Trail fails and landscape photography in the dark

Lately I find that when out shooting images in one style or another, my quantity of photos taken are fewer than they used to be. The old saying goes quality over quantity seems to apply. I've decided to aim for a weekly post to Hive with a kind of "best of my week" images from the previous week.

This is basically my week this week!

The Clipstone Acropolis

First up is this old abandoned water tower plinth. This is a structure which once supported a huge water tank as used in the age of steam.

The brick constructed remains are maybe 8 meters high and make a great foreground subject for star trails.

First I lit the interior of the "Acropolis" then set my camera to shoot 120 images of 30 seconds each. Unfortunately I made the "noob" mistake of not using a fresh battery before the start of the sequence and managed only 46 images before the battery died!

The Thing

This is in the same location as the above Acropolis but with me posing in the frame. Top tip for making yourself look slimmer and taller is to tilt your camera skywards!

North Leverton Windmill before moonrise

With something like 95% waning moon due at around 1030pm, I took a flying visit to the windmill before the sky became too bright.

This is 90 x 30 second exposures at f2.8 and ISO 640, shot with a Sony 14mm GM lens. I've never seen the sails pointing in this direction before.

Aurora Borealis over Flamborough Head

I'd almost given up hope of seeing Aurora this evening. Viewing the Aurora apps and stats can make one a little pessimistic about seeing Aurora and I was expecting to see nothing. Then all of a sudden, everything changed and this colour popped in the skies!

The foreground was lit by the lighthouse on the camera's left. I had to time the exposure when the lighthouse lit up four times in a row.

Flamborough Lighthouse blue hour

I contemplated shooting a star trail sequence over this lighthouse so framed up to see what it would look like. I arrived way too early during dusk / blue hour and in the end, the Aurora kicked off so never returned to shoot star trails. There's always a next time!

Monolith

I spotted these 2mtr + concrete pillars a few days ago and knew I needed to return in the dark. The pillars reminded me of the monolith from the 1968 film, 2001: A Space Odyssey. The only thing missing in the shot is the monkey since he was stood behind the camera!

This is not the shot I was going for but due to the gusty winds I settled for this.

A great night out in the dark alone in the middle of nowhere on the edge of a cliff.

Star Trail Fail

Believe it or not, some photos I shoot fail miserably. I set up this shot to shoot a sequence of 120 images of 30 second exposures while the night was calm and the air was still. Then shortly after starting the sequence, the wind picked up to a howling gale! I couldn't believe it!

I tried my best to shield my camera from the wind and hoped for the best! Even my enormous bulk in front of the camera didn't stop the camera from rattling and after about 35 minutes I gave up. This is the result!!

About me:

I usually specialise in shooting lightpainting images but occasionally dabble in landscape, urbex and artistic model photography. I like to collaborate with other photographers and occasionally shoot outside my comfort zone.

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