Impossibly Still Night Water

I haven’t taken any night long exposure photos in some time but after finishing a filming job at the country park just east of Southampton I drove passed the water channel with a view of the refinery and had to stop. With the drizzle and night fog the lights of the refinery on the opposite shoreline flickered on the choppy water and the smoke from the chimney hazily merged with the sky, I could only last in that weather with my camera for a little while but it was worth it. The first photo shows what I first wanted to capture, the smoke and the fog and the lights.

What I really wanted was to try and get a reflection on the wide channel waters of the lights. In real time that was impossible as the wind was churning the water up but with exposure times of 1-2 minutes the water becomes flat and calm, and allowing the coast lights to cast their glow in a way impossible to the human eye. The second photo captures best what I wanted to show.

I want to go back again soon and experiment some more.