Bodie Island Light Station
Located just south of Nags Head NC, I had a great moonless night to capture this stately old light house.
Located just south of Nags Head NC, I had a great moonless night to capture this stately old light house.
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Dec, 2015Views
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Behind The Lens
Location
This was taken at the Bodie Island Light Station in Nags Head, NC which is located on the Outer Banks. It is one of many beautiful light houses along the eastern shore of NC.Time
This was around 9:30pm on December 10th, 2015.Lighting
It was very dark out there! I could barely see my hand in front of my face. But this was prime conditions for a starry sky. People ask me about the red light in the building at the foot of the light house. That little house is where they used to store large barrels of kerosene for the light (it is electric now). There is a red light right above the door and it shines through the window into the inside of the building and in this long exposure the red light shows through all of the windows. I don't know why it is red. It could be to illuminate the inside in case maintenance crews had to go there at night (red light doesn't dilate your pupils) but that seems a little odd. I'd like to find out why for my own curiosity. Nothing about a modern light house is without reason.Equipment
This was shot with a Nikon D5100 with the Tokina 11-16mm f/2.8 lens, 30 second exposure at 16mm, f/2.8 and ISO 800. And of course, I used a tripod which is a simple no-name brand that simply does the job.Inspiration
I was visiting family for the holiday and I had always wanted to photograph Bodie at night with a starry sky. Conditions turned out perfect. It was a very clear night with a new moon, so the stars were very bright. The grounds around the light house have no lights and it's pitch dark out there except for when the beacon turns on. The light pulses on and off a few times, then remains off for about 20 seconds, then repeats. I waited until the dark pause to begin the exposure so I could collect the starlight, then at the very end the beacon would turn on. This is how I was able to get both stars and the light to expose well.Editing
I use Adobe Lightroom. This shot was actually underexposed as the ISO was at 800, but I raised the shadows, exposure, contrast and clarity and lowered the highlights in order to bring out the star field and the rays of light as much as possible.In my camera bag
I try to pack everything I have. This includes the D5100 and the following lenses: Tokina 11-16mm f/2.8 Nikkor 50mm f/1.8G Sigma 17-55mm f/2.8 Nikkor 55-300mm f/4.5-5.6 I have a few ND filters, a Metz external flash, extra batteries and memory cards and a kit to clean the camera and lenses.Feedback
It takes a little planning to get a shot like this. I researched the site's accessibility, so I knew I would have no problem going there at night. Bring all your gear. You never know what you might need. I did get lucky with the conditions though. Sometimes it's just luck! I used all of the lenses that night except the telephoto. The images from the ultra wide For night sky photography, I tend to rely more on post processing than trying to get the perfect exposure straight out of the camera. This usually means pushing the RAW file around in Lightroom because it is underexposed from me using a lower ISO. I try to keep the images as noise-free as I can. Try to avoid star trails by using the "500 rule". This is the number 500 divided by the focal length of your lens = the longest exposure before stars start to trail or blur. For example; let's say your taking a shot with a 16mm lens on a full frame camera. 500 / 16 = 31.25 seconds, which you can round to 30 seconds. If you are using a crop sensor camera like me, take the 31 and multiply it by 1.5 to get 21 seconds. This image was shot at 30 seconds, and you can see in the corners the stars beginning to streak.
