Durdle Door Milky Way

KevC

KevC

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Kevin
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I took a trip out to Durdle Door at Lulworth Cove in Dorset last night to shoot the Milky Way.

I got there around 7pm to scope the place out a bit in the light and parked at Lulworth Cove. This was a mistake!! Although the walk along the cliffs looks nice it's incredibly steep to the top and down the other side and the path is very rocky and uneven. When I got to Durdle Door I was cream crackered! It was quite hot but windy and I was carrying 2 rucksacks of camera gear, warm clothing, food/water and a tripod!! I guess the caravan site would have been better but I'd read so may iffy stories about the security there I thought I'd go in the other one. It's a long steep walk but there's no problem parking overnight, it was full of cars when I got back.

Anyway, I had an hour or so to check the location out and wait for sunset. This wasn't perfect because the sun was setting well north of due west so it was quite a long way round the cove and behind the cliffs but it was nice enough. Then I got down to the beach via the very steep steps and sat in some shelter waiting for 1am.Bumped in to 2 other guys doing the same and one other was up on the cliff top as I saw him light painting the door before I got started. Not sure our paths crossed over the rest of the night so if it was anyone on here, hello!

The sky was thinly cloudy at around 10 but over the next couple of hours it blew over to reveal a clear sky, save for some cloud on the horizon which marred the pictures a bit.

I finally called it a day (or night!) at 3am and took the 2hr trip back home again for some well earned sleep!

Milky Way at Durdle Door by Kevin Clark, on Flickr

Pano of 14 pics stitched together
Milky Way at Durdle Door by Kevin Clark, on Flickr

Milky Way at Durdle Door by Kevin Clark, on Flickr
 
You should be very pleased three times over, Kevin. The last one, in particular, is excellent, well worth the effort.

Dave
 
Great set Kevin, well done for making the effort, the last one is my fav, I'd be right chuffed to get a shot like that.
 
Amazing! The first one is my favourite, the darkness in the rocks seem to give them so much character.

Steve
 
Really need to get down here.....lovely image
 
Very impressive set of shots, love them all.
 
Thanks :)

Steven001 said:
Excellent photographs and we'll worth the long night! How visible was the milky way in person in comparison to the images?
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Well yes the images are enhanced quite a bit, although to the naked eye you can see quite a distinct 'cloudy' line for where it's running.
 
That's a take on Durdle Door I have not seen before. It takes 1st place in my league.
 
Would be so happy if my photos turned out like this great pictures mate
 
very impressive. What settings did you use for the last image. I am off to the desert next week and hoping to do something similar
 
Wow! These are epic! Thanks for posting your settings. Hoping to try a milky way shot on a holiday soon so very inspiring, thanks
 
KevC said:
Thanks

  • ƒ/2.8
  • 17.0 mm
  • 30s
  • ISO 6400
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Kev, I don`t really do landscape shots, so this question is a genuine one. Why shoot at iso 6400, could you not increase the shutter speed and drop the iso?
 
fracster said:
Kev, I don`t really do landscape shots, so this question is a genuine one. Why shoot at iso 6400, could you not increase the shutter speed and drop the iso?
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Star trails, Ade. The Earth is turning, hence to us the stars appear to move across the sky (go out at night, see where a certain constellation is then go out a couple of hours later. It won't be in the same place). If the exposure is too long the stars will be lines, not blobs, unless you use a mount that tracks that movement, but then you can't get a stationary landscape with the same shot. There's a maximum time you can go up to before the stars will appear to trail, depending on focal length (magnification) and where in the sky you're pointing (the stars revolve around Polaris, the Pole Star, so the stars close to Polaris appear to move slower than those at 90 deg).
 
Jannyfox said:
Star trails, Ade. The Earth is turning, hence to us the stars appear to move across the sky (go out at night, see where a certain constellation is then go out a couple of hours later. It won't be in the same place). If the exposure is too long the stars will be lines, not blobs, unless you use a mount that tracks that movement, but then you can't get a stationary landscape with the same shot. There's a maximum time you can go up to before the stars will appear to trail, depending on focal length (magnification) and where in the sky you're pointing (the stars revolve around Polaris, the Pole Star, so the stars close to Polaris appear to move slower than those at 90 deg).
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Thanks Jan, that makes sense. I was wondering about the wide aperture but realise now that it is necessary to keep the shutter speed down. Doing stars is totally opposite of normal landscape shots in effect,yes?
 
fracster said:
Thanks Jan, that makes sense. I was wondering about the wide aperture but realise now that it is necessary to keep the shutter speed down. Doing stars is totally opposite of normal landscape shots in effect,yes?
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God. you're thick.o_O
 
fracster said:
Thanks for your intellectual input Brian, always a joy to read such well thought out responses on a Sunday morning.
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..................and patronising.
 
Lovely work, I'm planning a trip down there in September - not sure if the stars will be in the right place though!
 
Great inspirational photography. The photos have a green tinge, auroral perhaps?
 
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