Category: Night Sky

The Super Moon…nothing more fascinating..

Photographing Super Moon experience Moon Photography Workshop Bournemouth Dorset UK

There is always a fascination for the moon…let alone a Super Moon….photographing the moon is one of the most challenging….

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Hunter Super Moon 16th Oct 2016 above Mudeford Beach Huts, Dorset, UK

And there is another one coming on the 14th November 2016!!!…and is the biggest and brightest since 1948… 15% bigger and 16% brighter …

If you would like to photograph this moon, you could start your practice from Sunday 13th November as it would be 99% full and only few thousand miles difference compared to the next day.

I will capturing this moon if the weather permits….and if you like to participate in the Moon Workshop on the 13th Nov, please complete the contact form of this site with the reference SuperMoon.

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Update:

And the Super Moon showed up!!!! Amazing sunset today followed by a perfect moon rise in Bournemouth, Dorset, UK.

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Cameras pointing towards the east (Southbourne) while after sunset was developing in the back (Sandbanks, Poole)

A good group of people attended the workshop to witness the pain of having two stunning views from which it was very difficult to decide….Purple sunset on the west and super moon rise on the east….enjoy !!! 🙂

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Super Moon rising about Southbourne, taken from Branksome Beach, Dorset, UK.  Canon 6D, Canon Series L 70-200mm 2.8  Canon Extender 2x

And it made it into The Sun on 15-11-2016, online and printed in page 17

Astrophotography Workshop Dorset 2016

Welcome to 2016 Astrophotography Workshop in Dorset.

Weather dependant, the first window is on Friday 26th August 2016 from 10:30 pm. Two hours session.

Location:  Isle of Purbeck or Studland (TBC on the day).  You must have your own transport.  Precise location will be released on the day.

To book your place only complete the form with subject : Astrophotography WS.

Looking forward to see you there !

 

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Update:

New window Monday 29th August 2016

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Poole Harbour Starry Nights 

Poole Harbour Milky Way Dorset

The largest natural harbour in the United Kingdom.  It is the estuary of 4 rivers, the largest being the Frome.  It has an approximate area of 36km2 (14 sq mi) and it is very shallow (average depth is 48cm) .  The area has a long history of human settlement pre-Roman times.  The harbour was used by the Romans as an invasion port.

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View of the Sandbanks chain ferry jetty. Sirius and the Milky Way, Sandbanks, Poole, England
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Milky Way above Parkstone Yacht Club and Poole Quay, from Whitecliff Harbourside Park, Poole, England

Poole is the main town.  It became a wealthy city in the 17th century as it was a trading hub, and by the 18th century it was the main British port trading with North America.

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Milky Way view above Poole Park, Dorset, England

 

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Hamworthy Lake Pier,  Sirius and the Milky Way, Poole, England.

The harbour is an area of international importance for wildlife conservation, and borders three natural reserves.

 

 

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View of the Milky Way above the harbour from Evening Hill, Poole, England

Poole Harbour has a special charm, and is well known for the most beautiful sunsets in Dorset.  This post is about a face little known, Poole Harbour under the starry nights

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Milky Way above Sandbanks bay, next to the sailing club. Poole, England.

Durlston Country Park: where inspiration is born

Views of the Milky Way from Durlston Country Park, Dorset, England.

Durlston Country Park is a 1.13 square kilometre (280-acre) country park and nature reserve stretching along the coast of the Isle of Purbeck at Durlston near Swanage in Dorset, England.  The Park, which is part of the Jurassic Coast World Heritage Site, has been owned by Dorset County Council since the early 1970s and is mostly open access.

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View points across the park with descriptions

In 1887 George Burt, local constructor and business man who used to own Durlston estate, built a small ‘castle’ at Durlston Head, on the hill above Durlston Bay and the town of Swanage. The Durlston Castle was never a real castle, but was purpose-built to be used as a restaurant for his estate.

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Durlston Castle

Burt also commissioned a 40-ton limestone Globe, three metres in diameter, engraved with an 1880s world map. The footpaths around the Castle and Globe are lined with cast iron London bollards which were left in Swanage having been used as ballast by the ships transporting stone to London. Other ornaments include plaques carved with quotations from Shakespeare and the Bible, maps showing the English Channel and the United Kingdom, and facts about the natural world.

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The Globe, a 40-ton, 3 meter diamete sphere.
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The globe is engraved with an 1880 world map

In the 19th and 20th centuries Purbeck was quarried for its high-quality limestone. There were few open-cast quarries, and none in Durlston, but there are many mine shafts across the landscape, notably Tilly Whim Caves in a dry glacial meltwater valley.

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View of the Tilly Whim Caves

Most of the Park is designated Site of Special Scientific Interest and since 1997, a Special Area of Conservation. The majority is also designated as a Site of Nature Conservation Importance.

Durlston Country Park is one of the most inspiring places for photography in Dorset.

