AstroLandscapes #50 🍾 - Milky Way on the Mud Flats

[FenlandPaul]

I can't believe I'm sharing my 50th astrolandscape - it's been such good fun shooting these and sharing with you all.  I've thoroughly enjoyed your comments and suggestions and look forward to the next 50 (although I'll need better weather than we've had so far this year for that to be possible in the near future!).

Last new moon, I headed up to the Norfolk coast to a place I last visited on Boxing Day night - Snettisham Beach, famous for its vast tidal mudflats that attract migrating birds in staggering numbers.  It was - amazingly for a new moon - forecast to be clear all night on every forecast model I could find, so it seemed like an opportune time to plan an all-nighter.  I felt a bit cheeky doing this as it was a school night, but coffee was made for a reason and it's clear that reason was astronomers.

My foreground subject for the evening was the large dilapidated jetty, which was built in the Second World War to allow gravel extracted from the nearby pits to be moved by boat, destined to help build the concrete runways needed to support the American bombers being stationed in the UK.  I was accompanied all night by the incredible sound of the birds out on the flats - they never ceased and it was a fantastic soundtrack to the crystal clear night.

I had a few shots planned for the night.  First of all I set up two timelapses from opposite sides of the jetty - one to capture the Milky Way rising and one to capture a star trails shot.  I left these running for a few hours while I went for a nap in a bird hide that overlooks the beach.

When I woke, I set about my main shots for the night - a Milky Way arch panorama over the jetty, and a tracked, stacked Milky Way shot also above the jetty, which I ended up completing just as astronomical twilight was starting (so probably didn't stack as many as I'd have liked).

If you're interested, I also filmed a vlog / journal of the night, which I've linked at the bottom of this post.  Hope you enjoy and would love any comments / suggestions etc. 😊

Star Trails

I named this image "Serpentine"; I love the curved channel in the mudflat and the wonderful mudcracks.  It was shot on a Canon 6D with a Samyang 14mm f/2.8 lens with 319x 30s exposures at ISO400.  The foreground was a single shot at 120s at ISO800 (with long exposure noise reduction).  The star trails were assembled in StarStax and the foreground and trails were blended in Photoshop.

Milky Way timelapse

Shot with a Canon 6D and Samyang 24mm f/1.4 lens at f/2.  1,164 x 10s exposures at ISO6400. Timelapse assembled in LRTimelapse with additional editing in Lightroom and Premiere pro.  This version is a low resolution rendering optimised for Twitter - the full HD version is in the vlog at the bottom.

 

Milky Way arch panorama

Shot on an astro-modified Canon 6D with Samyang 14mm f/2.8. 2 rows and 6 columns (shot in landscape orientation), with each panel comprising 4 stacked shots of 20s each at ISO6400. Panes stacked in Sequator, panorama stitched in Microsoft ICE and final image edited in PhotoShop.

Milky Way tracked

Shot with an astro-modified Canon 6D and Samyang 24mm f/1.4 lens, and a Skywatcher Star Adventurer for the tracked shots.  Foreground 120s at ISO1600 at f/4. Sky 6x 120s exposures at ISO800 and f/2.8. Stacked using Sequator and assembled and edited in PhotoShop.

Video journal / vlog

Here's a link to the journal I made of the night.  If you enjoy  this sort of thing, please do consider subscribing to my YouTube channel (https://youtube.com/@nightscapejournals).

 

[saac]

Your Serpentine image is absolutely stunning Paul, it deserves to feature on the cover of a book. Just beautiful. 

Jim 

[FenlandPaul]

12 minutes ago, saac said:

Your Serpentine image is absolutely stunning Paul, it deserves to feature on the cover of a book. Just beautiful. 

Jim 

Thanks Jim, that’s very kind. I hadn’t expected the star trail image to be my favourite from the evening, but it turned out that way. 

[Captain Scarlet]

Absolutely amazing. I remember your much earlier shots from a year or three back, themselves very good indeed, but my god you’ve kept learning and your stuff has become something else! Keep it up.

