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An beautiful clear autumn evening in mid-September found me yomping up my local hill, Moel Famau, the highest peak in the Clwydian Range Area of Outstanding Natural Beauty (AONB), North Wales.
With a couple of hours' free time to play with it was a no-brainer for me to head for the hills, away from the local towns with their attendant light pollution, in order to take in and photograph the stunning night skies.
But with a full moon due to rise at 9pm I had to get a move on to take advantage of the small window of time in between the end of nautical twilight at 8.45pm and the arrival of the moon, which would effectively flood the night sky with light and wash out the fainter stars of the milky way.
I arrived, sweaty and breathless on the summit of Moel Famau bang on moonrise at 9pm and then rushed to set up my camera and tripod to get some pictures of the milky way arching over the ruined stump of the Jubilee Tower, probably the most recognised landmark for miles around.
This is the second of the images I managed to capture, and was taken at 9.13pm, with the moon just now clearing the haze on the eastern horizon to the left on this composition.
For this particular image I wafted my LED torch very briefly over the Jubille Tower and its surroundings, just to allow some of the detail in the stonework to be seen.
Moel Famau Sunset Timelapse #1
Moel Famau Sunset Timelapse #2
Moel Famau Sunset Timelapse #1
Filename - moel famau milky way 03
Lens - 14mm prime
Exposure - 15 secs @ f2.8, ISO6400
Filters - None.
Location - Moel Famau, Clwydian Range, North Wales
Image enhancements - Adobe Lightroom
Comments - Tripod, remote release and mirror lockup used to prevent camera movement.
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