its not meteor showers but moving stars
Bantayan Island: Under the Midnight Sun
What: Nightscapes of Bantayan Island
Where: Lawis Madridejos and Sta. Fe, Bantayan Island Cebu
What to expect: Long exposure experiences under the moon
waves crashing on the jagged rocks in Madridejos
Bantayan Island is the last place I thought I’d be shooting nightscapes. I usually shoot nightscapes in the city but the moon was out, the wind was blowing and the waves were crashing making it the perfect time to shoot under the midnight sun. The island offers a diversity of subjects to shoot in the evening. The side of Madridejos has rocky jagged coastlines and Sta. Fe offers placid waters and fine sand. I also shot in the mangroves on the eastern side of the island but only got a few shots off there. In this case I think we were trying out a new kind of landscaping; whereas the usual landscape photographer would wait for magic hour to get the best colors and last light of the day, we were waiting for the full moon or the nights where the moon had enough light to illuminate the scenery, giving it a surreal color and effect not seen in postcard shots. I hope that we can build on this genre of landscaping and have more opportunities to shoot.
long exposures turn waves to mist
In Madridejos, we went back to the same beach that we shot earlier in the afternoon. Having rock formations and coral deposits, the place was perfect for shooting the crashing waves that came in with the tide. The Tide table indicated that high tide was at its peak at 11:32pm so new got there at around 9:00pm to get in position and wait for the clouds to clear up so that the moon would shine giving that ethereal glow that I was looking for. We got down tripods and flashlights In hand to look for a way to get down from the sea wall to the rocks waiting below. Getting to the spot was a arduous task indeed, in between scaling jagged coral and limestone slipping was the 1st thing that would occur and one would be either really painful or fatal. Looking for a good place to set up shop was kind of challenging since it was pitch dark and the rocks didn’t make it any easier. I finally found a nice spot that I’d like to shoot from and set up my tripod. I was always stepping back to prevent myself from getting wet by the incoming tide, the water was creeping up at a rate of half a centimeter per second. Its best that you plan your position according to the rushing tide as well. The wind was really blowing hard; having a stable tripod was really helpful in shooting long exposures that ranged from 250 seconds to 5 minutes. For me doing all that was worth it at least I got something that I really liked. After shooting the last frames we got back to the town proper and grabbed a bite to eat at a 24 hour bakeshop. Went back and rested for the next day.
moonlight bouncing off sea and sky
Sta. Fe’s nightscapes were far more exciting for me; so far having a window of 10-15 minutes to shoot was a very hard choice. We rode motorcycles to the other side of the island contending with darkness, insects that hit your face and cows that appear out of nowhere in the darkness. Our 1st stop was the mangroves we passed by during our 1st day, it was hard to shoot since most of the soil I was stepping on was silt and little movement made the sand shift. After the mangroves we moved to a clearing in the side of the rode to catch the last rays of the sun. Soon after we headed back to town and ate a buffet dinner. Soon after we got back to the hotel we went outside and had fun painting light with flashlights. Something also interesting was the night sky was clear, so it was the perfect time to shoot star trails. It was starting to get late and we needed to head back to the room to rest for the journey going back to Cebu. While on the way to the room I noticed this cloud that looked like a giant bridge in the sky. Right away I loaded a new battery into the camera and pulled off 16 minute exposures to get the star trails and use the lowest ISO on my camera. Unfortunately long exposures like these eat up battery life and 7 shots took out 50% of my battery charge. Another problem to contend with was the noise generated by the heat of the sensor during long exposures. If creates a purple fringe on the ends of the corners of each frame. So far here are the images, hope you guys like them.
mangroves reprocessed to false color Infra Red like photos
false color IR gives an otherworldly effect
some scenes can be interesting in faux color
the last rays of light captured by a four minute exposure
Landscaping at night is no easy thing to do; it needs preparation and some courage to shoot at the dead of night. Scouting the location during the day helps a lot since you already know where your shots are composed. Another thing is learning about weather and tide tables help you determine the perfect time to shoot. Another thing is bringing a flashlight to know where you’re at. Make sure to take every necessary precaution before shooting. There are a lot of things in the darkness that are very dangerous, like wild animals, holes in the dark, loose footing and venomous insects. That’s why researching and planning your shoot is absolutely necessary. It never hurts to ask a buddy or two to accompany you during shoots like these, just make sure that they understand what you’re doing and why you chose this time of night to shoot. I hope this article was informative to you guys. I hope I could have shot a little bit more of night scaping but 16 minute exposures drain battery life so I only got this.
streaking clouds created by long exposures
a sixteen minute exposure makes the stars dance around the northern star
positioning the camera in different directions can affect the stars trail direction
the cloud that looked like a bridge and it was huge
in some occasions star trails look like a meteor shower
I do hope that this article became helpful to you, i hohpe you read on further on my nine part bantayan series that wil be followed in the future by more interesting tails in my travels.
Thank you for reading! XD
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