Cheers Magnus

[glafnazur]

Great set but that first image is absolutely stunning. 

[FenlandPaul]

6 hours ago, Captain Scarlet said:

Absolutely amazing. I remember your much earlier shots from a year or three back, themselves very good indeed, but my god you’ve kept learning and your stuff has become something else! Keep it up.

Cheers Magnus

Thank you, Magnus, that’s very kind. Just trying to learn more and more, with a boat load of mistakes (and wasted trips) along the way!

[clarkpm4242]

'people might think it's a bit odd really...'  😂  Perfectly normal behaviour!

Like others, 'Serpentine' really stands out!  Great to see on a bigger screen and resolution.

Thank you for sharing the vlog along with the images.  Cheers, Paul.

[FenlandPaul]

14 minutes ago, clarkpm4242 said:

'people might think it's a bit odd really...'  😂  Perfectly normal behaviour!

Like others, 'Serpentine' really stands out!  Great to see on a bigger screen and resolution.

Thank you for sharing the vlog along with the images.  Cheers, Paul.

Thanks, Paul.

Well, normal’s relative, isn’t it?!

”Proper” nightscapers frown on star trails, but it’s one of my favourite images to date. So I guess that makes me not a proper nightscaper…. 

[clarkpm4242]

@FenlandPaul Now I have the R8 and 6D, star trails and time lapses are back on the To Do list!

Edited May 8, 2023 by clarkpm4242

[FenlandPaul]

22 minutes ago, clarkpm4242 said:

@FenlandPaul Now I have the R8 and 6D, star trails and time lapses are back on the ToDo list!

Excellent. With your compositional eye and liberal supply of foregrounds, I’m looking forward to that!

[AstroNebulee]

On 07/05/2023 at 20:56, FenlandPaul said:

I can't believe I'm sharing my 50th astrolandscape - it's been such good fun shooting these and sharing with you all.  I've thoroughly enjoyed your comments and suggestions and look forward to the next 50 (although I'll need better weather than we've had so far this year for that to be possible in the near future!).

Last new moon, I headed up to the Norfolk coast to a place I last visited on Boxing Day night - Snettisham Beach, famous for its vast tidal mudflats that attract migrating birds in staggering numbers.  It was - amazingly for a new moon - forecast to be clear all night on every forecast model I could find, so it seemed like an opportune time to plan an all-nighter.  I felt a bit cheeky doing this as it was a school night, but coffee was made for a reason and it's clear that reason was astronomers.

My foreground subject for the evening was the large dilapidated jetty, which was built in the Second World War to allow gravel extracted from the nearby pits to be moved by boat, destined to help build the concrete runways needed to support the American bombers being stationed in the UK.  I was accompanied all night by the incredible sound of the birds out on the flats - they never ceased and it was a fantastic soundtrack to the crystal clear night.

I had a few shots planned for the night.  First of all I set up two timelapses from opposite sides of the jetty - one to capture the Milky Way rising and one to capture a star trails shot.  I left these running for a few hours while I went for a nap in a bird hide that overlooks the beach.

When I woke, I set about my main shots for the night - a Milky Way arch panorama over the jetty, and a tracked, stacked Milky Way shot also above the jetty, which I ended up completing just as astronomical twilight was starting (so probably didn't stack as many as I'd have liked).

If you're interested, I also filmed a vlog / journal of the night, which I've linked at the bottom of this post.  Hope you enjoy and would love any comments / suggestions etc. 😊

Star Trails

I named this image "Serpentine"; I love the curved channel in the mudflat and the wonderful mudcracks.  It was shot on a Canon 6D with a Samyang 14mm f/2.8 lens with 319x 30s exposures at ISO400.  The foreground was a single shot at 120s at ISO800 (with long exposure noise reduction).  The star trails were assembled in StarStax and the foreground and trails were blended in Photoshop.

