you can just make out the shadow of the Pennines in Lancashire. More importantly you can make out a few bright stars, the bright one most central in the image is called "Vega" and top left there are a few from the constellation Cygnus, the bright star at the top is called "Deneb".

The second image is the shot that I captured it is an image comprised of 5 stacked photos using some software called Sequator which is fantastic and so easy to use. Each individual photo was a 2 minute exposure so using this process lots more light is picked up by the camera sensor and more distant objects that the naked eye cannot see become visible. Hence in this patch of sky which has the constellation of Cygnus we can see thousands of stars which are just not there in the first image, if you zoom in you will see what I mean. For reference the brightest star lower right in the second image is Vega. What you also can see in the second image is the range of colours of the different stars and galaxies which are not just white but reds, greens and purple. It really is a beautiful universe.

The third image is also comprised of five stacked images. It is facing south and although the stars are not quite as crisp in this image I really like the picture because the foreground adds context to the overall image. Also I think the stars are probably more recognisable to most people this being "Sirius" (the brightest star lower down in the centre) and the constellation of Orion with the three stars in a line forming Orion's belt and above that are Betelgeuse and Bellatrix. If you look closely you will see more than just three stars along the belt and the three stars below it are actually part of distant galaxies. As this was shot using a wide angle lens I couldn't get more detail of the distant objects but in the future that will be something I will want to explore more. For now I need to hone my skills and practice with the equipment and hope for clear skies.

Star Light Star Bright

 

I have wanted to get into astrophotography for a while but previous attempts to photograph the night sky had resulted in disappointing images, there are so many things to consider; the strength of the moon, light pollution, exposure time, time of the year etc. I know that multiple exposures and stacking images in post production is a thing but I still don't know how to do it.

 Last summer when I photographed comet neowise over Castlerigg I managed to get a decent image using the longest exposure possible with my equipment but I have seen so many really excellent images since then that I knew I would need a different set up if I am to get the sort of images I crave. The more I have looked the more I have wanted to explore the night sky and capture images of deep space objects; planets, stars, constellations, bright nebulae, planetary nebulae, dark nebulae, galaxies, galaxy clusters and more, things I didn't even realise existed.

I decided I would need to invest in a star tracker mount and so I did a little research and saved up and I recently took delivery of a Sky Watcher, Star Adventurer 2i. I have been itching to set it up and start to practice but so far there have been no clear night skies so it had remained in its box. I have looked at videos and blogs trying to pick up some tips and I have been checking the forecast in the hope that there would  be a break in the clouds long enough to put it to the test.

Last night there was a promise of a few hours and so I headed out to the beach with everything set up but sadly there were few breaks in the clouds and so I wasn't able to get a clear image. There was no point trying to do multiple images of the same spot in the sky because of the clouds but I did try out a few long exposures. I realise as I look at them now that I didn't take note of what I was focusing on so they're just random images of the stars with the wispy clouds passing by. What is clear however is that having used a 2 minute exposure the mount has worked amazingly well, even doing just a very simple polar alignment, the stars remain sharp and perfectly round. What is also amazing to me is the range of colours and the density of the objects out there.

So I know they're not great pictures but they are a start and if you look closely you will see patterns of star clusters and perhaps other objects light years away. I am so glad to have invested in the tracker that has meant these long exposures have been possible and I am now going to do a little more research and keep my fingers crossed for some clear skies.

Love Is In The Air

If you have followed my blog at all you will know that recently I have been on a fantastic roadtrip around much of Europe with my son and we had the most amazing time. I also took a huge number of photos some of which I have enjoyed sharing with you and many more that I will post in future. In recent days however I have mixed things up by posting pictures from a photo shoot on Skomer and others from a night shoot in the Lake District.

I didn't post anything last night because I was actually out again, spending another night up in the Lake District. I visited Aira Force, a spot I had never been to before and somewhere I will definitely return top. Given the prolonged dry spell the cascades and waterfall were somewhat depleted and I am told that after a good rainfall they are really impressive so while I will eventually get round to sharing some of the pictures I took I will also be back for what hopefully will be even more stunning images.

After my visit I headed off to Keswick for a spot of tea and driving along the A66 past Troutbeck I spotted this stunning view so I pulled over in a couple of spots to shoot what I think are iconic images of the West Lakeland Fells.

