Startrails Over a Historic WWII Fortress: Cape May, NJ
Cape May, New Jersey, a place often celebrated for its Victorian charm, also holds echoes of a different era – the formidable defenses of World War II. At its southernmost point lies Fort Miles Battery 223, a testament to wartime engineering, boasting six-foot thick reinforced concrete walls and a blast-proof roof, all camouflaged beneath a layer of earth.
This robust structure, perched near the tip of the peninsula, offers a unique vantage point for capturing the night sky. Its alignment with Polaris, the North Star, makes it an ideal location for creating captivating startrail photographs. The steady rotation of the Earth around Polaris paints mesmerizing arcs across the darkness, and Battery 223 provides a grounding, historic foreground.
However, capturing such a scene is not without its challenges. As the description highlights, the skies above Cape May are often crisscrossed by flight paths, creating streaks that can interrupt the pristine celestial display. Additionally, the pervasive light glow from nearby areas can also compete with the faint light of distant stars.
Despite these hurdles, the result is a breathtaking composition. The image below showcases the culmination of dedicated effort:
This stunning visual was achieved using a Nikon Z8 with a Nikkor 14-30mm lens, set at 14mm and an aperture of F4. The startrails themselves are a masterful blend of approximately 275 individual exposures, captured over a period of three hours. Each exposure was taken at ISO 1600 with a 20-second shutter speed, allowing the subtle movement of the stars to become visible.
The imposing foreground of the Battery itself was captured with a separate, dedicated exposure. This was achieved with an ISO of 6400 and a longer 60-second shutter speed, ensuring ample detail and presence for this historic landmark. The juxtaposition of the ancient, man-made fortification and the eternal, celestial ballet creates a truly evocative image, bridging history and the cosmos.
