03.15
I went out after 10PM for some night photography.
I’m new to this, and know that my equipment and skills are woefully inadequate. Some folks spend night after night in much darker conditions that this, and have motorized mounts to keep their stars in focus as the earth turns, and on (I’ve been reading up on it). I decided to give it a go, and see what I could get within the limitations I currently have.
This is looking west, down the far southern “bottom” edge of the “boot” shaped island that is Hilton Head. I’m about 100 yards from the nearest building to my right, in the middle of the beach (between dunes and water) at low tide.
The light pollution from all the beach front buildings is the glow on the horizon. Above that is the starry sky. The straight light trail you see in the upper middle of the frame is the lights from an airplane. I brightened up the beach a tad. It was bright enough to see, but dim enough that I needed a flashlight to be extra cautious.
Fun stuff, this night photography. I don’t think I’ll get real serious about it just yet. It can be a long lonely night out there with some long exposures. The benefit was the calm from little to no wind, and the gentle rolling surf crashing into shore. Quite a relaxing mood it was.
After an hour of tinkering around, I called it a night and came in to see what I had caught. I got a couple of keepers. Not bad for an hours work.
Lovely earth-sky contrast. Getting that many stars to come out must have been a challenge. The light pollution here (D.C. area) makes shots like this almost impossible… unless you’re in the mountains.