Sunday 2 September 2007

Night night from me too

I'd like to know if anyone out there knows how you take pictures of the night sky. There was such a beautiful moon tonight, with those little scudding silver clouds all around.

A dreamy song drifted up from someone's garden a few doors away, and I lay in my bath, bathed in silver rather than Clary Sage for once listening to...well Who WAS that lovely male vocalist with his whimsical melodies and that gorgeous string arrangement shimmering through the trees as they whispered their gentle accompaniment? I should have been out there lying on silk cushions and drinking tea from a glass it was so lovely.

I'm so lucky to be able to lie in the bath for over an hour with the sash window open, looking out over a really beautiful nocturnal vista of trees, occasionally softly lit by a garden candle or patio light. By daylight it's nothing special. It needs dusky shadows and a breeze to bring it to life.

Even when temperatures hit below zero I bet money on me still having the window wide open. It's too special an experience to miss. It's when the streets fall quiet and you hear foxes and owls. Imagine added frost and stars. I'll just have to add more hot water.

5 comments:

Cusp said...

Personally I've only, as yet, taken successful night sky photographs, with a traditional SLR but you can take good 'uns with a digital as long as you have some sort of control and it's not entriely automatic. You also need a tripod or something to rest the camera on because you'll need a longish exposure. Having said that I took some lovely pics of the moon in Cornwall (many years ago) just sitting the camera on the harbour wall.

I could go on but look at this page for more good tips:

http://dennismammana.com/skyinfo/phototips/skyphoto_nightsky.htm

Have fun and let us see the results
;-)

Wheelchair Dancer said...

Verbal pix only here.... please do experiment.

WCD

Anonymous said...

I just wanted to take a moment to thank you for your kind comment on my blog recently.

I also wanted to let you know that I love photography and if we are ever in the same area I would love to help you with photographing the night sky. Just give me a shout any time and I'll see what I can do!

For now I'll leave you with a couple of my own photos...

Yosemite National Park by Night

Lunar Eclipse 2007

Take care,

Natalya (talj) xx

seahorse said...

Cusp thanks for the link. Must get a tripod, and figure out those settings. It's all very well being into macro, but there's a big world out there in addition to the teeny tiny one I tend to occupy.

WCD, verbal pix sometimes work better, don't they? Your recent Ouch post on putting dance together really did spark my imagination in a way that no still possibly could. You were moving across my mind.

Talj you are fantastic, and in more than the photographic sense, and you are certainly welcome here anytime. Just email me from the sidebar. Check out those photo links peeps. She's good!

Sally said...

That was a beautiful moon; it is (or just past) the time of year when the rising moon is opposite to and rising at the same time that the setting sun is setting, so that sometimes the moon is gold.
Hope you get the photography sorted and post them soon.

As to having a bath at dusk with a window open ! Jeepers creepers, don't you get mosquitoes, flying daddy long legs, spiders, where you live ... ?