Star Trails @ Souter Lighthouse, Marsden

Ey-up!

Another blog entry heading your way. I'm gonna try and keep on top of my blog page as I know just how easily I can be distracted by my ACP Facebook page. Around 18 months ago I finally joined Facebook after steering away from it for so long. It was the commitment to that which was mainly to blame for me taking a back seat with my blog, so I'm gonna try not to let that happen again. It's a bit of a juggling act to say the least, but hopefully I'll get it right this time. I enjoy updating the blog, although sometimes I struggle with the task of not repeating myself. Ah well, I'll plod on and continue with the adventures of a roaming Mackem. Today's update comes in the shape of some recent Astrophotography. What the frig is Astrophotography, I hear you say. Well, let me enlighten you...(cut and pasted from the ver trusty Wikipedia)... 

Astrophotography is a specialized type of photography for recording images of astronomical objects and large areas of the night sky. The first photograph of an astronomical object (the Moon) was taken in 1840, but it was not until the late 19th century that advances in technology allowed for detailed stellar photography. Besides being able to record the details of extended objects such as the Moon, Sun, and planets, astrophotography has the ability to image objects invisible to the human eye such as dim stars, nebulae, and galaxies.

Now we've got that little issue out of the way I'd like to tell you about my recent trip to Souter Lighthouse, near Marsden, which lies along our coastal route between Whitburn and South Shields. I decided on this location to do a star trail sequence as it is an ideal spot with not too much light pollution if you're facing Polaris (the North Star). On this occasion though, I wanted to give Polaris a night off and instead capture the sequence in a westerly facing direction. I was pretty much dictated by the shot I had in mind and the particular direction I would need to face to achieve this. So, I took up position with my back to the North Sea, which included a nice lead in line which was a set of steps. Obviously the lighthouse was to be my focal point and the star trail would finish the shot off. Well, these things always seem to work in theory, but it was now time to put in all into practise. As you can imagine, it was dark by the time I set my gear up and there was no-one else around. I wish I had a quid for every time I looked behind me. Paranoia tends to kick in during situations like this, but you just have to grow a pair and get on with it.

I don't remember off hand how long I ran the sequence for. I remember 30 second continuous exposures clicking away for quite a while, or so it seemed. Looking at the finished shot I was guess I stood there for around twenty minutes or so. More than happy with the result. I've included a colour splash version for good measure.

I still feel very much a novice in this area, although I've done half a dozen star trail sequences during the past year. It's all about how long you can wait it out. The longer the sequence, the better the trails. Hope you like it..

Back soon... Ash

Return To Marsden Bay

After an excellent dawn light show at St. Mary's Island three weeks ago, I finished my outing with a quick stop off at Marsden Bay before heading home. It was around 6.30am when I parked up on the cliff top, before walking down the 100 or so steps to the beach - where is the elevator when you need it, he he. I had the bay to myself, which was a bit surprising as I expected to see one or two other photographers on the sands, or at least the odd dog walker. As usual I stopped at the bottom of the steps for a while and checked out the tide, sun position, etc, before stepping onto the rocky, pebbled beach, which was a bit awkward under foot. I might as well have been wearing slippers judging by the wafer thin soles on me willies, which didn't offer much in the way of protection. Good job I wasn't in company, they would have had a good laugh watching me negotiate those rocks! It was a very mild morning and the sea was calm, with little or no incoming waves, so I ran off a few long exposures and made my way back towards the Grotto pub at the foot of the steps. Back on flat ground I turned to face the huge stack that is Marsden Rock and eyed up one last shot before heading back up the steps. I composed this one with a nice foreground feature of a massive rusty anchor, which was propped up by the Grotto wall. Some nice subtle colour in the sky added a lovely backdrop, so with my gear in place, all I had to do was trip the shutter. Not much more to add, other than I was in and out within fifteen minutes or so. Mind you, that climb up the steps left iz paggered and ready to jump back into bed! Job done...


More photo's to come..
AC

Super Size Canvas

Earlier this week I printed my first Super Size Canvas prints, at 45x30 inches, stretched and wrapped round a 32mm gallery style frame. I've got to be honest, the print quality was outstanding, with pin sharp detail and true colour reproduction throughout. Both canvas prints were made to order and are now on display at a firm of accountants in South Shields. The buyer was so happy with the quality of the work she gave a very strong indication that more orders would follow, as they wanted canvas prints to display in their other branches at Sunderland, Newcastle and Hexham. As I have an extensive image library containing images of local interest, I'm fairly optimistic they can find something they like on my website, which can in turn be reproduced as canvas prints. Following the success of these 'Larger' canvas prints, I will be adding this option (45x30 inches) to my new store layout which will reopen in the next few weeks at ashleycorr.com. All canvas orders will receive a first class courier delivery service (DPD) which has a turnaround of 72 hours in most cases. Canvases will be bubble wrapped then secured with layers of corrugated cardboard to prevent the product being damaged in transit. So, keep an eye out for my new online shop which will be open just as soon as I get my arse into gear and finish the pages. Almost there.


