NIGHT PHOTOGRAPHY

When the Stars Come Out in the Mountains

And the night got still

I woke up and began to debate in my brain. Whether to get up or not to get up is the question. I wanted to take pictures at night. At least once during our stay. Looking out the window I can see darkness. I get over my tiredness, grab some warm clothes, my camera and tripod and leave the dorm room.

In the hallway, I put on all the clothes knowing an icy cold wind will greet me outside the door. I still don’t know if they lock the door at night. I place my hand on the handle and it seems I’m lucky. It’s open.

Expecting to be hit by a cold breeze, I feel nothing as I step outside. I feel and hear nothing. There is no difference in temperature between inside the cottage and outside on the mountain.

I look up. The stars. It’s a clear sky, therefore, the temperatures should be low but it’s hot. I don’t mean warm, I mean above 20 degrees (Celsius) hot. That is at least how my body experiences it.

I’ve been out on the mountain at night before. It was always cold. I rushed through the process of taking pictures of the stars. Despite putting layers of clothes on, I always got cold.

But tonight is different.

There is as well a flickering in the sky. Like when a light bulb is about to go out. I turn around and look at the cottage, there is no light outside and the glimmering doesn’t come from inside. It’s weird.

Also, I don’t hear anything. Nothing. No sounds but the beating of my heart. I touch my ears to see if I have earbuds in. That is how it feels. But I don’t.

After mounting the camera on my tripod, I walk a few meters away from the cottage, place the setup in the grass, press the shutter and wait.

Then I see it. The lightening. There must be a huge storm happening behind the mountain. All I can see are beams of light flying from behind it. Now all the flickering makes sense.

But still. There is no sound. No thunder. No rolling sounds in the mountains. I think about all kinds of science fiction films I’ve watched before where people wake up in a bubble and the world around them stopped. Or something like that.

As I keep snapping pictures, I can’t get around the fact that nothing aside from me is making any sounds. I can’t hear cars as we’re too far away from civilization.

But the mountain is silent. No birds are singing. No insects are humming. I can’t hear a single sound of an animal. There is no wind blowing and rustling in the trees.

Nothing.

This must be the absolute silence.

And another lightning beam lights up the entire sky. In complete silence. Only through my long exposure shots, I could see the clouds on the horizon.

And again, I feel weird. It’s so eerie to hear your blood flowing through your body but nothing else. There isn’t even a sound coming across from the mountain cottage sleeping 50 people or more. Nothing.

I look to the “Großer Wagen” (Ursa Major). The constellation of stars I always recognize. Well, at least something familiar and trusted.

I decide to escape the eerieness and go back inside. What a night it is. A night I will certainly not forget so soon.

More photo essays on night photography down below:

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