Anvil Point

Hengistbury Head…Natural Reserve

Hengistbury Head, an outstanding beauty day and night

Hengistbury Head is a headland jutting into the English Channel between Bournemouth and Mudeford in the English county of Dorset. It is a site of international importance in terms of its archaeology and is scheduled as an Ancient Monument.Declared a Local Nature Reserve in 1990, the head and its surroundings form part of the Christchurch Harbour Site of Special Scientific Interest.It is also a Special Area of Conservation, Special Protection Area, an Environmentally Sensitive Area and a Site of Nature Conservation Interest.

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The head supports about 500 plant species which is a quarter of the national flora.
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H.M. Coastguard Relay Station on the top of Warren Hill

The name “Hengistbury Head” refers to the immediate area; the elevated portion is called Warren Hill.

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View of Christchurch Harbour from Warren Hill

The area enjoy some beautiful dark spots where the Milky Way can be photographed with amazing detail

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Groin constructed to reduce erosion of the head, lights of the Isle of Wight

Enjoy the moon rising, giving the impression of a landscape from mars.

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Moonrise from Hengistbury Head, Dorset, England

Branksome Beach Love

Astrophotography in Poole, Bournemouth, Dorset, England. Canon 6D. Love inspiration. Milky Way

Branksome beach in Poole, Dorset-UK, is not a place where you would think to photograph the night sky…surrounded by light pollution from Bournemouth and Poole, using the right exposure the Milky Way can be captured.  This time I did it with the help of two couples and showed them the beauty of the night sky…

IMG_2326-Edit-2I was lucky to have a clear sky with a low tide at the same time…it was also a good opportunity to experiment some techniques using a flash and snoot to lighten up the subjects…

IMG_2211-EditAnd also to combine some techniques derived from the photography of deep sky objects (like galaxies, nebulas, etc)…For the image below,  I have taken one photo with the couple and then 24 more without moving the camera or changing the settings….It was about 6 minutes of info in total…Using Deep Sky Stacker (DSS) I have stacked the 24 images and then combined in photoshop with the very first image of the couple…the result is a detailed view of the galactic centre…

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Galactic Centre from Branksome Beach, Poole Dorset, England. Canon 6D, 25Exposures 15sec iso8000 F4, 24 of them stacked with DSS.

 

Earth Day

Earth Day Celebration

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Lonely Tree, Purbeck, Dorset, England

This is an annual event, celebrated on April 22, on which day events worldwide are held to demonstrate support for environmental protection. It was first celebrated in 1970, and is now coordinated globally by the Earth Day Network and celebrated in more than 193 countries each year…

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Let’s celebrate!

Bournemouth Hidden Beauty: Night Sky

Bournemouth, a city blessed with miles of sandy beaches and inspiring scenery….but there is a face that not many people know…the night sky…

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One of my first attempts in 2015, the Milky Way above the Bournemouth Pier. Canon 6D Samyang 14mm 2.8. July 2015

Bournemouth has been my personal testing ground for night photography under extreme light pollution….it was only a dream to see the Milky Way under such conditions…but after several attempts I learned a thing or two, extracting the maximum of the camera sensor (Canon 6D) and also from the lenses.

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Milky Way next to Bournemouth Pier, July 2015.

 

It took me several attempts due to my learning curve but also due to the lack of windows of opportunity, most of the times when I went to give it a go, a huge cloud gave me little or no chance…but keep trying and you eventually get something…  The light pollution coming from the beach is amber type, which is very difficult to deal with so first thing to do is to try it  where the lights are not present or when they are switched off, which in Bournemouth Pier is after 1am.

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After these shots I though there was more room for improvement and I kept trying different locations. Taking photos of the Milky Way in Bournemouth is most of the time a failure than a success… I have even tried to repeat some of these shots and it has been proven very difficult.  But there was one option I didn’t try last year:  A panoramic shot. And the morning of the 17th April 2016 was the window…it was not very long due to the moon set at 4:20 am aprox and again not being helped by the approaching clouds, but it was enough for only three attempts and here are the results:

The above attempt was in the dark hour (no moon and no twilight of the dawn, it lasted less than 30 min). Few minutes later(image below), the very first light of dawn started to appear on the left…it was a truly breathtaking view….

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The first pano is made of 12 vertical images…the second from 5 horizontal images…

I believe that it could be done even better, these images are just a proof of concept..,during summer time there will be another try…Bournemouth deserve it!!!

 

 

 

 

St Aldhelm’s Chapel…

 

One night early September 2015, I headed to Worth Matravers in the search for a little construction, it was my first time there, it took me several attempts to find the way with the lights of the stars only….

St Aldhelm’s Chapel

St Adhlelm’s Chapel is a Norman construction within a low circular earthwork, which may be the remains of a pre-Conquest Christian enclosure.  The building has several Continue reading “St Aldhelm’s Chapel…”