by Don McLean. Well, really by me, but we needed some music to go with it
And it was the first thing that popped to mind.
It wasn’t really such a starry night at all, since it was raining, but well… Sometimes we can help, can’t we? (no filters were used here.)

D200, ISO100, 10 min 39 sec @ f/27, Tamron 28-75mm

Myeah… when you live up north and most of the day is dark, you get quite some opportunities to shoot during the “night”.
We went to an old part of the railway area and there’s lots of stuff to shoot. If not old wagons or other equipment, it’s old buildings.
This we ran into just before we left. Notice the train that passed in the background during the 91 sec exposure… Happy coincidence at a railway area

D200, ISO100, 91 sec @ f/27, Tamron 28-75mm

Yah, I have something with darkness. And lightness.
If only I had my camera with me last night. Don’t you just HATE that? Always when you go out and you don’t take your camera you see something that’s worth shooting and you can’t recreate it.
There was a snow storm going on and the world was dark. Not only because it was night, but also because the snow was coming down so bad that you couldn’t really see anything.
And then it started thundering and there was lightning. Never seen that before during a snow storm. The lightning lit up the sky and because of all the snow in the air the sky had this neon blue-ish purplish color. Absolutely gorgeous.
But owwell… No camera… And even if I’d had it with me, I’d probably be too late anyway… *sighs*
But I got something else, that night that I went out shooting. While my buddy was lying on his stomach not 10 meters to the right of me shooting lights there, I got these.
It’s light, like in my previous post, but a whole different kind of light.
In color it looks totally boring, but in black and white it’s really dramatic, I think.

D200, ISO100, 1 sec @ f/6.7, Tamron 28-75mm

It’s something everyone should try. It’s a whole different world out there when the lights are out. Or on, actually And especially now with the snow and the cold weather when everything looks (and feels) crisp.
Note that you don’t need a star filter to create the star effect. A small aperture and a long exposure time do the trick very well.

D200, ISO100, 267 sec @ f/27, Tamron 28-75mm