Covesea Starlight Dance

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Written by Scott K Marshall
This is a shot I have been after for while now but it had been to windy for lengthy exposures. The other challenge was only a new moon in the sky filtered by clouds meant using atorch to manipulate the settings. Most notable challenge was focus. with the autofocus insuficient light to hang on then it was back to good old fashioned manual focus - equally challenging with cross-hairs - but trial and error prevailed - I like the lick of cloud breaking up the starry backdrop. I learnt alot and am really starting to enjoy night photography full stop - there are some excellent results to be had.
This is a shot I have been after for while now but it had been to windy for lengthy exposures. The other challenge was only a new moon in the sky filtered by clouds meant using a torch to manipulate the settings. Most notable challenge was focus with insufficient light for the autofocus to hang on then it was back to good old fashioned manual focus – equally challenging without cross-hairs – but trial and error prevailed – I like the lick of cloud breaking up the starry backdrop. I learnt a lot and am really starting to enjoy night photography – there are some excellent results to be had.

20 Comments

  3. Love this, Scott. I much prefer star scrapes rather than star trails which are becoming a little cliched in my opinion. Sadly we do not have clear enough skies in crowded Surrey.

  4. Great shot, Scott! It amazes me what the camera picks up on a long exposure.
    My first attempt at a night shot has me wanting to try some more, but first there’s them pesky buttons to conquer so I do the manual settings…. and, oh yeah… the torch might come in handy, too.

    1. I pre- set up in my car – when I am in manual settings – the camera allows me to manually adjust and offer a visual indicator on the back which lights up clearly displaying the changes I have made. It definitely helps that I know my camera back to front – I wouldn’t like to change just now and have to start from scratch. 3rd time out now confidence is growing and have plans to try more landscape orientated shots – a sort of night minimalism lol.

    1. Yes and a bald pate at that – but a warm hat and fleece is the answer – no wind helps – I do seem to get better shots when I set out with a plan as I did on this occasion.

  6. Well worth the cold and the effort. I wish our skies were as clear as yours in Scotland (or I should say our light pollution is very high and masks a great deal of what is up there!)

    1. Yes, David we are spoiled and to be honest this wasn’t the best of nights. The counter is very little to fix you focus on – this is about my 3rd night shoot and I have been lucky enough to get one or 2 shots from each occasion. Would like to use a larger lens and mess around with Old Man Moon

  7. Nice and crisp with good contrast, very fitting for this lovely lighthouse. How did you manipulate the settings – I have visions of you with a torch directed at the structure in one hand and trying to set up your camera with the other?

    1. I had a head torch (learned from previous night photo sessions). I had settings in my mind from previous night shoots although had to extend on my original calculations. manual focus with out cross hair is the biggest challenge.

      2. ah ha excellent _ haven’t fully read the email tbh – sounds like fun – thanks for introducing yourself – I will reciprocate with a look around your blog – nice to meet you.

      3. No worries – you’ll find some shots of Mull and Iona in the Photoblog page – we were there last April. This May we are off up to Orkney for 2 weeks – can’t wait.

    1. We are very fortunate Gracie and with a few exceptions we can get relatively light pollution free sky’s. Stars are something I will give a go later this year

  10. Excellent photograph Scott. I notice your star trails are very short. How long was the exposure? Is there some artificial lighting or is this purely moonlight?

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