Beneath the stars, or so to say An Elven-maid there was of old,<br />
A shining star by day:<br />
Her mantle white was hemmed with gold,<br />
Her shoes of silver-grey.<br />
<br />
A star was bound upon her brows,<br />
A light was on her hair<br />
As sun upon the golden boughs<br />
In Lorien the fair. Geotagged,Ligustrum ovalifolium,The Netherlands,frost,night,north,star,stars,startrail,trail

comments (17)

Ludo Sak

Lion

(part of one of the greater poems of fantastic JRR Tolkien)
I shot this at night last night. It was freezing at around -10 degrees Celcius. The total length of this shooting was 3h20 minutes. After about 2h10 my lens front started to freeze over:) The 60D was packed in towels, so less damage there. My tripod only missed a few icicles, I picked it up with gloves as not to be stuck to it:) Did not try to lick it either:)

The shot you see here is a combination of 245 shots of a total of 375. The rest showed to much frost!

Nice thing though: I shot it with our precious North Star in the middle, well almost in the middle. Difficult that is, and given the length of the shot and the window of opportunity of a clear sky once in a few weeks...:)

Exif: f3.5, 400iso, 30second chained shots.

I will uload the timelapse of Jack Frost climbing up my lens.. Posted 12 years ago, modified 12 years ago

Ludo Sak

Lion

@Ferdy: sorry man, it was way to cold to migrate to forest scenery for a few hours. They'd have found me in the woods by now:) So another heaven dotted in delight, shot from my back garden. Not your average JD shot, yet it shows a bit of Ligustrum, first identification of this species. That is something too:)

Grtz,

Ludo

still so little time at hand, yet we struggle on:) Posted 12 years ago
1. Frankhuizen Photography
  
  Lion
  
  Wow 245 shots for one photo. See it printed next week? ;-) Posted 12 years ago
2. Ferdy Christant
  
  Lion
  
  Absolutely no need to apologize, Ludo. As beautiful as the scenery is during these cold days, it's too cold for me to be outside for such a long time. Deep respect that you did this, risking your gear even.
  
  I'd promote the image but unfortunately the homepage image can only show landscape oriented photos. Posted 12 years ago, modified 12 years ago
3. 1. Ludo Sak
    
    Lion
    
    Absolutely no need to apologize, Ferdy, same there:) Thank you for wanting to promote it, I like that a lot! I understand the reason, normally I do keep this in mind when talking a JD shot, yet in this case the contrast of scenery needed to be there. No worries, maybe in the next release! Posted 12 years ago
  2. 1. Ferdy Christant
      
      Lion
      
      JungleDragon III can promote any image of any aspect ratio :) Posted 12 years ago
4. WildFlower
  
  Lion
  
  Ludo, your stargazing photos are really impressive, but you have identified this one as a Ligustrum species. Since this is still the only photo of the species, do you have a more representative one of the plant itself?
  The question is, is it really Ligustrum vulgare or Ligustrum ovalifolium, which is an introduced species, more commonly used for hedges? Are the leaves long and narrow or rather elliptical? Posted 11 years ago
5. 1. Ludo Sak
    
    Lion
    
    Hi WF, thnx for your comment on the impressiveness;) Hey, maybe I truly am mistaken abut the Ligustrum, I'll comment here again with a decent shot of the plant by reasonable daylight after work. What the heck, I'll get a flashlight and describe them for you: coming up in a minute.. Posted 11 years ago
  2. 1. Ludo Sak
      
      Lion
      
      http://www.lsak.com/images/JD/Ligustrum_leaf_-_beneath_the_stars_or_so_to_say.JPG Posted 11 years ago, modified 11 years ago
    2. 1. WildFlower
        
        Lion
        
        Thanks, Ludo, that was a quick response. These leaves look quite rounded so more likely to be a Ligustrum ovalifolium. It is also more likely to remain evergreen. You can compare the shape of the leaves of the two species here
        http://www.irishwildflowers.ie/pages-trees/t-35.html
        http://www.irishwildflowers.ie/pages-trees/t-34.html Posted 11 years ago, modified 11 years ago
  3. Ludo Sak
    
    Lion
    
    You are right, it is the 'Ligustrum ovalifolium' as the leaves do not resemble the photos on the link you provided. I stand corrected, for which I thank you. Posted 11 years ago
  4. 1. WildFlower
      
      Lion
      
      Great, now that we got this right, I can introduce a wild Ligustrum vulgare ;)
      Nevertheless, it would be good if you could upload another photo of this species, whenever appropriate to do it justice. Posted 11 years ago

Ludo Sak

Lion

Bet on it, I had to defrost my camera for about two hours. Tripod too:) How's the progress on your side? Short period and difficult subject, challenge it is!:) Posted 12 years ago
1. Frankhuizen Photography
  
  Lion
  
  I took a few photos outside, but also a few inside because I'm a shivery ("koukleum"). But not ready yet....
  
  Indeed short period and a challenging subject. Saw your office yesterday (had no camera with me so no photos from the city of light this time). Posted 12 years ago
2. 1. Ludo Sak
    
    Lion
    
    Same for my shots. Great ideas, if only I had more time. Still at the office at the moment, long evening ahead and no camera either:) Posted 12 years ago

EAmer

Lion

Great !!!!!!!!!!!! Posted 12 years ago
1. Ludo Sak
  
  Lion
  
  Thanks E! Posted 12 years ago

The Oval-leaved Privet

''Ligustrum ovalifolium'', also known as oval-leaved privet, is a semi-evergreen shrub in the privet genus ''Ligustrum''. The species is native to Japan.

Info 2 0

Similar species: Lamiales

Species identified by Ludo Sak