Star Trails - Something a bit different

Hello again!
Following on from my fairly recent Milky Way shots is another insight to my new found interest in Astro Photography. I've captured some recent star trail shots that I'd like to share here on my blog page, including one in particular that couldn't have been captured any closer to home! Contrary to popular belief, it's not always essential to escape the bright light pollution of a built up urban area to achieve half decent results. Of course, a dark clear sky is essential for the most effective star trail shots, but if the conditions are less than favourable, you can still have a dabble to discover what the camera throws back at you. In this blog entry you'll find a set of recent shots (all from 2014) that were shot under a clear dark sky, with millions of stars on show. I've also thrown another shot into the mix that demonstrates what effect you can pull in when clouds unexpectedly appear and blow across the frame. I almost abandoned this particular effort, but decided to roll with it just to see how the resulting image panned out, and even though I couldn't see the stars at one point, because of the clouds, I ran off an extra 40 exposures just for the hell of it.

For anyone reading this, who has no concept of how star trails shots are achieved, the answer is a fairly straightforward one. As we look to the sky above and see the stars, they don't actually appear to be moving, even though they are. The North Star (Polaris) is constantly static, as is the South Star, and other stars rotate around it. So, if I take 50x 25 second exposures, continuously, then stack each shot on top of each other using photo software, each star will have moved slightly in each shot. The software basically tracks the movement of each star, resulting in a light trail effect, which is what you can see here. Obviously, the more shots you take, the bigger and better effect it will have on the end result. The shots shown here were captured over a period of around 60 minutes, apart from the garden shot which was a result of 130 minutes of shooting time. This was the easiest of all my 5 star trails efforts to date, as I simply programmed the camera and went back into the house to watch footy for a couple of hours. After the match I went back out to collect the images. Job done!


1. Angel Of The North (120 x 25 second exposures)
2. Groyne Lighthouse, South Shields (140 x 30 second exposures)
3. Our Back Garden, HLS (325 x 25 second exposures)
4. Souter Lighthouse, Marsden (120 x 30 second exposures)
5. Sycamore Gap, Hadrian's Wall (138 x 30 second exposures)

This type of photography requires at least two characteristics. Patience and perseverance. It's not too bad when you've got company and can have a bit of banter while the camera pulls in the shots. Time passes much quicker this way. When you're out on your own it's a different ball game however, even more so if you're in a very dark area late at night, away from home, and paranoia kicks in when you hear the trees rustling behind you, or an owl screeches over your shoulder and you almost shit yourself! And the one where you see a figure walking towards you in the distance and you wonder whether he's up to no good. You laugh about it afterwards, but it's not so funny at the time. Maybe I just nee to grow a bigger pair of balls, he he. Eeee eh, the things ya dee for a decent photograph!

And on that note I shall depart once again, hopefully returning with more photographs from God's Country. I wonder where I'll end up next time. Probably the coast. I feel another Seascape shot coming on. Hope it's not a false dawn. Ah well, we shall see...

Catch ya later, AC

Hadrian's Wall - A First

Welcome back to my Blog page!
On Easter Weekend I made my first ever visit to Hadrian's Wall, accompanied by friend and rookie photographer, Billy Short. It's hard to believe I hadn't walked the wall at some point, with or without a camera, so my maiden visit was well and truly overdue. Billy knew the place quite well, keeping me informed of what lay along the Hadrian's Wall Path, which stretches approximately 80 miles from Wallsend to the Solway Firth. Construction of this defensive fortification in Roman Britain begun in AD 122, during the rule of Emperor Hadrian. Steeped in history, Hadrian's Wall was made a UNESCO World Heritage Site in 1987. Although Hadrian's biographer wrote "Hadrian was the first to build a wall 80 miles long to separate the Romans from the barbarians", reasons for the construction of the wall vary, and no recording of any exact explanation survives. However, a number of theories have been presented by historians, primarily centring around an expression of Roman power and Hadrian's policy of defence before expansion.

