Night photography on Schiermonnikoog, part 1

Sunday 26 September 2021, 22:44 by Erik Nevels | 4,836 views | 0 comments

This article was translated from Dutch with the help of AI. Read the original.

I rarely take photos at night, after and before the blue hour. But I was happy to make an exception when I was on Schiermonnikoog in June.

The forecast promised a clear night, there was a full moon and there was a chance of noctilucent clouds. Plenty of reason to head out well after the blue hour.

Night is the opposite of day, or the time when it is dark. That does not happen immediately after the sun has set, and before the sun rises there is also a transitional phase, twilight.

I love taking photos during twilight, both during early twilight and the blue hour. It only gets 'properly' dark in the evening after the blue hour.

The influence of the sun has disappeared and there is only the light of the moon, the stars and, above all, people. The latter certainly applies to the Netherlands, which is one of the most light-polluted countries in the world.

Seeing an impressive starry sky in the Netherlands is therefore very difficult. The ever-present artificial light means that our eyes do not see the faint light from the less bright stars.

The fact that Schiermonnikoog is a somewhat positive exception will be covered in part 2 of this blog.

Lighthouse

Like Texel, Vlieland, Terschelling and Ameland, Schiermonnikoog still has a working lighthouse, the Noordertoren. Originally, the tower had a fixed light. In 1910, it was given a rotating light with its own light pattern, which you can use to recognise the lighthouse.

As we cycle towards the tower, we can already see its beams of light shining across the island.

Full moon

The moon will rise at 10.10 pm and I plan to photograph the moon next to the lighthouse. I know that the moon rises in the south, but that is quite a broad description. It is enough, however, to choose my position.

I walk past the tower towards the beach and, after a while, look back towards the south. I see the tower standing beautifully above the dune landscape. I explore several positions along the path until I am happy with the image.

Now I have to wait for the moon to appear. It takes until 11 pm before it is fully visible above the dunes. When the low layer of cloud lights up in the yellow light of the moon, I take the first photos.

Sony A7 mark III, 32mm, f/10, shutter speed 4s, ISO 400
For a different position, I continue walking towards the beach, past the dunes. Only the top of the lighthouse is visible now. Just as I have finished my second series, the phone rings. It's my mate. The noctilucent clouds are here! I look behind me excitedly, and there they are!

Noctilucent clouds

Noctilucent clouds are clouds that occur at high altitudes, between 75 and 85 kilometres up. Unlike ordinary clouds, these high clouds reflect sunlight long after sunset. The noctilucent clouds then appear white, yellow-orange or light blue.

They can be visible in the Netherlands in May, June and July, and this happens to be the case this evening. They hang low above the horizon and literally and figuratively sparkle in the sky.

It is now half past 11 and I look for a new spot to photograph the clouds above the sea. The beach hut, on the right of my image, lights up every few seconds as the beams from the lighthouse pass over it. It fits the picture perfectly.

Sony A7 mark III, 55mm, f/2.8, shutter speed 1/4s, ISO 400

Lighthouse with noctilucent clouds

Once back at the lighthouse, I want to photograph it together with the noctilucent clouds. I also want to include the beams from the rotating light this time, which means searching for both the right position and the right shutter speed.

The composition is also difficult to judge on the screen, and it is only afterwards that I realise I would have preferred to stand a little further back. In any case, the beams and clouds have come out well thanks to a shutter speed of 1/5 second.

Sony A7 mark III, 17mm, f/2.8, shutter speed 1/5s, ISO 1600

The Milky Way

At quarter past midnight, we pack our bags and cycle back to our guesthouse, feeling satisfied. Night photography, I want more of it.

In my next blog, I will tell you about my first photos of the Milky Way. Once again taken on Schiermonnikoog, but this time at the beginning of September. An experience I will never forget.

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