By the light of the moon and under the star filled
heavens I was cold and happy to release a couple of different shutters to
capture some long exposures. I was using
a Canon 550D and 5D Mark II. The full
frame sensor captures the night scenes far better as it renders the darker
tones with more clarity and a lot less noise.
The landscape images 105 and 106 feature
the power lines trailing through the night sky and those lines are echoed in
the fields below where the grass has been cut in such a way as to create a
linear pattern. The lines in the sky and
on the ground are picked out by the available lighting which gives varying prominence
to the cables and to the cultivation.
The Moon and Venus were bright on the night when these images were
created. The constellation of Orion can
be seen between the legs of the electricity pylon in pictures 101 – 104 and
above the stone wall in pictures 107 and 108.
A tripod is essential for winter night photography and
a remote release is recommended. Using a
timer release in cold conditions is quite taxing. Very cold weather usually severely limits the
working life of batteries. Most of all
look after yourself then you can enjoy your images without having to suffer the
effects of the cold weather.
PHH Sykes