Milky Way timelapse

Shot with a Canon 6D and Samyang 24mm f/1.4 lens at f/2.  1,164 x 10s exposures at ISO6400. Timelapse assembled in LRTimelapse with additional editing in Lightroom and Premiere pro.  This version is a low resolution rendering optimised for Twitter - the full HD version is in the vlog at the bottom.

 

Milky Way arch panorama

Shot on an astro-modified Canon 6D with Samyang 14mm f/2.8. 2 rows and 6 columns (shot in landscape orientation), with each panel comprising 4 stacked shots of 20s each at ISO6400. Panes stacked in Sequator, panorama stitched in Microsoft ICE and final image edited in PhotoShop.

Milky Way tracked

Shot with an astro-modified Canon 6D and Samyang 24mm f/1.4 lens, and a Skywatcher Star Adventurer for the tracked shots.  Foreground 120s at ISO1600 at f/4. Sky 6x 120s exposures at ISO800 and f/2.8. Stacked using Sequator and assembled and edited in PhotoShop.

Video journal / vlog

Here's a link to the journal I made of the night.  If you enjoy  this sort of thing, please do consider subscribing to my YouTube channel (https://youtube.com/@nightscapejournals).

 

Excuse my language but chuffing amazing Paul! Your images and commitment is astounding. How you manage to set up all the shots is beyond me, I struggle enough with just one camera.

Your work really inspires me to keep push and trying Widefield astrophotography, especially the milky-way. There's nothing like the simplicity of setting the tripod and camera down and firing off some images and see what works. Though as you know have to keep it within walking distance but finding a couple of nice places around the village. Though scary in the pitch dark on my own. 

Thank you for sharing your brilliance and knowledge. 

Lee 

[FenlandPaul]

13 hours ago, AstroNebulee said:

Excuse my language but chuffing amazing Paul! Your images and commitment is astounding. How you manage to set up all the shots is beyond me, I struggle enough with just one camera.

Your work really inspires me to keep push and trying Widefield astrophotography, especially the milky-way. There's nothing like the simplicity of setting the tripod and camera down and firing off some images and see what works. Though as you know have to keep it within walking distance but finding a couple of nice places around the village. Though scary in the pitch dark on my own. 

Thank you for sharing your brilliance and knowledge. 

Lee 

Thanks Lee - that's very kind.  You should see the number of times I mess up with two cameras (dead battery in intervalometer, didn't insert an SD card etc etc etc)!

It's always simplest to find some great local places to shoot from - that way there's little at stake if the weather turns or the shot doesn't quite work out.  I've had a few longer distance trips during which the clouds have confounded the forecasts and I've ended up with nothing, which is never encouraging.  Plus going local really encourages you to think differently about where you live.  

I understand about the out-alone thing.  I used to get jittery quite easily (although the biggest scare I had turned out to be two inquisitive cows!!) but over time I've realised that anyone who happens to be out there is probably more nervous of me than vice versa!!

Really looking forward to seeing your images and how you develop.  😊

[The Admiral]

Brilliant! There is something indefinable about the star trail image that just lifts it above the rest.

Clearly an awful lot of planning and effort has gone into this venture. Hmm, walking on mudflats - you've got to know where you are going!

Enjoyed the Journal video.

Ian

[FenlandPaul]

11 minutes ago, The Admiral said:

Brilliant! There is something indefinable about the star trail image that just lifts it above the rest.

Clearly an awful lot of planning and effort has gone into this venture. Hmm, walking on mudflats - you've got to know where you are going!

Enjoyed the Journal video.

Ian

Thanks Ian - I agree - the star trails image came together very nicely and against my expectation became my favourite image from the night.

Mudflats definitely create some challenges - first steps are often tentative!!

Glad you enjoyed the video journal - I thoroughly enjoy making these, despite the added complexity they create out in the field!

[happy-kat]

Lovely group, I haven't looked at the vlog yet but did you identify what the two bright objects were in the first time lapse?

Mud flats give me the hebegebees but the wildlife and location sound amazing

[FenlandPaul]

27 minutes ago, happy-kat said:

Lovely group, I haven't looked at the vlog yet but did you identify what the two bright objects were in the first time lapse?

