JClarkson Photography
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During a night shooting the milky way late April 2022 the mist rolled in and out. As dawn approached this lent a nice blue tone to the landscape, and helped seperate the trees from the background.
I arrived at Grantchester meadows on a cold March morning in 2022 with the intention of photographing the barn owl, but had to capture the colours of this beautiful sunrise, aided by the slight haze on the horizon which reduced the glare from the sun. One of my favourite photos, I have a print of this up on my wall.
This stream in Glen Feshie has a multitude of waterfalls. I had fun photographing them with a neutral density filter for the first time in September 2021.
My second star trail photo - this time I wanted one containing concentric circles around the North star. The Cambridge University library looked a promising compisition, with the main tower just about fitting into frame with the north star. I sat outside for five hours, from 7pm to 12am, before the cold (around minus 4 that night in January 2023) become too much to bear and I headed home.
A sunset lit up the hills a stunning deep red for a few minutes when staying in Inverie, Knoydart, in September 2021 for some hillwalking.
I first purchased a netural density filter in April 2021, and the mill pond was the first place I tried it out. Of all the patterns this one in the water was the most pleasing.
I had no luck seeing the barn owl on this morning in August 2022, so tried some landscapes with the mist instead.
One of a week of beautiful icy crisp days Cambridge experienced in December 2022. This spiky patch of grass provided an interesting foreground.
A rare snowy day in Cambridge in December 2022. Darwin college seen behind the Scudamore punts.
Trinity May Ball fireworks are one of the best sights of May week. I managed to get a spot low down by the Trinity Hall punts so I could capture the crowd of people packed onto Garrett Hostel Bridge to watch the show.
This would have been nicer without the crane, or indeed the building works on Kings College Chapel, but oh well. You can faintly see Orion's bow which he's holding out up and to the right.
Another from the day of snow in December 2022. I spent a while trying to get a nice composition with the stream and bushes in the foreground.
A closer view of the stables and Milky Way, August 2022.
My first attempt at star trails, in February 2022, proved a surprising success. Four hours of trails, from 7pm to 11pm was all I could bear in the cold, but the composition with the so called 'jumping tree', and trails diverging from the equatorial line, worked fabulously.
A favourite from a lovely night spent photographing the Milky Way at Ruthven Barracks in the Cairngorms, in August 2022. This was taken late in the evening, around midnight, with the Milky way rising up as if smoke from a long disused chimmney. This hangs on my wall as one of my favourite photos.
Punts leave after viewing the Trinity May Ball fireworks, May week 2022.
My second attempt photographing the Milky Way with this view over the Uath lochans and the Glen Feshie hills, a year on from the first. This time a setting moon provided nice lighting to the landscape on a freezing evening. Clouds hovered over the Cairngorms at times, but there were enough breaks to get some clear shots. This is a vertical composition highlighting the milky way core and the Uath lochans.
The sun sets on the back of Peterhouse and the URC spire, October 2021.
I spent some time here in December 2022 trying to get a photo of walkers in the snow, with the two trees. This one worked nicest in terms of position of the walker, and the dull sky meant there wasn't much colour so I thought black and white would be best.
A very short star trail at Ruthven barracks in August 2022 - the Milky Way is still prominent but the movement of the Earth is evident.
The Scudamore punts on the upper river, on the first day of snowfall in December 2022. One of my favourite Cambridge compositions.
After taking the star trail image here, I knew I wanted to come back and get a still of Orion reflected in the water, which I eventually got round to in January 2023. The star glow filter has really helped accentuate the colours in the stars, especially the Red Betelgeuse.
My first serious attempt at photographing the Milky Way on a clear night in March 2022. I camped out in the woods on Farletter Crag in the Cairngorms, hoping to photograph the Milky Way above the photogenic Uath Lochans. Waking up at 2am, I spent a glorious few hours watching the Milky Way rise before evnetually dawn broke. I think I need to try this again now I have bit more practice, as the colours aren't quite right and the quality isn't the best.
The brightest object in the sky here is Mars, as it rises to the right of the Jerwood Library, Trinity Hall, in November 2022.
A few days after the snow fell in December 2022 the skies began to clear. This morning I waited for the barn owl with no luck, so switched focus to the imminent sunrise, which was filtered by some low clouds. I only managed a few frames before the sun broke through the clouds and became too bright.
The moon breaks over the mountains above Laruns, in the French Pyrenees. This was shortlisted in the Our Moon category, Astronomy Photographer of the Year 2023.
My joint favourite photo from the night spent photographing the Milky Way in August 2022
One of the many gorgeous sunrises that occurs at Grantchester, on this occasion in November 2022 I persuaded myself to switch from waiting for the owl to photograph the scene.
My second attempt photographing the Milky Way with this view over the Uath lochans and the Glen Feshie hills, a year on from the first. This time a setting moon provided nice lighting to the landscape on a freezing evening. Clouds hovered over the Cairngorms at times, but there were enough breaks to get some clear shots.
Taken on the same March 2022 morning as my favourite sunrise photo, as I waited for the owl I heard some Geese taking off and quickly rattled off a few frames, hoping to catch them in the scene, and making a nice addition to the landscape.
My longest star trail yet, 10 hours and 1126 individual exposures. Thankfully I was able to leave the camera running in a room at the top of O staircase overnight while I got some sleep at home!
Late afternoon before a night out photographing the Milky Way in March 2023. After some snow flurries, the skies cleared, until a shower passed over the Feshies.
My first night using a starglow filter to make the constellations stand out, November 2022. I had this shot envisaged and it worked out nicely.
A wide angle view of the ruined stables at Ruthven Barracks, with the Milky Way in the background, August 2022. One of the many photos from that night.
On a misty morning in August 2022 this Moorhen provided a nice balance to the two trees.
The portrait version of the frosty sunrise at Grantchester in December 2022, featuring the beautifully spiky clump of grass rather prominently in the foreground.
While I was waiting for the moon to rise over a different building in November 2022 (and hoping the clouds to go away) I found this view of Kings College Chapel and the UL. I saw a dog walker was going to walk past it, so I waited until they did and rattled off a few frames. Definitely a view I need to come back to when the weather is nicer.
I hoped to get a photo of the November 2022 full moon rising over the Cambridge college boathouses, and it so happened that it aligned nicely with the Jesus College windvane.
A 50mm panorama of the Galactic core region of the Milky Way, August 2022.
A calm goose on a morning spent watching the barn owl, January 2023.
The last photo from my first night using my starglow filter, November 2022. The lights from the boathouses was unfortunately quite bright.