It's been a while since I posted anything to Hive. Life gets in the way and I found myself having ran out of suitable content to post here. Roll forward a few months and I've got more than a few images in my bag to talk about!
This is a post dedicated to shooting follys and churches at dusk or in to the evening.
Reservoir Dog
This was an epic evening to Rutland Water with the intention of shooting Normanton Church with stars and possibly some Aurora Borealis which was forecasted.
The Aurora didn't make an appearance and the clouds began to roll in after dark but we seem to have got the best shots in the blue hour.
Thanks to @inksurgeon for providing the drone donut, aka dronut and the epic lighting off the Lume Cube attached.
St. Benet's Abbey during a misty blue hour
When you're waiting for night to arrive, it would be rude not to take advantage of the mist around St.Benet's Abbey.
The Abbey of St Benet lies deep in the East of England in an area known as the Norfolk Broads. This was the only Norfolk monastery founded in the Anglo-Saxon period which continued in use throughout the Middle Ages. It was the only monastery in England which was not closed down by Henry VIII – the Bishop of Norwich is still the Abbot.
For this shot I place a flashgun inside the abbey with two small LED panels to the left and right of the scene.
St. Benet's Star Trails
Once dark had finally arrived, I set about creating a star trail image. I'm not afraid of ghosts or any of that nonsense, but when you're stood alone in the dark miles from any humans, this place is sure creepy in the dark when you're waiting for an hour for the star trail sequence to finish!
The Chapel
I saw the weather forecast was saying clear skies till 11pm so rushed out in to the dark with indecent haste to this old ruin of a church in a graveyard in rural Nottinghamshire.
As I waited for the sky to become dark enough, I obsessed with the position of 4 x LED panels located around the scene. Once fully dark, I started a star trail sequence of around 45 minutes in this case.
15 feet underwater Star Trails!
On our visit to Rutland Water to photograph Normanton Church, it was possible to walk further on to the rocky shore with the water levels being so much lower than usual. This point of view where I was stood would normally have been about 15 feet underwater!
The weather apps were saying clear skies all night but as per usual the apps had got it wrong! This is the best I got with clouds floating through my shot obscuring the stars.
Mow Cop Castle at last light
Since I'd never been before, we took a road trip to Mow Cop Castle to see if we could bag a star trail with the castle as foreground. When we arrived it was still cloudy but carried on and lit the castle with a Lumecube attached to a drone.
Built by Randle Wilbraham in 1754 as a folly, it was designed to resemble medieval ruins. Wilbraham of nearby Rode Hall constructed the elaborate summerhouse and circular tower to look like medieval fortress ruins.
Unintentional Lightpainting on Mow Cop
Whilst shooting a star trail sequence in the dark, a gaggle of teenagers brandishing camera phones and torches wandered by leaving a trail of lights. Whilst I was annoyed at first thinking I would need to spend a bit more time cloning out the trails, when I stacked the images I quite liked the result.
This is 82 images of 30 seconds each at f2.8, ISO640.
Pillars of the Stellar Community
Plan A last night was clouded over so a quick search on Google Maps informed me Harboro Rocks was only 20 minutes away and seemingly with clear skies.
We arrived in plenty of time just before nightfall and set up for this shot with a spot of lighting from two LED panels.
This is 56 x 30 second exposures at f2.8 and ISO 320.
And finally...
A few months back I bought an Insta360 X5 camera, a 360 degree device which sees literally everything around it. I've been curious for years about this style and I've been experimenting with it. It's not "commercial" grade photography in that it's very high resolution or able to be used for film or video productions. The camera is best viewed on a phone or small device rather than the 32" 4K I'm writing this on!
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.
