Caldey Island – ISS

Above Caldey Island in Pembrokeshire, Wales. The International Space Station (ISS) is captured travelling across the sky in front of the magnificent spiral arms of the Milky Way.

I started planning this image at the end of 2013 – throughout the spring into summer the Milky Way shows the ‘good’ part around midnight, making it more accessible if you enjoy your sleep like me. However, through the summer it starts to change its angle and by the end of August it’s near vertical due to the rotation of the earth. Composition of an image is a key part to all of my images and also the angle of the Milky Way can help balance up a scene. So the optimum timescale for this shot is possible over a few weeks in May & June. However, factor in shooting on a moonless night, slotting it in with my workload, not to mention whether the clouds will part you’re then down to a very limited number of days. Looking at maps, I knew the ISS would be about – however until it appeared I didn’t expect it to be a beautiful long bright pass, right across my composition. So lady luck was definitely on my side!