Somerset: Meteor at Midnight, Glastonbury Tor.
*Please also view on black background (click photograph)*
The night of 12th August was to be the peak activity for this year's Persied meteor shower, so a trip to Glastonbury Tor was planned; the perfect setting for a meteor photography session.
After several hundred shots, and with a bit of luck, the heavens granted me one decent photograph, taken almost exactly at midnight.
After initial set-up with a north-easterly view, some test shots were made to obtain the correct exposure for the scene. The camera was then set to continuous shooting mode and the remote shutter release button was locked down so that the camera was photographing non-stop.
Canon EOS 5D MkII with Carl Zeiss 50mm f/1.4 Planar T lens. 8 seconds at F/1.4 and ISO 1000.
My YouTube channel: www.youtube.com/user/DT6biz
Comments and faves
winston.1 { very busy.}, antonyspencer, Katie-Rose, chipstah, and 125 other people added this photo to their favorites.
Wiffsmiff23 (34 months ago | reply)
great capture
winston.1 { very busy.} (34 months ago | reply)
Simply wonderful...it was bloody raining here.......AGAIN.
antonyspencer (34 months ago | reply)
Awesome mate, love this!
Shoestring.uk [deleted] (34 months ago | reply)
Puts the rest of us to shame.
Katie-Rose (34 months ago | reply)
Oh wow!
That's stunning!
peterspencer49 (34 months ago | reply)
Cracker Mike I was getting very frustrated missing all the meteors they would just be outside the frame, but finally got a few.
Andy Farrer (34 months ago | reply)
excellent shot Mike. I got 2 meteors but shot wide for my compo and they were too small! Arse!
(Greg Stewart) (34 months ago | reply)
Brilliant! i did think about getting my camera out & going to the tor but i ended up watching it in the garden! This is really an exceptional shot.
bethadin (34 months ago | reply)
that's very very cool
benjita1 LRPS Now with full frame goodness! (34 months ago | reply)
Beautiful capture! well worth the late night!
Rob_Anderson_UK (34 months ago | reply)
Super capture
David Crosbie (34 months ago | reply)
Nice one Mike !
Gary Newman (34 months ago | reply)
Thats a superb shot Mike, glad you managed to see some.
--
Seen in my contacts' photos. (?)
B Michael (34 months ago | reply)
Saw this image earlier today then I saw this link - in the telegraph :) www.telegraph.co.uk/science/picture-galleries /7943024/Per...
Philip Watson (34 months ago | reply)
Great shot
I've got a stiff neck today from too long sky-watching last night
Stephen Spraggon (34 months ago | reply)
Great work and really nicely framed! I considered going up the tor but opted for a nearby church instead.
Tony Gill (34 months ago | reply)
Fantastic result after a lot of hard effort (especially after dark.) Perfect composition and the meteor really stands out. Would've ventured out but it's not so easy after a few drinks!
jo poyntz (34 months ago | reply)
I've just checked out the Telegraph image; yours is better composed, you managed to capture the meteor in just the right position and overall this is a stunning success.
cjp_1954 (34 months ago | reply)
This is awesome Mike
Debbie Stanger (34 months ago | reply)
Superb..........
jonathanclark (34 months ago | reply)
Spectacular shot. You had better luck than me - I ended up cheating with an Iridium flare!
xwidep (34 months ago | reply)
Gorgeous
Biepmiep (34 months ago | reply)
Breathtaking!
artfusion (34 months ago | reply)
Also Favorited. How fortunate you were.
voiceovergirl (34 months ago | reply)
Really fantastic photo - I plugged it on Twitter this morning and it's being RT-ed and RT-ed :-)
@voiceovergirl
wilf (34 months ago | reply)
Saw this Tweet from @vvoiceoverartist. Bravo - that's some image.
jamsandwichUK (34 months ago | reply)
Wow...
...Just...
......Wow......
UK Adventuregurl (34 months ago | reply)
Stunning work! I tried to capture some last Thursday, but had no luck.
David Butali (34 months ago | reply)
superb!
dougggie (34 months ago | reply)
beautiful!
kelley.malfi (34 months ago | reply)
Beautiful!
victorvonsalza (34 months ago | reply)
Wonderful setting for this great catch.
AndWhyNot (34 months ago | reply)
What body were you shooting with cos I can't work this out, maybe you can clear up a couple of questions?
