Chasing Stars in the UK
04th June 2021
Whilst living in Azerbaijan a couple of years ago I discovered a passion for photographing the night sky over the landscape, "nightscapes" is an often used term. Azerbaijan had the twin benefits of large areas of undeveloped land with superb dark skies and little light pollution, coupled with stunning landscapes to make for some compelling images, such as this shot of the milky way over a mud volcanoe in Qobustan.
The UK is a little more tricky to shoot the stars, we are a densley populated little island, in much of England you are never many miles away from a major urban area and the light pollution that goes with it. Our home is in West London and on a good night you can just about see the major planets or main constellations but that's about it!!! So it is definitely more of a challenge to capture nightscapes but not impossible.
I have made it a bit of a mission to still try and pursue nightscapes in the UK. I remember the first time I saw the milky way stretching across the sky in a truly dark location, a bright stripe of dense stars which took my breath away. In the right places you can still have a similar experience, even in the South of the UK.
The South East holds some amazing little hidden gems, rivers, coastlines and landscapes that can still make for impressive images and I really enjoy hunting out these locations. There are a surprising number of nature reserves and protected areas that can be visited for unobstructed views of the night sky without too much light pollution. I love this image of the milky way reflected in the River Wey at Thundry Meadows, it's difficult to believe this is less than an hour outside London!!
Although it is impressive to see, it's not always about the Milky Way, in the winter months the galactic centre, the impressive core of the milky way is hidden from view in the Northern hemisphere, but there are still impressive constellations to see and catpure. Another hidden little spot is Thursley Common, again less than an hour from London with beautiful views of the night sky over the Moat Pond. I really enjoy this shot of Orion stretching across the sky reflected in the pond, together with the bright stars Sirius, Procyon and the stunning red giant Betelgeuse. I used my phone screen to gently light the foreground in the image.
So if you have ever thought about seeing the stars try heading out to a dark spot, the chances are you won't have to travel too far and you can see and capture some impressive views of our night sky.
The UK is a little more tricky to shoot the stars, we are a densley populated little island, in much of England you are never many miles away from a major urban area and the light pollution that goes with it. Our home is in West London and on a good night you can just about see the major planets or main constellations but that's about it!!! So it is definitely more of a challenge to capture nightscapes but not impossible.
I have made it a bit of a mission to still try and pursue nightscapes in the UK. I remember the first time I saw the milky way stretching across the sky in a truly dark location, a bright stripe of dense stars which took my breath away. In the right places you can still have a similar experience, even in the South of the UK.
The South East holds some amazing little hidden gems, rivers, coastlines and landscapes that can still make for impressive images and I really enjoy hunting out these locations. There are a surprising number of nature reserves and protected areas that can be visited for unobstructed views of the night sky without too much light pollution. I love this image of the milky way reflected in the River Wey at Thundry Meadows, it's difficult to believe this is less than an hour outside London!!
Although it is impressive to see, it's not always about the Milky Way, in the winter months the galactic centre, the impressive core of the milky way is hidden from view in the Northern hemisphere, but there are still impressive constellations to see and catpure. Another hidden little spot is Thursley Common, again less than an hour from London with beautiful views of the night sky over the Moat Pond. I really enjoy this shot of Orion stretching across the sky reflected in the pond, together with the bright stars Sirius, Procyon and the stunning red giant Betelgeuse. I used my phone screen to gently light the foreground in the image.
So if you have ever thought about seeing the stars try heading out to a dark spot, the chances are you won't have to travel too far and you can see and capture some impressive views of our night sky.