After the storm

We got back home from the cinema at about 11pm last night, and got out of the car to a clear starry sky. I've never tried to photograph stars before, but not knowing when I might see another sky like this I thought I really should give it a go. Half an hour of internet research later, and off I went with camera, tripod and torch.

As I was taking the first shot from the patio a fox wandered past, stopped, looked at me with a "???" expression and then strolled on at the same unruffled pace. And she was right too - the shot was ruined by a set of overhead power lines. I moved further down the garden... and further... and further.... until I was right down in the wild garden. At which point it occurred to me that I must be quite into this whole photography thing, because nothing else would get me out there on my own on a dark night - I once left a hunting terrier out there for two hours rather than leave the safety of the house to go and fetch him in.

At the moment I realised I'd just been locked out, because I was no longer in view of the kitchen and Current Husband assumed I'd come back inside, I faced a dilemma: to leave the camera down there when I went to get the door unlocked, or take it back with me? Even though it was an ideal night for the local burglary club to take one of their periodic strolls along the brook to see what could be scored from the gardens on either side, I decided to assume that all the noises off were from animals of the four-footed variety, leave the camera where it was and sprint. I'm not built for sprinting. Luckily CH heard me hammering on the door and came to open it, and when I saw the kitchen clock I realised that it was virtually midnight.

So...back to the garden, and a few more shots playing with different ISO settings.... and here it is: 00:05, the earliest photo I'm ever likely to blip. I know it's not technically that good, but as a first attempt I'm pretty pleased with it - and I learned a lot from this session. Most of the shots were overexposed to my eye, so next time I will drop the ISO down to 1600 to reduce the noise, and take the exposure down to 25 seconds to try to get the stars crisper. I might even go out and look for a hilltop so I can see more of the sky - but only if I can persuade CH to come out as my bag-man and minder...!