4am and -2°C on a winter's morning in North Wales and I'm just about to leave the house to drive to my local little mountain, Moel Famau, for a challenging climb to the top, laden with camera gear and tripod.
Why this madness you might ask?
Well it was all down to the weather forecast, which promised mist and fog in low lying areas overnight, so a view out over the Cheshire Plain from the heights of North Wales could be quite spectacular.
So by 5am I was in position on the summit of Moel Famau taking in the view of streetlights shining through the mist as the stiff breeze really started to bite on my gloveless fingers while I set up the camera, tripod, intervalometer and lens heater as fast as I could.
Once I'd set the camera off recording a shot every three seconds it was back on with the gloves and overmitts as I made a hasty retreat to get out of the wind, sheltering in the lee of the ruined stump of the Jubilee tower for an hour as the camera clicked manfully away.
To be fair, the camera coped with the cold better than I did, with my homemade lens heater keeping the glass clear of frost, and the camera's battery only using up one bar of its capacity over the course of the hour's shooting.
By 6am I'd finished filming, just before the onset of astronomical twilight, and made my grateful way back down the mountain to my car and some warmth.
Was it worth the effort?
Of course it was, and not just from a photographic point of view, as being alone at night on top of a mountain is a wonderful experience, even if it's freezing cold!
Filename - moel famau night timelapse 01.mp4
Camera - Canon EOS 6D
Lens - 24-105mm zoom @ 67mm
Exposure (start of sequence) - 4 secs @ f4, ISO1600
Exposure (end of sequence) - 4 secs @ f4, ISO1600
Filters - None.
Shooting interval - 3 seconds
Location - Moel Famau, North Wales
This clip - HD 720p, 30fps
Clip duration - 16 seconds
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