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My wife Liz and I happened to be in Snowdonia one night, driving along the A5 through the Ogwen valley.
The light was amazing, with a nearly full moon beaming out of a velvet sky sprinkled with stars.
The moon was so bright it was casting shadows, and I couldn't resist parking up by the shores of Llyn Ogwen for a couple of night time photos of one of the most dramatic mountains in the region, my old friend Tryfan.
It being night, a full 30 second exposure was required to capture the scene, and as the A5 is quite a busy road I soon got frustrated with my pristine night time shots being 'ruined' by passing cars.
But then I thought, if you can't avoid the cars, then why not make a feature of them? So I re-composed my images to include the lights of the passing cars in a suitable place in the frame to actually enhance rather than detract from the overall composition.
I especially like 'Tryfan 04', with its solitary parked car's tail lights reflecting in the lake and the blurred clouds overhead giving a real feel of solitude and mystery to the scene.
Filename - stars 03.jpg
Camera - Canon 5D
Lens - 24-105mm zoom @ 24mm
Exposure - 30secs @ f5.6, ISO400
Location - Tryfan, Snowdonia
This image - 588x800px JPEG
Conversion - ACR & PS-CS2
Comments - Tripod, mirror lockup and cable release used to prevent camera shake
All content copyright © Howard Litherland 2009-2024 unless otherwise stated.