Capturing the Night Sky and Landscapes in the end of the World
- herverannu
- Feb 10
- 9 min read
For the past 3 years, I've had a photo project in mind, that when the nights get darker again at the end of summer here in Estonia, I will take a longer photo trip to Saaremaa, Vilsandi National Park. In the past, the adventures of the Estonian islands have taken me to the western part of Hiiumaa, but I was drawn to Saaremaa by one specific object in mind which I had my own photo plans — the Kiipsaare lighthouse on the Harilaiu peninsula.
Both the western part of Hiiumaa and the Harilaiu peninsula in Saaremaa are among the locations in Estonia with the lowest light pollution. The less light pollution, the more magical starry night sky. However, at the beginning of September 2024, everything fell into place. The weather forecast promised 4 nights of clear skies and basically ideal conditions for night photography. Until the last moment, I watched the weather forecast to make sure that everything would line up, and I finally made the decision to go. My friend Romet (Metaloodus) also joined me on this photo trip, with whom I shared photo ideas that eventually led to one of the most amazing night photos that I have managed to capture so far. More on that later.
The Journey
Driving from Tallinn to the beginning of the Harilaiu hiking trail with the ferry ride included, takes about 3.5-4 hours. From there, you have to take a 3-kilometer hike to the RMK Harilaiu camping area, which takes about 45 minutes if you hike calmly. However, from the Harilaiu camping area to the Kiipsaare lighthouse, you still have to hike about 1.6 kilometers, which takes about 20 minutes.
One of my thoughts was to be able to photograph the starry sky for at least 3 nights. In this regard, it was also necessary to carry some equipment to the camping area. If I mentioned earlier that the weather was favorable with clear skies, the thermometer showed 26 degrees Celcius on the first day when carrying the equipment. A true workout, because in terms of kilos, all the equipment on my back weighed somewhere between 25-30 kg (photo equipment, food, water, camping equipment, etc.).
Basically, if you want to take it easy and not stress, getting to the point where the campsite is, starting out from Tallinn, takes the whole day.
SIGMA I series lenses in my camera bag
I usually like to shoot the Milky Way at night with various landscape elements with my personal night photography flagship - SIGMA 14mm F1.4 DG DN | Art lens. I've also shot with a 24mm focal length, and in recent years I have started experimenting with larger focal lengths as well. Before this photo trip, I thought that it might be a good place to try something new and interesting. Fotoluks and SIGMA helped out and I got to bring these interesting SIGMA I series lenses with me:
First of all, these 3 lenses weighed only a little over 1kg in total. Secondly, they took up very little space in the photo bag, so it was the perfect option for this photo trip. The metal body as well as the metal hood made holding the lens comfortable and enjoyable. With their compactness, they were comfortable to handle and use even in the night. SIGMA somehow knows how to pay attention to these small things that may seem pointless at first, but in fact later you realize that all the details of the lens are very well thought out and this creates a good feeling and trust.
Special thoughts in a special place
Finally, when the campsite was set up, we packed the necessary equipment and headed towards the Kiipsaare lighthouse. I had previously been to the Kiipsaare lighthouse 3 times. Twice in the summer with my partner and once a few years ago in November with another close friend.
Every time I start to reach the top of the peninsula, I somehow have an absolutely different positive anxiety. Something you can't even imagine at first. Suddenly, the Kiipsaare lighthouse shows itself from behind the sand dunes on the beach. An attention-grabbing leaning lighthouse in the sea about 50 meters from the coast. The last part of the walk feels long and creates the feeling like you have arrived to the end of the world. The feeling is somehow mysterious and special, and to understand it exactly, you just have to go there yourself and experience it.
Surprising clouds, sunset and the Milky Way
For the first evening, the weather forecast promised no clouds, but still high clouds appeared in the sky. Of course, I was happy about that and the clouds added a lot to the photos. You can follow the various weather reports as closely as you want, but nature still does as it wishes in the end. When the colors had disappeared from the sky, I looked for some compositions in the last light for night photography. After that, we laid down on the beach sand and watched how the stars began to show up in the sky one by one, and finally the Milky Way came into view. They say that the three most relaxing activities are watching a crackling fire, watching the sea, and watching another person do the work for you. I would add a fourth, which is observing the starry sky.
