I’ve been out a few times this year to shoot the milkyway and the stars, but always been scuppered by the weather, moon, or life in general.
Last Saturday i was determined to get out and luckily had a couple of mates to come out as well.
Morning of the Shoot
In the morning the weather as awful, raining and clouded over. Checking the Met Office and my ‘Clear Outside’ application i knew it was going to clear up by 7pm…ish.
Getting Ready for the Shoot
I always like to plan ahead and got all the basics ready for the shoot. The video is available on youtube through this link, to show you what I generally take with me and also the images produced.
Generally I take with me the following
A good strong tripod (amazon)
A Joby Tripod for lower and more awkward angles
Tokina ATX Pro 28-70 f2.8 lens. Any 24-70 lens will suffice for this sort of photography as well.
28mm Sigma f2.8 lens. you can probably find on ebay as they are quite old now.
Remote Shutters
Extra Batteries
Extra Memory Cards
Homemade Lightpainting tools.
The rest you can see on the video as it’s all about lightpainting and wirewool spinning gear.
To Location
We got our coffee fix (thanks Two Chimps Coffee)and headed to the location. It was around 8:30 we got there and it was already dark enough to see the milky way with the naked eye, and without letting your eyes adjust.
There are a couple of spots i’ve shot before so wanted to do something different. We walked up a bit further to the middle lock gates rather than the bottom. There was a weir and a sluice here, so a keen eye and careful steps were needed.
I decided on doing some straight milkyway shots, and then a bit of wirewool spinning and lightpainting.
Shooting the Car
My friend had brought his car with him, so we decided to do a few shots with that as well. A little lightpainting and stars with that as well.
Back home
On the way back home we decided to stop at one of my favourite spots to grab a couple more shots.
The thing to take away from this is to just get out and shoot. Practice Practice Practice. There are loads of places to go and checkout and sometimes you’ll be surprised at the results.
Coffee and Chocolate Hobnobs are always a requirement to keep you going as well.
I hope you found this blog informative and interesting. Any comments or if you have any questions please ask away.
Keep an eye out on Youtube, Instagram and Facebook for updates, videos, Behind the scenes and much more.
I now have a store for Prints and anything else. Look at the top of the page and click on Shop. If you want to email me for a custom order, or something not in the shop drop me an email.
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Finally, have fun and stay safe, and enjoy shooting.
Any suggestions for future blog posts, drop me an email. I will at some point be going into more detail on future posts.
you can see more of my work at
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About Me
I’m Gareth, a 38 year old IT contractor, Photographer, Eternal Optimist and Blogger. I have been behind a camera for about 4 years now and love shooting the stars, and anything else for that matter. Learning is the main aim for me. I am a family man, and strive to be the best i can be in all fields that i put my mind and heart to.
