Steve Pellatt
Shaking off the Rust
Milky Way at Corfe Castle, Dorset
It was last September I last shot the Milky Way as between cloud cover, my schedule, visibility times ad just general struggle to get motivated I did get out in October of March. Knowing by the time I get down to Cornwall in May the MWC opportunity will have passed I knew I ought to take the opportunity if I could.
I wasn't sure from the various Apps if the cloud cover would clear enough and if there was too much light pollution at Corfe but as it's only 75mins drive away and it looked like being the only clear night this week I got home from work, charged up my Move Shoot Move Star tracker and powerbank and set off just before midnight for a 2am-3:30am MWC opportunity. Ughhh....The things I do!!
Never shot the MWC here before so a bit of a desktop exercise suggested somewhere lower down near the field gateway and guessed I was right when I arrived to find another Tog already there. Bit rusty getting the kit set up and the MSM aligned but managed it and got shooting for around 75mins.
By the time I packed up there was hoarfrost on my tripod so I was glad I had heated pads in my footware as well as normal layers.
Compared to many shots of the MWC I see on here I'm a bit disappointed but then I try to remember I have my L Plates on still and 'only' have an f/2.8 lens and the light pollution at Corfe is fairly significant compared to the Jurassic Coast.. Sigma do a 20mm f/1.4 Art Lens for Canon DSLR's which I could use with the adapter but having got the R5 I'm trying to be sensible!
The sky is a 4min exposure at ISO250at f/2.8 which I've blended with a 2min exposure at ISO200 f/5.0 for Corfe Castle. I have purposely kept the castle and ground fairly dark just lifting the shadows a bit.
Hope everyone in the UK has a great Bank Holiday weekend.
© All rights reserved Steve Pellatt. Please do not use this image on websites, blogs or any other media without my explicit written permission.
Shaking off the Rust
Milky Way at Corfe Castle, Dorset
It was last September I last shot the Milky Way as between cloud cover, my schedule, visibility times ad just general struggle to get motivated I did get out in October of March. Knowing by the time I get down to Cornwall in May the MWC opportunity will have passed I knew I ought to take the opportunity if I could.
I wasn't sure from the various Apps if the cloud cover would clear enough and if there was too much light pollution at Corfe but as it's only 75mins drive away and it looked like being the only clear night this week I got home from work, charged up my Move Shoot Move Star tracker and powerbank and set off just before midnight for a 2am-3:30am MWC opportunity. Ughhh....The things I do!!
Never shot the MWC here before so a bit of a desktop exercise suggested somewhere lower down near the field gateway and guessed I was right when I arrived to find another Tog already there. Bit rusty getting the kit set up and the MSM aligned but managed it and got shooting for around 75mins.
By the time I packed up there was hoarfrost on my tripod so I was glad I had heated pads in my footware as well as normal layers.
Compared to many shots of the MWC I see on here I'm a bit disappointed but then I try to remember I have my L Plates on still and 'only' have an f/2.8 lens and the light pollution at Corfe is fairly significant compared to the Jurassic Coast.. Sigma do a 20mm f/1.4 Art Lens for Canon DSLR's which I could use with the adapter but having got the R5 I'm trying to be sensible!
The sky is a 4min exposure at ISO250at f/2.8 which I've blended with a 2min exposure at ISO200 f/5.0 for Corfe Castle. I have purposely kept the castle and ground fairly dark just lifting the shadows a bit.
Hope everyone in the UK has a great Bank Holiday weekend.
© All rights reserved Steve Pellatt. Please do not use this image on websites, blogs or any other media without my explicit written permission.