After eating my tea and having a wander along the shore of Derwent Water and up to Friars Crag I stopped off at another of my favourite spots, the stone circle at Castlerigg. I had expected it to be quiet there however with the Blood Moon and full Lunar eclipse the place was actually heaving with local families out to see this phenomenon. Unfortunately it was far too cloudy to get even the slightest glimpse of the moon however, the night delivered another spectacle in the form of a thunderstorm over towards Mungrisdale and this provided a fantastic light show lighting up the clouds with colourful flashes for at least an hour.  There wasn't a drop of rain up at the circle so it was lovely to seat against one of the stones and take in the show. At one point a cloud passed above and as I always like to photograph hearts in nature I wasn't going to miss this shot.

Under The Stars

Canon EF 24 - 105 mm F/4 L IS USM

ISO 2000   24mm  F/4   30 sec

Canon EF 17 - 40 mm  F/4 L USM

ISO 800  17mm  F/4  25 sec

I had planned a night away camping last night but at the last minute I decided that I would drive up to stone circle at Castlerigg in Cumbria to take some shots of the night sky and really hoping to get a nice shot of the galactic core of the Milky Way.

Whenever I go camping I like to try a few long exposures while star gazing but in the past the conditions have never been right with the moon in the wrong phase and just to bright, or there has been too much light pollution. I guess that it one of the problems of living in the UK there are too few places where you can find a really dark night sky.

I have been inspired recently by photographers in Canada who have shared really beautiful images of the Milky Way shot across Lake Superior or other places where the night sky is naturally dark and so the stars stand out sharp and clear.  Last March I had camped near Keswick and I spoke with another photographer who had been up to Castlerigg to photograph the night sky and I figured that it would potentially be a very good spot.

The stone circle is a magical place, over 5000 years old and I have enjoyed visiting a few times over the past year and a half, no doubt I will be back again because I love the atmosphere and sense of history. Usually it is very busy with lots of other visitors so the idea of visiting at a time when most other people are home and in bed and the possibility of having the place to myself was something I relished.

We have enjoyed some fantastic weather recently with beautiful clear skies day and night and with the new moon on the 13th I figured the conditions would be perfect. Then on Thursday the weather changed and while temperatures stayed high it was cloudy and wet so I thought I would have to change my plans. The Met Office however predicted clear skies overnight at Castlerigg so I made up my mind to take a chance and although the timings were not quite right the clouds broke up around 2 am so I was able to get a few shots, two of which you can see above.

Although the sky seemed really dark I think I had missed the darkest period (due to cloud cover) and although it seemed totally dark with the long exposures necessary it became clear that there was a great deal more ambient light than I thought and as you can see there is an orange glow along the horizon from nearby town of Keswick.

Nevertheless I was pleased to capture such an array of stars.

In the first picture the bright spot in the centre is actually Mars. I had thought it was Saturn at first and was focusing on that area because that is where the core of the Milky Way would be brightest. In fact Saturn is the bright star on the far right of the image and you can  just about see the galactic core rising upwards from the bottom right corner.

The second image was shot using a wider angled lens and positioned low down facing what appears to be an entrance to the circle. Mars is visible again in the centre, in this shot Saturn is not visible as it is hidden by the right hand column but you can possible make out the core of stars rising above the column but this is much fainter in this image as it was a shorter exposure and the ambient light washing things out.

I have more shots from the night and from the sunrise too but I will come back to those at a future date (tomorrow I will return to some of my roadtrip photos). I will also be looking for other opportunities to shoot the night sky and hopefully I can find a place that is truly dark so I can get even better images of the stars.

Shine On Harvest Moon

I love shooting the moon and last night's harvest moon was a brilliant opportunity. Brilliant because the sky was clear so I had an unobstructed view but brilliant also because the moon was super bright.

Because it was so bright I was able to shoot at quite a fast shutter speed and low ISO so the image is pretty sharp. 

The first image shows the moon pretty much as it appeared and in the second shot I have adjusted the exposure and white balance creating a more monochrome image which fits with how we more usually see the moon.  

Heavenly Bodies

I always like taking shots of the moon, it has a magical appeal and last weekend it was really bright and clear so while out at Bolton Abbey for my camping trip I couldn't resist taking this shot. It was hand held and it was very windy so I didn't get the sharpest image, and so I need some more practice. All the same it's not too bad.

