Way to shine! The stunning new photo book captures the beauty of Britain at night, from a seaside village in Yorkshire to one of England’s most iconic trees
- The new book Britain by Night celebrates the work of British landscape and astrophotographer Mark McNeill
- “I love shooting at night, so I thought I’d travel all over the UK,” says the photographer
- Other landmarks featured in the tome are Bristol’s Clifton Suspension Bridge and Manchester city centre
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See Britain in a different light thanks to these insightful photos.
They feature in the new book Britain by Night, published by Amberley Publishing, which celebrates British landscape and astrophotographer Mark McNeill’s atmospheric night photography.
Among the fascinating pages of the compendium are shots of Darwen Tower in the West Pennine Moors silhouetted against a full moon, South Stack Lighthouse in Anglesey illuminating the surrounding rocks and some of Britain’s most picturesque villages and streets bathed in a cozy night light .
McNeill, who lives in North West England, says the idea for the book was “to capture Britain in a unique way”. “Most people shoot during the day – well, I’m absolutely addicted to shooting at night, so I thought I’d travel all over the UK,” he writes.
The book’s introduction reveals: “Britain’s landscape transforms at night as its man-made and natural landmarks are illuminated against a backdrop of glorious starry skies. At the heart of our cities, iconic structures are singled out and away from the built-up areas in our darker spaces, the astral and lunar worlds take the stage alongside the landscape.
“In Britain by Night, photographer Mark McNeill has captured a wide variety of nightscapes and skyscapes that show both natural and man-made Britain in a new light… Take a look at these photos and you will quickly become mesmerized see the night world of Britain under the stars.’ Scroll down to see a selection of 15 of the stunning images featured in the tome…
A silhouette of Darwen Tower on the West Pennine Moors against a full moon
A beautiful shot of Lindisfarne Castle on Holy Island, near Berwick-upon-Tweed in Northumberland, under a clear starry sky. McNeill reveals that for every successful shot, many opportunities are missed: “I have traveled to many places and because of rain, wind or traffic, I didn’t even manage to get a picture. So many things stood in my way – even Covid-19.
A haunting shot of Alnwick Castle in Northumberland, with the building’s reflection in the River Aln below
The bright lights of Blackpool, with the tower and pier strikingly lit
A stunning view of an illuminated Knaresborough Viaduct in North Yorkshire. The 80ft high structure carries trains running to and from Harrogate
The Clifton Suspension Bridge in Bristol, with the long exposure grazing the headlights of passing vehicles below. “Adding the movement of cars and buses adds a bit of interest to a busy area,” the author writes in the book’s introduction
A stunning shot of Gold Hill in Shaftesbury. For aspiring night photographers, McNeill writes in the introduction to his book, “A good tip is to always carry a tripod or rest the camera against something like a wall or a bean bag chair. If you’re shooting at night, you’ll need to do long exposures, mainly because it’s so dark, and you’ll need to hold the camera for at least five to 10 seconds to take a picture.
An atmospheric shot of the Black Bull pub in the village of Haworth, West Yorkshire
The normally busy city of Manchester is eerily quiet in this photo by McNeill
A beautiful pink sky reflected in the calm of Derwent Water in the Lake District National Park
A shot of the iconic Forth Bridge from the city of Queensferry in east-central Scotland
A pitch black sky looms over the seaside village of Staithes, North Yorkshire
A captivating image of the South Stack Lighthouse off the coast of Holyhead in Anglesey, Wales
A view of the Milky Way across Sycamore Gap next to Hadrian’s Wall in Northumberland National Park
A well angled shot of the 19th Century funicular railway that connects Saltburn-by-the-Sea in North Yorkshire to Saltburn Pier and the seafront
Britain By Night by Mark McNeill, published by Amberley Books is £16.19 via www.amberley-books.com
