grangemouth refinery – Jacques le Roux photography

As it’s autumn and sunrise is later in the mornings I thought it’s time to get out for some early morning night photos. Did a recce last weekend at Grangemouth refinery, I was driving through the public roads between the refinery buildings. I stopped a few times for a photo or two. After a while I got stopped by security. They called the police and when the police arrived they did a background check on me, bloody terrorists spoiling photographers fun. They really should put up signs that photography isn’t allowed even though you are on public roads.

Did a bit on reading up on tips for night photography and reminded myself to use them and others I know.
– Use the top legs of the tripod before using the bottom legs to extend the tripod to appropriate height.
– Rather use the extension legs before using the middle extension bit.
– I used the watermark sensor in my 7D to keep the camera horizontal, when I checked the photos they were still between 1-3′ out. Fixed that via Photoshop but could have been worse. I think I’ll be doing this more in the future, day or night.
– Use a remote trigger. I ended up at the Supermarket at 5am to get a battery for the remote. Last weekend I had to use the 10 second count down which was a waste of time and the flickering red light is not ideal if you are trying to keep a low profile.
– Do a recce if possible. I used Google maps to find any suitable place and as well as looked at all the roads around the area. I cross checked other photos taken and used that and Google satellite maps to find a suitable place. Last weekend I used a spot a 100 meters away but the angle wasn’t great. I took a spotlight and went walkabout till I found a better spot today. The satellite photos help point me in the right direction. Here’s the results, hope you like them.

Last weekend I ended up close to the Forth but the wind was pumping. I had to use the car and more importantly the car door as a barrier to keep the camera still and the wind off it. I think I’ll get a heavy duty umbrella for the future as that will help keep the wind off the camera body. Today I stood between the camera and the wind as a barrier and realised you can stand quite a distance in front of the lens without being in the shot. The angle is so shallow and you can actually work it out looked down at the lens outer edge and the lens mount.