A starlit windpump

I have been trying to get these images for ages. Horsey Windpump is a 30 minute drive away and I have gone there several times only to be beaten by the clouds.

Tonight it all came together

Although the light pollution from Gt. Yarmouth and Norwich was unavoidable I tried to make use of it rather than crop it out.

All images taken with K5iis and DA 12-24 with PP in LR4. Most exposures f4, 20 seconds ISO 1600.

As always C&C most welcome.

1.



2.



3. A little B&W



4.



5. In this one a friendly car's headlights have 'painted' the windpump.



6.



7.



8. And finally; straight up to try and catch the Milky Way.

So much fun with an interesting subject on Horizon.

We're gradually getting sky friendly street lighting here in Derbyshire so prospects for future much better.

As a kid growing up in Suffolk seeing the Milky Way with the naked eye was, like so many things, something we took for granted.

Thanks for the inspiration. A lot more of us may well wrap up and venture out this holiday nights. Merry Christmas.

There cracking shots I like orions belt on the roof in #2

really like these, did you turn off iso NR or did you leave it on?

Thanks for the nice comments.

Bill, unfortunately there are very few places in Norfolk where the light pollution doesn't effect some or all of any night time shot. Horsey is near to the coast so at least one point of the compass gave me a dark-ish sky. Good luck with the 'friendly' street lights. Hopefully it will inspire people to get out there with their tripods, thermals and bobblehats. I have set myself a challenge of expanding my portfolio for a new website (and venture). I am pushing my comfort zone (in this case literally as it was bl**dy cold), deliberately trying new things and have plenty more areas to.

So far I have tried car motorsport, still life, landscapes and star shots. I am studying portraits and aim to try product shots, architecture and motorcycle motorsport in the next few weeks/months.

We should all try a little challenge every now and again

redbusa99, Rightly or wrongly, I always run with the NR turned off as I prefer to address any noise issues in PP.

I used to have an Olympus E520, which was notoriously noisy at even moderately high ISO. Consequently I always had the NR on its highest setting. A few years ago I shot my nieces wedding, along with my sister-in-law (using a Canon)when we compared the shots afterwards mine had lost a lot of the detail because of the NR. Although they were okay-ish I was always upset with the results. From that point on I switched it off and would rather have the control to apply as much or little as I want in PP.

Great shots Ralph, You've inspired me to stop eating the After Eights and get the camera out at night again (if I can coincide with a cloudless night )