You're shooting at 50mm looking only slightly up at the tor but from what I remember the ground drops off pretty steep all round so where was your vantage point. Then even though you're looking up, look through the arch and there's no trace of the arch on the other side - like what we're seeing is just a facade.
I don't really venture in to PP much so maybe that holds the answer, I guess the shot's been straightened too which has corrected the parallax distortion. But then you've got a decent field of view to include all those stars. Looks like quite a short exposure too, judging by the specs for stars rather than the trails I'd expect to start seeing at 50mm.
Not trying to be rude, just wondering what I'm missing?
Mike-DT6 (34 months ago | reply)
Thanks for your nice comments and favourites everyone. Very much appreciated.
AndWhyNot, regarding your question, I was using a Canon EOS 5D MkII body.
The tower isn't aligned perfectly with the path on the south-west side, so to photograph the tower with the lens axis perpendicular to the wall (at least on the horizontal plane) you need to stand to the left of the path. I was around six or seven feet to the left of the path, and slightly below path level, down the slope. The slope of the hill up towards the tower isn't nearly as steep as you might imagine as there is quite a large plateau compared with the opposite side.
I chose this position specifically to get a clear view through the door so as not to show any of the doorway on the north-east side. The geometry of the tower allows for this. Look at any photograph of the tower where the path exits the frame on the right-hand side and you'll see what I mean.
The answer to this is as simple as the viewpoint and focal length used. I made no post processing adjustment to any distortion, nor did I straighten anything, nor crop the frame. This is exactly as it was set up. I use a geared tripod head on top of a separate levelling head so I can adjust my view to exactly how I want it.
The diagonal field of view for this lens is just under 47 degrees on my camera body. The exposure was 8 seconds. You can get away with up to around 10 seconds at this focal length before any relative movement of the stars becomes apparent.
I hope this helps answer your questions.
Mike
le-spikey (34 months ago | reply)
Absolutely stunning.
--
Found in a search. (?)
Blesser une personne innocente,elle s'en remettra [deleted] (33 months ago | reply)
De toute beauté
bravo pour cette belle image
[ via flickriver explore --http://www.flickriver.com/photos/450 41704@N03/popular-interesting/ ]
StevanFane (33 months ago | reply)
this is just incredible, i really dont have words to express how much i like this photo. amazing work
AndWhyNot (33 months ago | reply)
Thank you for taking the time to respond to my queries. I did expect you to say you'd captured the image using a 5DII - there's a certain feel to the way it renders night images. The 50mm length slots in to place too when I consider you're shooting full frame. I couldn't quite get my head around your exposure duration - guess you were just incredibly lucky to have captured the meteor in the few seconds the camera was exposing.
Since my first comment I had a look around at others' photos and noticed the tower's door apertures on opposing faces are different sizes. Also I hadn't appreciated by just how much the tor's slope on the south elevation is considerably less steep than the other three sides.
All in all, pretty sure my questions are answered - thanks again :)
Mike-DT6 (33 months ago | reply)
You're welcome.
Regarding the meteor capture, the best way to do this is to set the camera to continuous shooting mode, then lock down the button on the remote shutter release and the camera will keep photographing non-stop. Every so often I'll stop it and delete everything, unless of course I've seen a meteor, in which case I'll save that frame and delete all the rest. That way it saves filling up the memory card with rubbish!
Mike-DT6 (33 months ago | reply)
Thanks for your comments Stu, P.Mike and StevanFane. :-)
LongLensPhotography co uk - Daugirdas Tomas Racys (33 months ago | reply)
This is a wonderful capture, love it
Geek Bag (33 months ago | reply)
wow wow wow wow.....wow. Absolutely love this capture, much respect for this!
Markov Igor (33 months ago | reply)
kick ass
StevanFane (33 months ago | reply)
wow man! this is sooooooooooooooo sick! congrats on the explore dude! great shot. i want shots this this
lakemans (33 months ago | reply)
cracking capture.
was there a full moon or have you managed to light the tor by torch or by using the light pollution from Glastonbury town?
Mike-DT6 (33 months ago | reply)
Thank you all. :-)
Lakemans, all lighting was provided by Glastonbury's street lights, which I corrected with the white balance!
This photo was invited and added to the Somerset and Surrounding Areas (UK) group.
q u i m b y (30 months ago | reply)
great location!
Jeremy Sargent (29 months ago | reply)
Stunning.
my name is Ade (27 months ago | reply)
lovely shot Mike great stream.
Mike-DT6 (23 months ago | reply)
Thank you all :-)