Every now and then, and I meet up in the Peak District in Derbyshire to shoot on a collaborative basis. Unfortunately, being the Peak District, it does tend to be very cold. There isn't many people as crazy as us who are willing to stand in a gale with a wind chill factor of probably minus 10 degrees Celcius and spend a couple of hours shooting in the dark!
Lightpainters were not born, they were beamed in
On the road to Edale from the Winnat's Passs side is this little "hillock" or mound of earth overlooking the road. I've been messing with the laser beam / light streak for a few days and knew I'd like to repeat this on the "hillock"
This is a simple shot to set up with stood holding a small torch aloft while I pan the camera. Slightly before that I wandered around in the dark lighting up the foreground from the sides which always looks better.
Going around the twist
Tonight the wind was blowing quite a bit and I couldn't keep the tripod still for long enough during the 30 seconds or so needed to shoot traffic trails on the Edale Road. So here's one I prepared earlier:
The Highway to Hell is not as warm as you think
Afterdark photographers could be described as a bunch of lunatics. Who else would venture in to the Derbyshire Peak District in freezing conditions, climbing and slipping up a snow covered hill to get the best vantage point for this traffic trail shot?
Daylight panorama
This is the Edale Road shot with an iPhone in pano mode. These phones still amaze me; I had to reduce the pano resolution to get it to fit on the Hive...
Mam Tor star trails under a moonlit sky
One of the things you don't see in images is the effort that goes in to making these images. I describe myself as being built for comfort and not for speed and the effort required to get back up this hill and back to the car park was back breaking. I have to keep promising myself not to take the kitchen sink with me every time I go out in the dark!
This shot was taken in darkness but the moonlight lit up the landscape nicely during the 12 seconds for each frame. To make the star trails, it's necessary to stack the images in Photoshop to create the star trails, in this case I remember about 75 x 12 second exposures.
Winnat's Pass Panorama
Another pano shot with an iPhone. I have yet to shoot a traffic trail shot from up here but I'll maybe wait until it's a little warmer... Watch this space....
About me:
I usually specialise in shooting lightpainting images but occasionally dabble in urbex and artistic model photography. I'm always on the lookout for someone to collaborate with; please don't hesitate to get in touch if you'd like to create art.
Social Media
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