Category

Low Light Photography

Location

South Stack Lighthouse - Anglesey - Wales

Gear

Sony A7iii, Sony FE 24mm F1.4 GM

Description

This image was a few years in the making. I’d returned to South Stack Lighthouse several times, waiting for the right combination of a clear night, the position of the Milky Way and conditions that would allow me to capture the photograph I had in mind. It’s probably the most technically challenging image I’ve taken. The difficulty wasn’t just capturing the Milky Way above the lighthouse, but dealing with the enormous difference in brightness between the night sky and South Stack’s powerful rotating beam. Each time the lighthouse turned directly towards the camera, the light was strong enough to overwhelm the exposure. So during the exposure I stood behind the camera with a piece of card, carefully covering the lens every time the beam swept directly towards me, then uncovering it as the light moved away. Timing it correctly meant I could retain the sweeping beams of the lighthouse without completely blowing out the centre of the image. After several years of trying, everything finally came together: South Stack beneath a sky filled with stars, the Milky Way stretching overhead and the lighthouse doing what it has done for generations — sending its light out into the darkness. Sometimes the photographs that mean the most are the ones that make you wait. Settings - Iso 2500, 24mm, F2.2, 25sec. Its a single shot with no stacking involved due to an amazing lens, I edited in Lightroom by lifting the exposure, dropping the highlights, the some local dodging and burning to pull the milky way out. to finish I selected some areas to reduce noise, before cooling the sky tone.

Photographer

Llion Griffiths

Social Media

Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/llion.griffiths

Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/lliongriffiths.co.uk

Website: lliongriffiths.co.uk

Vote

To limit fraudulent voting, you may only vote once per category per IP address.