Lastly, here are the two canvas prints I mentioned earlier. I quickly managed to grab a photo of each before heading over South Shields to deliver them promptly at the pre-arranged time. The canvases are...

1. Marsden Sunrise
2. Littlehaven Dawn

Back soon, Ash

Dawn Breaks At Marsden

Just 24 hours after my early morning visit to Littlehaven, South Shields, I was photographing another breaking Dawn at Souter Lighthouse, just a mile or so up the road. This coastal location lies within the small town of Marsden and is a National Trust site and I have cut and pasted a brief description of it here...
Souter is a special place all year round and was the first lighthouse in the world designed and built to be powered by electricity. Opened in 1871, decommissioned in 1988, the National Trust acquired it and opened it to the public in 1990. Souter remains an iconic beacon, hooped in red and white and standing proud on the coastline midway between the Tyne and the Wear. The Leas is a two and a half mile stretch of magnesian limestone cliffs, wave-cut foreshore and coastal grassland. The cliffs and rock stacks of Marsden Bay are home to nesting Kittiwakes, Fulmar, Cormorants, Shags and Guillemots.

As is normal, I arrived at Souter with plenty of time to kill before sunrise as there's plenty of colour on show at least an hour before the sun shows, which gives the photographer ample opportunity to grab a few shots from different angles and various positions at the site. I dropped anchor in the empty car park adjacent to Souter Lighthouse and noticed how chilly it was as soon as I got out into the fresh air. I'm no stranger to these conditions though, after many Winter sunrise outings down the years, but I dare say October throws up the'Mildest' weather in comparison to that during the months of November, December and also January and Feb. Again it was double fleece all the way with a body warmer for good measure, plus a pair of Wellies, even though I was above sea level. The Wellies come in handy if Plan B gets the go-ahead, but luckily today my original plan fell into place so I left the Wellies on regardless. I always prepare the night before, making plans around the weather conditions, sunrise times, tide table etc, so should I not gain access to Souter for one reason or another, my Plan B would have taken me to sea level at Marsden Bay, just another short drive up the road. As it was, everything fell into place so my original plan went ahead. As I grabbed my gear from the car I couldn't help but notice the colours on the horizon, which were worthy of a photograph even though there was little or no focal point in the scene, other than a puddle of water and a gate (see photo 1, above). The moon added a little something to the shot, shining quite brightly in the crystal clear sky above. I was off and running.

As the colour diminished it was apparent that Sunrise was drawing nearer. A small bank of cloud sat on the horizon, just behind the Lighthouse, which was where the brightest part of the horizon was - the position where the sun was about to rise. It was obvious to me that I'd have to wait longer to see the sun as it would rise behind the cloud cover, but that wasn't such a bad thing. I had the pace to myself, which is always a good thing, no distractions from other photographers or dog walkers wanting to stop and chat about the current price of bacon. As you may have gathered...I don't like interruptions and prefer to work on my own - it's also known as being a fussy b*stard where photography is concerned, but I'm nice with it, just ask my missus! And so it was time to turn my attention to Souter Lighthouse, just before Sunrise. The sky was a deep coral blue, an ideal backdrop and exactly the colour I wait for in low-light conditions. Too light and it's lost - too dark and it's muddy. Running with similar camera settings I used at Littlehaven, I was shooting once again, with heavy emphasis on the ND Grads once again, which were a 'Must have' in these conditions. Highlights and shadows were evident once more, so the filters got another run out to balance exposure to suit. These bits of kit are priceless - what did I do before I bought them? At one point the highlights in the sky were so burnt out I had to stack (times 3) to retain detail. A full set of soft grads, 0.3, 0.6 and 0.9 done the job nicely. They're worth every penny.

My third shot (above) is possibly my favourite one of the batch. A brilliant sky and sun drenched walls of whitewash, adding to the overall shot - a typical picture postcard scene. The sun did eventually show once it cleared the low clouds, but due to its position I never included it in my shots as it was over to my right and out of frame. I pulled in lots of good shots of Souter Lighthouse from different positions, most of which can be viewed here, on a dedicated page on my website - Souter Lighthouse. My final shot shows my car, which contained a hot flask of coffee, so off I went, warming those freezing toes in the process. Heaters on full throttle. Job done.

Ash