AWARDS: ENGLAND / WILTSHIRE / LAKE DISTRICT / WALES / SCOTLAND / COAST OF S.W. ENGLAND / COAST / STORMS / LAKES & MOUNTAINS / WINTER LANDSCAPES / DESERTS / ASTROPHOTOGRAPHY / BRITISH BIRDS 1 / BRITISH BIRDS 2 / BRITISH MAMMALS / BRITISH INSECTS / WORLD BIRDS / WORLD MAMMALS / NATURE
INTERNATIONAL SPACE STATION OVER SEVERN BRIDGE
This image is a montage of 20 exposures of 10 seconds, all identical in composition, capturing the trail of the ISS as it moves from west to south across the sky. Because the ISS is moving, its brightness depends on aperture and ISO but not shutter speed. Hence by reducing the length of each exposure, I was able to make the bridge darker while maintaining the brightness of the ISS to balance the image. I combined the 20 frames as layers in Photoshop. Because the sky got darker between the first and last frame (3 minutes 20 seconds apart) I blended the 20 frames using the Lighten mode and then overlaid the ISS trail onto the background of the first (lightest) image, so as to show Jupiter (towards the left, between the bridge and the ISS) and the stars as points rather than trails. It is a pity there some murk over Newport that obscures the western end of the ISS trail; I was hoping to see the ISS rise between the bridge pillars.
F4, 10 seconds, ISO 800
Accepted: Welsh International 2018