I had hoped to get some nice shots of the night sky but as you can see the moon was very bright so although there wasn't a cloud in the sky the starts weren't as prominent as I had hoped although in the second of today's picture Jupiter is shining brightly in spite of the moon.

Walking around Bolton Abbey after dark (particularly by the cemetery proved to be quite spooky and so although I got a couple of shots I didn't hang around too long. 

I have another trip to the area planned for next weekend with two of my kids and I am hoping for two things; a clear but moonless sky and an accomplice who will not get spooked when we go down to the abbey and maybe I will stay around a bit longer and get some better pictures to share. Wish me luck.

Moonlight on Marie Louise Lake

The picture for today is exactly what it says in the title. While camping at the Sleeping Giant we were treated to some beautiful weather and lovely clear night skies.

I had hoped to capture some good pictures of the stars but the full moon was so bright it made that very difficult however with the calm lake and clear sky this is a lovely picture. I love the way the lake shore sparkles with the reflected light of the moon. There is one constellation which is visible to the right as we are facing south/south-west however I don't know enough about the night sky to identify it, although I am sure that someone out the will know.

Night on the Dock

This lovely scene was taken on the dock at Marie Louise Lake in the Sleeping Giant Provincial Park. It was a dead calm evening and this was taken using a 30 second exposure. I hadn't been able to take my tripod on this trip as it is a bit too bulky. Instead I used a beanbag to keep my camera steady for such a long exposure. It was the first time I had used this set up and I am rather pleased with the result, the stars stand out really nicely and the warm glow to the left of the picture is from Thunder Bay.  I had hoped to get some clear shots of the milky way however there was a full moon and so there was too much light to get a clear view.

Disney Magic

Here's a little bit of magic and sparkle for a Monday to get your week off to a bright start.

This is my first attempt at photographing fireworks and I know they're not the best shots possible but they could be a lot worse. My problem was that I hadn't set the focus quite right or perhaps I had the shutter open a fraction too long and that allowed too much camera shake. But hey I shouldn't put myself down, for  first attempt I'm fairly pleased.

The Liverpool waterfront is a spectacular sight and for one night only the Disney Magic Cruise Liner was moored at the Pierhead and just before it's departure the crowds on both sides of the Mersey who had turned out to see were treated to a short firework display. 

You can see just how big the ship is in comparison to the three graces  (The Liver Building, The Cunard Building and The Port Of Liverpool Building) just ahead of its' bow in the first picture. 

The number of kids (and big kids) drawn to see this, because it's Disney was quite something and I am sure that the next time it comes in there will be more people to welcome it.

As for me, well I will be looking out for more firework displays so that I can get some more practice. I am sure that I can get some cracking shots if I try a bit harder next time.

A Yellow Moon

The other day my eldest son text me as he was leaving work to say have a look at the moon.  I know I have posted pictures of the moon before but I couldn't resist taking a few more shots.

There was a bit of cloud around it forming a bit of a halo which you can see in the first picture.  Unfortunately I couldn't get the cloud and the detail in the moon in the same shot, I am sure there must be a way but I don't know how.  

The second picture shows the moon in its full glory and shows off the yellow colour which was what prompted my son to call me in the first place. I'm so glad he did because I am really pleased with this shot.

Ursa Major and the Milky Way

Following on from last night's super moon I thought I would share some more pictures of heavenly bodies.

These photos are from my very first attempt at photographing the night sky.  They were taken in Cumbria on the night of the 18th September. I wasn't trying to capture any particular constellations I was really just practicing to try and get the settings right.  I was amazed to see a sky so full of stars and the milky way so bright and spent quite some time looking up in awe. All of the pictures above were taken using a 30 second exposure.

Today is the first time I have looked at these pictures properly and I was thrilled to see in the first picture Ursa Major being so clear so I had to post that one first.

I saw a number of shooting stars on that night and I cannot be sure whether the light trail in the second picture (and the fainter ones in the fourth and fifth shots) are shooting stars or light trails from aircraft. I hope they are shooting stars.

I cannot identify the constellations in the other pictures but in picture three there is a bright planet just right of centre, it has a particular glow around it and I am curious as to which planet (if any) it is.

I had such a good time taking these pictures and just observing the night sky.  I will definitely be doing it again and maybe I will try doing some star trails.  I think I need to learn a bit more so I can try and photograph the specific constellations.  If anybody viewing this can tell me what can be seen in these pictures I would be very grateful.