Mud flats give me the hebegebees but the wildlife and location sound amazing

Thanks so much. If you mean the streaks going past, I think the brighter ones were planes. A few faintest satellites in there too.

This area gets some fairly feisty storm surges at times, so I think I’d get the hebegebees too during spring tides and storms!

[AstroNebulee]

4 hours ago, FenlandPaul said:

Thanks Lee - that's very kind.  You should see the number of times I mess up with two cameras (dead battery in intervalometer, didn't insert an SD card etc etc etc)!

It's always simplest to find some great local places to shoot from - that way there's little at stake if the weather turns or the shot doesn't quite work out.  I've had a few longer distance trips during which the clouds have confounded the forecasts and I've ended up with nothing, which is never encouraging.  Plus going local really encourages you to think differently about where you live.  

I understand about the out-alone thing.  I used to get jittery quite easily (although the biggest scare I had turned out to be two inquisitive cows!!) but over time I've realised that anyone who happens to be out there is probably more nervous of me than vice versa!!

Really looking forward to seeing your images and how you develop.  😊

I agree with you Paul, staying pretty local does encourage you to think more about where you live most definitely. Whee you can pick different shots or better views and to understand the make up of the area. 

I'm slowly learning to get spooked whilst out, I've also had a cow creep right up behind me at a hedge once and that was next to the local cemetery 😬. 

Went out last night with the samyang 14mm f2.8 before mist and fog descended twice and even saw someone walking around at 3 am on the other side of the quarry where I was (don't worry a stout fence is in the way of the edges) bit never saw the person or light again as the fog rolled in. 

Hope tonight I can try out the lens again. I'm a long way from even 1% of your talent but I'm having fun so far with the milky way. 

 

Lee 

 

 

[FenlandPaul]

24 minutes ago, AstroNebulee said:

I agree with you Paul, staying pretty local does encourage you to think more about where you live most definitely. Whee you can pick different shots or better views and to understand the make up of the area. 

I'm slowly learning to get spooked whilst out, I've also had a cow creep right up behind me at a hedge once and that was next to the local cemetery 😬. 

Went out last night with the samyang 14mm f2.8 before mist and fog descended twice and even saw someone walking around at 3 am on the other side of the quarry where I was (don't worry a stout fence is in the way of the edges) bit never saw the person or light again as the fog rolled in. 

Hope tonight I can try out the lens again. I'm a long way from even 1% of your talent but I'm having fun so far with the milky way. 

 

Lee 

 

 

That’s super exciting, Lee. Just getting the stars on a landscape image is such a thrill - and I really hope that that 14mm of yours is a 👌.

You never know, sometimes those other folk out there at silly o’clock are also shooting Astro.  I encountered someone at the radio telescope dishes outside Cambridge once; he was also there to shoot the Milky Way and once we both realised we weren’t wrong’uns, we had a great chat and compared techniques and kit (he was a lot better than me!!). 

[AstroNebulee]

10 hours ago, FenlandPaul said:

That’s super exciting, Lee. Just getting the stars on a landscape image is such a thrill - and I really hope that that 14mm of yours is a 👌.

You never know, sometimes those other folk out there at silly o’clock are also shooting Astro.  I encountered someone at the radio telescope dishes outside Cambridge once; he was also there to shoot the Milky Way and once we both realised we weren’t wrong’uns, we had a great chat and compared techniques and kit (he was a lot better than me!!). 

Thank you Paul. I meant to say learning not to get spooked haha. 

It's funny how many of us are out there shooting the night sky with our cameras and never bump into anyone. There must be others interested in astrophotography in my village. I can't believe he was much better than you but that's how we learn by gaining knowledge and techniques from others we meet. 

Managed to get out again last night/morning plagued by odd vclumos of cloud that seemed so stubborn to go. Finally managed to get a shot I wanted sort of. It was just passed astro darkness so not the best conditions but will see once processed. Though I did forget to focus for the long exposure shots as I left it on infinity doh. May look ok for first proper one. 

Lee