Gurnard's Head Under the Stars
This year, I wanted to develop my night-time photography, looking past the more common Milky Way scenes and capturing some other elements of the magic that happens at night. One idea that really caught my interest focused on the earth’s rotation and the effect that this has on the stars above, seemingly imperceptible to the naked eye. To put this into practice, I went over to Gurnard’s Head, a stunning headland in West Cornwall that juts out into the Atlantic. Finding a spot on the cliffs, I focused my camera out to sea, capturing the headland’s rocky promontory and a dusting of coastal flowers in the foreground.
This image took around 45 minutes to capture, allowing the lens to absorb plenty of natural light from the sky above and illustrate the movement of stars along with the rotation of the earth. Creating a nice central line from the flowers and the headland to the centre of orbit in the sky, there is a real symmetry to this image that creates a sense of balance despite the busyness of the stars. The added lights of two shipping freights on the horizon add a nice touch, like two beacons either side of the headland, while the orbital movement of the stars creates this wonderful dreamlike quality.
This year, I wanted to develop my night-time photography, looking past the more common Milky Way scenes and capturing some other elements of the magic that happens at night. One idea that really caught my interest focused on the earth’s rotation and the effect that this has on the stars above, seemingly imperceptible to the naked eye. To put this into practice, I went over to Gurnard’s Head, a stunning headland in West Cornwall that juts out into the Atlantic. Finding a spot on the cliffs, I focused my camera out to sea, capturing the headland’s rocky promontory and a dusting of coastal flowers in the foreground.
This image took around 45 minutes to capture, allowing the lens to absorb plenty of natural light from the sky above and illustrate the movement of stars along with the rotation of the earth. Creating a nice central line from the flowers and the headland to the centre of orbit in the sky, there is a real symmetry to this image that creates a sense of balance despite the busyness of the stars. The added lights of two shipping freights on the horizon add a nice touch, like two beacons either side of the headland, while the orbital movement of the stars creates this wonderful dreamlike quality.
This year, I wanted to develop my night-time photography, looking past the more common Milky Way scenes and capturing some other elements of the magic that happens at night. One idea that really caught my interest focused on the earth’s rotation and the effect that this has on the stars above, seemingly imperceptible to the naked eye. To put this into practice, I went over to Gurnard’s Head, a stunning headland in West Cornwall that juts out into the Atlantic. Finding a spot on the cliffs, I focused my camera out to sea, capturing the headland’s rocky promontory and a dusting of coastal flowers in the foreground.
This image took around 45 minutes to capture, allowing the lens to absorb plenty of natural light from the sky above and illustrate the movement of stars along with the rotation of the earth. Creating a nice central line from the flowers and the headland to the centre of orbit in the sky, there is a real symmetry to this image that creates a sense of balance despite the busyness of the stars. The added lights of two shipping freights on the horizon add a nice touch, like two beacons either side of the headland, while the orbital movement of the stars creates this wonderful dreamlike quality.