DANCING IN THE MOONLIGHT.
It’s been a very busy few weeks in UK skies, with a month of interesting celestial activities. We’ve had a lunar eclipse, a supermoon (more of which later) and a partial solar eclipse.
I don’t claim to know much about astrophotography but it’s a branch of the art that fascinates me. It takes a great deal of planning (sometimes months ahead) to be in the right place at the right time. The best time is around the middle of the month when there’s a new moon, so the week leading up to it, when there’s a waning crescent, and the week after, when there’s a waxing crescent, give the best opportunities. All of this is of course dependent on clear skies which can be a challenge here in the valleys of South Wales but I’m lucky to be close to the Brecon Beacons National Park, one of only six dark sky reserves in the UK, so my chances are better than some. So all that planning is good but a slice of luck is needed.
I’ve spent many nights photographing the Milky Way but still need to improve hugely to get to the standard of some of my favourite photographers. Alyn Wallace here in South Wales has set the bar really high for astrophotography in the UK. Alyn has a very successful YouTube channel (https://www.youtube.com/c/AlynWallace/videos) and his website gallery is simply breath taking. He’s also a really nice guy and shares knowledge freely. You can check out Alyn’s work here:
https://alynwallacephotography.com
The second area of astro photography that fascinates me is gear (who doesn’t like new toys?) with super wide angle, fast aperture lenses being the norm for Milky Way images. A good 14mm 1.8 lens is north of £1000 but good second hand examples come on the market occasionally. If you’re planning to shoot moon images then a super zoom or prime of around 500 - 600mm is needed (that will be another grand and a bit please sir…..) The good news is that most decent digital cameras will do a very good job here so no need to splash any more cash (for the moment at least. I daren’t mention star trackers, intervalometers, light pollution filters etc etc).
Enough gear talk. The real thrill is the execution and when it all comes together it’s unbeatable. I’ll never forget photographing Comet Neowise last year - I was lucky to get two clear nights when I was able to capture it over the Beacons and will remember it for a long time. It was literally a once in many lifetimes opportunity, because it won’t come around for another 13000 years ! I wonder what the world will look like when it makes its next appearance?
Of course, it was ever thus. Humankind’s fascination with the firmament goes back millennia and looking for portents and omens was a normal part of life for centuries. Now we’re more likely to mistake the International Space Station for a shooting star. Being in a dark sky area is a revelation though and when the eyes adjust it really does look like diamonds scattered on a blanket. Interestingly enough, the camera sensor picks up many more stars than the human eye, so getting the images back home and viewing them on the computer is always special.
But this month was all about the supermoon for me. I wanted to capture an image of the moon in its surroundings, and the thought of it reflected in one of the Beacons’ reservoirs came to mind. Calm weather conditions with no breeze and a clear sky came about on May 26th and I managed two or three shots that I’m really pleased with. You can see the results below and judge for yourself whether the plan succeeded.
All this nocturnal activity doesn’t mean you have to be mad to do it, but bear in mind that the Victorians believed a full moon brought out insanity in people, hence the term lunatic.
If the cap fits…..
“I’m dancing in the moonlight. It’s caught me in its spotlight.”
