AstroLandscapes #54 - Drive-by Nightscapes on the Costa

[FenlandPaul]

During our recent family holiday to Spain's Costa Blanca, I spent a night between a variety of locations that I'd scouted out during the day. I learned from my outing a few nights before (see AstroLandscapes #53) that I didn't want to do lots of hiking or climbing again, as the heat was draining and I knew I'd just get exhausted after a couple of locations.  So I planned these all to be within 5 minutes' walk of somewhere sensible that I could park the car.

The first set of locations were around a stunning rocky cove called Granadella, which is at the end of a long windy road that hugs the hillside - it always reminds of the opening sequence from the original The Italian Job film, except without the bulldozer waiting to plough me off the edge of the cliff!  I wanted to get a shot from this road on the way down, but the valley was a lot more bland at night than I'd hoped and so instead I used the road itself as a leading line towards the Milky Way core, which nice and contrasty out of the sea in the distance.  

✨"The Way"✨

📷 Canon 6D (astro-modded) with Samyang 14mm f/2.8 lens and SkyWatcher StarAdventurer tracker

🔧 Foreground: 120s exposure at ISO 800 and f/2.8.  Sky: 12x tracked 120s exposures at ISO800 (+ dark frames)

🎞️ Sky stacked in Sequator, blended and edited in PhotoShop

 

Down at the cove itself, there were a few small yachts moored that created some contrasting reflections in the water.  I'd hoped to have the beach entirely to myself, but now and again an amorous couple would appear and wander past.  I found this a little offputting as I tried to speak to camera while filming my vlog!!  But it was a lovely place to sit for an hour or so, hearing the waves lapping against the pebbles.

 

✨From Granadella Beach ✨

📷 Canon 6D (astro-modded) with Samyang 14mm f/2.8 lens 

🔧 Foreground: 60s exposure at ISO 800 and f/2.8.  Sky: 19x 25s exposures at ISO4000 

🎞️ Sky stacked in Sequator, blended and edited in PhotoShop

 

Another road laden with hairpins climbs above the cove and offers some spectacular view down over the beach. I stopped at one of the hairpins and perched my tripod with legs either side of the safety barrier to get as birdseye shot as possible.  The shot was slightly hampered by some bright lights from a villa over on the rights hand side; I'd definitely rather they weren't there but a couple of people have said they like the context it provides.  I have taken some artistic liberty with this shot, as the Milky Way is shown in the position it was in about an hour before I took the shot (so my foreground images show the MW over to the right hand of the frame) - unfortunately I couldn't be in two places at once (nor negotiate another night out on our holiday!). 

✨Cove View ✨

📷 Canon 6D (astro-modded) with Samyang 14mm f/2.8 lens and Skywatcher StarAdventurer tracker

🔧 Foreground: 120s exposure at ISO 800 and f/2.8.  Sky: 9x 120s tracked exposures (+ darks) at ISO800

🎞️ Sky stacked in Sequator, blended and edited in PhotoShop

 

My next shot was my second attempt at this location, a road above a beach called Ambolo.  The beach is currently closed to the public as there is a danger of rockfall, although I could just make out a torchlight on the beach from time to time, so someone was trying to enjoy it!  Whilst the road down felt a little sketchy, I took comfort from the fact that there was a villa a stone's throw from where I took the shot, so people were regularly using the road without being squashed by boulders!  There's a fantastic rock island just off the shore here, which was lit periodically by the rotating beam of a nearby lighthouse.  That light made the shot rather tricky to process, but overall I'm pleased with the shot.

 

✨Ambolo Milky Way ✨

📷 Canon 6D (astro-modded) with Samyang 14mm f/2.8 lens and Skywatcher StarAdventurer tracker

🔧 Foreground: 120s exposure at ISO 800 and f/2.8.  Sky: 12x 120s exposures at ISO800 (tracked)

🎞️ Sky stacked in Sequator, blended and edited in PhotoShop

 

My final location was probably the one I'd been looking forward to most, a dramatic headland that plunges down to the Meditteranean beneath, called Cap Negré, the Black Cape.  By this time, the Pleiades were rising nice and high in the East and the gorgeous but subtle Cassiopeia Milky Way region was visible beautifully above the sea.  The headland was topped by some beautiful fir trees, which whispered as the breeze caught them - a sound I love.  My first shot was a simple one through the trees showing Jupiter and the Pleiades.

