Shooting star over Blea Tarn, Cumbria
Sep, 2015Views
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Behind The Lens
Location
Blea Tarn - Cumbria I took this photo last year (2015) during the perseids meteor shower at a small tarn in the heart of the south Lake District UK. The tarn is known at Blea Tarn due to the general lack of light over the tarn and its often bleak appearance. The image is an exposure blend of two images taken on the same night, one for the foreground and mountain reflection and the other for the sky. i got lucky and managed to capture a couple shooting stars over the Milky Way.Time
Around 3am at the peak of the meteor shower.Lighting
luckily the moon was at a good point in its cycle for astrophotography, i.e it was hardly visible so the sky was very dark. Also that year we were lucky in the UK and got a clear night during the meteor shower. I shot this image at the lowest aperture I could in order to let as much light into the camera as possible.Equipment
I used a Nikon d800 with the Nikon 16-35mm f/4 wide angle lens and a Gitzo tripod to make the image stable during the long exposure.Inspiration
I was inspired by the feeling I felt whilst watching multiple shooting stars fly overhead almost constantly throughout the night and the peaceful almost magical feeling and awe-inspiring connection with the planet. During times like this it can make you feel very small and insignificant compared to the vast nature of space which can be a humbling feeling and can in turn make ones problems in life seem small in comparison.Editing
Yes. I blended two exposures taken on the same night together for this image. One for the foreground and mountains and one for the sky. I also added some Milky Way reflections into the water and tweaked the contrast and curve layers to make the Milky Way pop out.In my camera bag
I usually always carry my trusty Nikon d810 along with my tripod. I usually carry three main lenses which cover the entire focal range from 16-200mm. These are all made by Nikon and are the 16-35mm f/4, 24-70mm f/2.8 and the 70-200mm f/4. I also carry filters by Lee including polarising graduated neutral entity and other ND filters.Feedback
Invest in a relatively fast wide angle lens, wait for a clear night and go shoot the Milky Way. When composing your image concentrate on finding an interesting subject in the foreground and then the sky, stars or Milky Way we will be the icing on the cake.
