Michael Hilton

I didn’t see this picture for a long time because I was walking from the top of the hill (a Tor on Dartmoor) down with my back to the sun. Eventually I looked behind me to see what my companions were looking at and realised that the lone tree was silhouetted against the rocks.

The bright sun streaming in from the rear left made the scene more dramatic than one can capture in a photograph, but this isn’t too bad I think.

This is an old and picturesque Scottish lighthouse which I believe was originally lit via a log fire, never an electric lamp. So there is only stonework, through which the setting sun just happens to be shining.

I had actually planned this picture long before by using a smartphone app that showed exactly where the sun would set on the days I was in the area. Very very fortunately it was a sunny day and I was in position at the right moment, perhaps less than a minute, when the sun shone through the lighthouse.

For photographers, recession isn’t about the economy. It’s the gradual fading of the landscape into the distant haze.

This is a view of Peckforton Castle on a rare day when the combination of hazy weather and sunlight made the castle visible, in silhouette anyway. Normally Peckforton lurks invisbly in the shadow of the higher hills beyond. So this picture is the lucky result of the right light and the right haziness on a not very nice day.

After all that astrophotography I’m getting a crick in my neck looking upwards so much. So back to earth for a while. This is a peaceful countryside scene I saw by the roadside. Often it isn’t possible to stop anywhere nearby safely but in this case there was somewhere to turn the car round and enough space to pull off the road. I think, I hope, the almost-mon treatment does the scene justice. In colour it was perhaps overwhelmingly green; like this one can concentrate on the lines and textures instead.

While everyone is viewing the comet Neowise, don’t forget we currently have great views of Jupiter (above) and Saturn (below). I took the photo of Jupiter and its four largest moons while waiting for Neowise to appear out of the glowing Northern sky, similarly for Saturn which is parked just to the left of Jupiter.

Both of these are, as with many of my astro photos, made with my Nikon D7100, 300mm lens and 1.4x teleconverter. It’s at the limit of what can be done with this combo but still a nice thing to do.

I also saw the ISS fly directly overhead, really bright, while looking around and awaiting Neowise.

Eventually I saw Neowise. Well the camera saw it. At this point it was still not visible to my unaided eye so I had been taking pics in the right general direction till one showed it and I could home in.

That’s a closer view. Not as good as many other I’ve seen but I’m not doing any tracking, stacking, RAW imaging etc.

During the enforced stay at home we have had a long spell of amazingly sunny days, ideal for creating cyanotypes. I have posted a few on this website over the last year but this has been a great opportunity to spend time taking advantage of the bright sun and free time trying out different materials.

Cyanotypes look best when viewed as prints, especially those on art paper or fabric, but they also look great on screen; it’s something about the deep blue colour! A few have other colours; this is staining picked up from the flowers and berries pressed against the printing paper. These original cyanotypes are one-of-a-kind prints; they can’t be duplicated as prints.

I’ve collected my recent, prints into a gallery; have a look!