I could start taking photos about 30 minutes before the night time. I also had a second rented camera body, the Sony a7III with me, which fulfilled the purpose of taking timelapses on this photo trip. This camera was the first to be set up, and then I headed out to photograph the compositions I had already seen. The first night ended for me somewhere around 3 o'clock when I walked back to the campsite with the light of my headlamp and fell asleep in the sleeping bag in my tent.
Daytime
Daytime is for resting and relaxing from the night shoot. We hung out at the campsite and discussed the photos we had taken the night before and other thoughts. In the meantime, the Great Spotted Woodpecker and other birds visited the campsite. I looked through and analyzed the photos I took and thought about what worked and what didn't. Everything that didn't work, you can do better in the following nights. In the meantime, I went for a refreshing dip in the sea on the private beach and I also did a light hike on the peninsula. When I felt tired, I took a short nap to be fresher the next night. Until it was time to go to the photo spot again.
Another beautiful sunset and the next nights
The second night I decided to go to the lighthouse just in time for sunset. When I started to arrive, I saw how the sun had completely painted the sky orange. I took a few quick shots to capture the setting sun with the lighthouse. I grabbed a telephoto zoom lens from my photo bag and waited for another moment when a flock of birds flying in the distance together with the sun and the lighthouse created a good combination and photo environment. Fortunately, I didn't have to wait long when I captured the first photos. Another nice moment and experience. If there are no big expectations and you are in the moment, then nature will give you the most.
Since I was planning to take photos with the first light the next morning at sunrise, I decided that this night I would sleep on the beach in my sleeping bag, overlooking Kiipsaare lighthouse. Thanks to this, I didn't have to go back to the camping area after night shoot, and I could go to sleep right away. I also didn't have to wake up earlier in the morning and come back to the lighthouse. Win on sleep and time.
At night, I tried to find as many different angles and shots as possible to test all the SIGMA I series lenses I brought with me. The hilly landscape on the beach gave more room to place taller tufts of grass in the frame at longer focal lengths, which made the photos with the lighthouse a little more interesting. I ended up enjoying shooting with the 35mm and 65mm lenses the most. Probably because I had never photographed at night with such focal lengths before, and the Milky Way was somehow "strangely" special in the photos. Also, these focal lengths brought out the full power of the starry sky more. I really enjoyed the whole shooting process and it was great to gain experience in shooting the starry sky with longer focal lengths through experiments. The lenses fully supported this process. For the first photos, I visually reviewed the image critically, and after that there was only trust and the joy of shooting. Finally, when I felt that I had managed to take most of the photos that I had planned, I left my Sony a7RV with the SIGMA 35mm lens to shoot. The goal was to put together a star trails photo later. After that I went to sleep to be ready again in the morning. After 3 hours of sleep, it was time to capture the magic of the morning.
Photos from the morning
The Last Mission
Before the Kiipsaare photo trip and of course also while we were there, Romet and I both thought about one photo idea in our heads. That is, what if you we put a light on the Kiipsaare lighthouse at night and take a picture of this shot together with the Milky Way. The lighthouse itself would certainly be happy, because the light in the lighthouse was last lit in 1992. For a moment, we made peace with this idea and thought that we will see what our intuition says later and act accordingly. Last night, my gut told me that we had to do it.
Since I didn't want to leave the lighthouse illuminated for a long time and I didn't want to go back through the sea to the tower several times, the plan was as follows. Romet became a lighting technician and climbed the tower, and I quickly took photos from a distance. In the end, 3 different headlamps were needed to light the lighthouse, which were placed on different levels in the tower. When the headlamps were lit, the first sight was pretty awesome. Kiipsaare lighthouse shining in the middle of the night and the Milky Way next to it in full glory. After about 10 minutes, the whole party was over and the lights went out again. I managed to take photos with both 14mm and 24mm focal lengths. We packed our equipment and drew the line on the last night shooting a little earlier than the previous nights. With such a last joy and special venture, it seemed like a good time to end the photo tour.
When we had walked a few meters on the beach, I looked back at the lighthouse and thanked for the special moments and memories that nature had offered me in the last 4 days and 3 nights. A small smile appeared on my face because by that moment I had already had new ideas in my head, but more about them when their time has come.
In the morning I woke up earlier because I had to be back in Tallinn as early as possible. I packed up my camp and started walking back to the car. On the way back, the good thing about such photo trips is that the equipment is no longer so heavy because all the food and drinks have been consumed and your steps are a bit more light.
Thank you Kiipsaare lighthouse, Harilaiu peninsula, Vilsandi national park. See you next time!
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