A last-minute detour reaped dividends for a photographer looking to capture the night skies above Anglesey (Ynys Môn). En route to South Stack, retired Natwest bank manager Ian Ault spotted a plane taking off from RAF Valley and decided to investigate.
The airfield is renowned by plane spotters for its variety of aircraft and ease of access. Ian, from Benllech, took up position but realised all his skills as an astro-photographer were needed if he was to capture anything of interest.
“It was pitch black!” said the 65-year-old, who combines night photography with table tennis to keep fit. “You wouldn’t have been able to see anything on the photo without a long exposure.
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“I’d been to Aberffraw and wanted to reach South Stack to get the Milky Way over the lighthouse. Heading towards Trearddur Bay, I saw a plane overhead and decided to make a diversion. I’m glad I did, as the photos were quite eye-catching.”
Providing visitors behave responsibly, don’t get too close to fencing or block airfield crash gates, photography is tolerated at RAF Valley. Equipped with a Canon R5 camera fitted with a Samyang lens, Ian captured 25-second shots on a low-light ISO 1600 setting.
One image revealed twin tendrils of light reaching up into the night sky - the light trails of a departing aircraft. “I couldn’t see what the planes were,” said Ian. “But they were probably RAF Valley’s training jets.”
When he shared the photo on social media, it quickly attracted plaudits. It was rated “spectacular” by some and “absolutely stunning” by others. It also raised a few eyebrows too, with people speculating over the presence of two laser-like beams above Anglesey. “Beware Putin....,” warned a retired teacher, tongue firmly in cheek.
![The Milky Way crams stars into the night sky above South Stack lighthouse](https://i2-prod.dailypost.co.uk/incoming/article28164109.ece/ALTERNATES/s615b/0_AFRDPW231123IanAult_04.jpg)
Despite his unplanned but productive detour, Ian still managed to reach Porth-y-Post and South Stack. The resulting images were spectacular, blanketing familiar places with star-lit skies. All were shot in RAW format and later cleaned up in Adobe Lightroom.
His astro-photography expertise has been developed in the decade since retirement. Like others, he initially discovered that producing eye-catching night images wasn’t as simple as it appeared. Since then, he’s refined the art, capturing scenes that are sometimes ethereal but always stunning.
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Anglesey, he said, is wonderfully placed to view celestial wonders. By photographing the stars, he shows the island can be just as beautiful at night as it is during the day.
“We’re lucky here to have so many areas here with dark skies,” said Ian. “If the weather is right, it’s a brilliant place for night photography, especially on the west side of the island.
“On western coasts there’s less light pollution and it enables you to photograph the Milky Way out towards the Llŷn Peninsula. Displays of the Northern Lights have been good too this year. So long as the moon isn’t out – it will blow out photos – Anglesey is a special place to photograph at night.”
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