It was now my turn to tread where Romans once did, so off we went, into the sticks for some photography and a taste of historical interest. We headed towards Once Brewed, just off the main gateway to the wall, the A69. It was an hours drive from Houghton le Spring, which wasn't bad at all, especially when the roads were quite busy on Easter Weekend. To give you an idea of exactly where we were heading in relation to the length of Hadrian's Wall, Once Brewed lies approximately 45 miles from Wallsend, the obvious 'End' of the 'Wall', so near the half way marker. From the car park we headed across the pasture and beyond the surrounding trees, where we caught our first view of the wall. The sun was very low and it threw a warm glow onto the crag that led the eye along the stretch of wall towards Steel Rigg. It was a sight and a half. We walked own the dip and onto the path itself, before a very steep climb up the crag via a staircase of ancient stones, strategically placed to help old timers like myself, he he. There was barely a breeze. The sun dropped behind the hill to our left as we made our way along towards Sycamore Gap, a location that appeared in the film 'Robin Hood, Prince Of Thieves'. The temperature took a noticeable dip, and this would only worsen as the evening progressed, but we were prepared for the task ahead. That task - to photograph the night sky with a series of long exposures, in the hope of crafting an eye opening star trail image. We went equipped with a powerful torch, thinking out loud with light painting in mind. This is an area that's relatively new to me, as I've only tried this once in before at Penshaw Monument. Billy hadn't done any at all, so we were looking forward to giving it a decent shot, despite our inexperience.

Thirty minutes into the walk and we reached our stop. Sycamore Gap looked the part alright, as seen on many photographs by many different photographers. Now it was our turn. We set up our camera's and done the prep work, dialling in the ideal settings for star trails, then waited for the light to drop, which it inevitably did, and by 9pm it was All Systems Gogo. You could almost hear a pin drop. This was solitude at its very best, and this photogenic location topped it off perfectly. We were underway with the long exposures, rattling them off continuously for what was expected to last around 90 minutes, weather permitting. The camera's were doing all the graft by this time and all we had to do was brave the cold as we headed towards the last couple hours of the day. Thousands of stars shone above in the dark night sky, with the moon an absentee as the exposures rolled in. Ideal - no light pollution whatsoever, until cloud cover threatened to spoil the party as it headed our way around 10pm. Suddenly the stars had disappeared, or at least most of them, making our task that much harder, but we soldiered on (no pun intended). By 10.15pm our camera's had recorded around 140 exposures, so the decision was made to call it a day, or in this case, a night. The clouds had gate crashed the show. We packed up and made our way back across the pasture towards the car park in the distance. It was pitch black and boggy underfoot, but the powerful torch saved the day and we able to navigate ourselves away from any hazards.

It was nigh on 11pm when we reached the car park and we didn't pass a single person en route, which wasn't a big surprise - only those who are 'Wired up wrong' do this type of thing, he he. And now for a brief insight into my photographs, shown here, from top to bottom... 

1. A viewpoint along Hadrian's Wall, towards Steel Rigg, as the sun was about to set behind us.

2. Sycamore Gap at dusk. That's me walking up the bank, remotely firing the camera shutter. For a brief time there was a stand off between myself and a rather aggressive Ram. Didn't know they existed, until now!

3. Star Trails. This was what we turned out for and this is what we got. Couldn't have been more satisfied with the results. My second attempt at this type of night time photography. 138 exposures and almost 70 minutes of work, but well worth braving the cold for...

4. Static Stars. Before leaving Sycamore Gap we used a torch to add an extra element to our final shots. A nice warm glow in the night sky made for a lovely shot...Beam me up!

5. Finally, another static stars effort, with a backlit tree as the focal point. Billy knows the score with torches and light painting, although he assured me this was his first attempt!

And that's it for now. A memorable visit to a place that is now on the tick list for more photography. Plenty more points of interest along Hadrian's Wall, just waiting to be picked off - It's a simple case of getting out there to explore what is on offer. With the Summer almost upon us, what better opportunity to get across there and get amongst it. My Canon 5D3 bagged some excellent shots on its very first 'Night Shoot' so I'm quite excited at the prospect of more low-light shots in the very near future. Once I put the camera through its paces (Correction - when the camera puts ME through its paces), I'll bring you another blog entry with a full teardown review. Just need to get out to test it with my other lenses this weekend. Gonna do some nature photography with my big reach 100-400mm lens. I'm thinking Washington Wetlands Centre, so keep an eye out at www.ashleycorr.com for more updates. Until then, thanks for dropping by...

Ash