Walking Madonna, under Stars...

Bit of a special one, this....

Salisbury Cathedral's Close is a gated community which closes at 11pm and not supposed to open again until 7.30 the next morning.

BUT, I had got to notice, on a Sunday, the gates seem to be open earlier, presuming to allow in those involved with getting the Cathedral ready for the early morning services.

SO - here I am at 6a.m. and it is FREEZING!

I know, cos I've tried, that when the Cathedral is floodlit, it is far too bright to capture the stars as well. And when the floodlighting is turned off at 11pm, you can't get into the Close....

So, only at this time of year is there a window where the stars are out, the Cathedral is only lit by a handful of white-balanced street lights around it - plus at the top, you will notice the reddish ambience cast from the nearby city's streetlamp's 'pollution'. 

I had also noticed that if you carefully line up the Walking Madonna statue with one of those bright white lights, you get this amazing halo around her head - and a lovely long shadow.

Took me a few frames and a bit of tripod twiddling to get the ideal exposure - 30 secs, f5.6 and iso of just 320. Lens is the rather wonderful Nikkor D 17-35mm f2.8, on full-frame.

I do hope you like this - it was quite an achievement to be honest and I'm really rather pleased with it.

Hoping you all have a wonderful Sunday. Good weather here - but I'm still thawing out! Catch you all later!