Behind the image: Battle of Lights

The COVID-19 pandemic kept many of us from taking photographs for a long time, but as restrictions eased we finally managed our first photography outing in several months.

To open the Milky Way season, we decided to visit Lake Louro. We began there, but with the Milky Way still very low, we moved to Area Maior beach, whose dunes offered interesting possibilities.

The wind made things difficult, with gusts of 70 km/h making it hard to work and prevent camera shake in our night exposures.

We eventually moved to nearby Lariño Lighthouse . From the rocks behind it, looking inland, the Milky Way’s arch fitted perfectly around the lighthouse.

The wind remained strong, making sharp photographs difficult even with our tripods weighted down.

I therefore looked for a sheltered spot with an interesting view of the rocks.

I found a couple of promising pools with a clear view of the lighthouse and Milky Way. Lariño village, directly behind the lighthouse, produces strong light pollution, but our position well below both helped us avoid most of the village light and the lighthouse beam.

I used my Sigma 14–24 f/2.8 at 14 mm for seven vertical frames. I posed with a Mini Maglite torch with its head removed and bulb exposed, creating the characteristic ball of light.

You may wonder why the lighthouse light is not blown out in a single exposure. The main reason is that the lighthouse is much higher than the camera: its beam does not strike the lens directly, only its glow reaches it.

Looking critically at the composition, the image is slightly unbalanced. Posing on the left would have better balanced the lights and points of interest, which are concentrated on the right.

As usual, I edited the sky separately, bringing out the Milky Way’s detail, light and colour. I then worked on the land, enhancing its blue atmosphere to contrast with the sky’s warmth from light pollution.

I hope you like it.