The night sky has always fascinated photographer Will Strathmann.
“My earliest memories of stargazing are from the exact dock where I took this photo,” says the Philadelphia lensman. Laying south of New Hampshire’s White Mountains, Squam Lake is also where Strathmann learned to paddle, and where he returns year after year for still waters and mesmerizing skies.
How Will Strathmann captured his starry night photo
Staying at the lake during a new moon, Strathmann and his friends launched their kayaks for a spontaneous night paddle.
“Kayaking on a lake that is as calm as Squam was that night feels as if you are floating within the stars,” he says. “Your sense of space and proximity disappears. It’s as if the only thing holding you up from falling into infinite darkness is the thin shell of the kayak and the glow of the stars pulling you up to the sky. I wanted a photo that captured that feeling—a combination of vulnerability and awe.”
Strathmann positioned his Nikon D750 SLR on a tripod and used an intervalometer to trigger the camera’s shutter at set intervals. “When shooting landscapes at night, I start with a 15-second exposure, f/2.8 and ISO 2000, then tweak the settings to get the photo just right,” he explains. “The biggest challenge was getting the kayaks in the right place and remaining still enough to not create motion blur.”
In low light, it helps to have obliging subjects
Strathmann and a helpful friend spent 15 minutes watching the stars and staying statue-still while the camera fired away.
“Capturing night scenes takes a lot of patience and practice,” Strathmann admits. Even then, getting the perfect after-dark adventure shot “comes down to trust and luck.” After he’s selected equipment, composition, location and timing, “everything else is up to the cosmos.”
“I wanted a photo that captured that feeling…of vulnerability and awe.”
“Sometimes you get unlucky and it clouds over or the shooting star falls just out of frame. But it’s those times when preparation meets good luck and the lake is calm, the clouds are just right and the kayaks don’t move—that’s what makes astrophotography exciting and why I love what I do.”
This article was first published in the Spring 2017 issue of Adventure Kayak. Subscribe to Paddling Magazine and get 25 years of digital magazine archives including our legacy titles: Rapid, Adventure Kayak and Canoeroots.
The photographer’s friends share stories under the starry night sky. | Feature photo: Will Strathmann