✨Through the Trees✨

📷 Canon 6D (astro-modded) with Samyang 14mm f/2.8 lens 

🔧18x 20s exposures at ISO6400 

🎞️Stacked in Sequator and edited in PhotoShop

And then my final - and favourite - shot of the evening was a selfie, with me perched out on an outcrop on the headland.  This sort of shot is the reason it's so much safer to scout areas during the day and look for hazards etc.  I suspect if I'd arrived at night with no daytime scouting I would have shied away from attempting this, but I was able to test the rock during daylight and found it to be very secure (the drop looks precipitous, and would definitely have been unwelcome but there was no chance of actually plunging down to the sea!!).  I love the detail I was able to pull out of this wonderful area of sky, and I prepared an annotated version too showing the wealth of deepsky objects just about captured.

✨Beneath Perseus ✨

📷 Canon 6D (astro-modded) with Samyang 14mm f/2.8 lens and SkyWatcher StarAdventurer tracker

🔧 Foreground: 20s exposure at ISO 6400 and f/2.8.  Sky: 10x 120s exposures at ISO800 

🎞️ Sky stacked in Sequator, blended and edited in PhotoShop

 

So that wraps up a super enjoyable evening.  I hope you've enjoyed them.  I also made a video journal of the evening's adventures, which I've linked below.  As always, I welcome any comments, feedback, suggestions, observations etc!  Thanks for getting this far.

 

[glafnazur]

Great images and video Paul 👍 Quite inspiring, it makes me want to get out and have a go myself. 

[FenlandPaul]

45 minutes ago, glafnazur said:

Great images and video Paul 👍 Quite inspiring, it makes me want to get out and have a go myself. 

Thank you - that’s very kind. It would mean the world to me if someone gave it a go off the back of my images and videos! 😊

[AstroNebulee]

Wow Paul. As I said in YouTube absolutely stunning, such clarity and details. You were really blessed during your holiday with some fantastic views and captures. So worth the effort on all of them and your quality shows through. A genius! The Cove View and From Granandella beach are my favourites. But all are stunning. 

Lee 

[FenlandPaul]

55 minutes ago, AstroNebulee said:

Wow Paul. As I said in YouTube absolutely stunning, such clarity and details. You were really blessed during your holiday with some fantastic views and captures. So worth the effort on all of them and your quality shows through. A genius! The Cove View and From Granandella beach are my favourites. But all are stunning. 

Lee 

Thanks Lee - appreciated. It was nice to have those few extra degrees of Milky Way to play with!!

[clarkpm4242]

What a haul!

I like The Cove in particular.

Clear nights a bit thin on the ground ATM...

[Hawksmoor]

Lovely set of images!

[FenlandPaul]

12 hours ago, clarkpm4242 said:

What a haul!

I like The Cove in particular.

Clear nights a bit thin on the ground ATM...

Thanks Paul.  Indeed.  Tonight potentially looking promising but the fields will be pretty soggy after last night's deluge.

 

12 hours ago, Hawksmoor said:

Lovely set of images!

Thank you very much - appreciated.  Always envious of your location right on the coast - lots of lovely foreground opportunities over that way!

[davew]

I do enjoy your videos Paul. 

I wouldn't know where to begin so I'll stick to watching yours.

Just one thing, was that selfie as dangerous as it looks ?

Dave.

[FenlandPaul]

5 hours ago, davew said:

I do enjoy your videos Paul. 

I wouldn't know where to begin so I'll stick to watching yours.

Just one thing, was that selfie as dangerous as it looks ?

Dave.

I’m here to tell the tale!!