My first love in photography was in the 1980s receiving my first 35mm camera.
Moving through the years in 2010 I bought my first Nikon D5200 crop sensor camera taking some amazing photos of my children from birth to teenager, capturing also their fun times and monthly athletic competitions.
In 2018 I bought myself my first full-frame camera Nikon D750 with various lenses to capture my dream photos. I have always wanted to capture long and short exposure photos of waterfalls and seascapes. Buying the LEE and NiSi filter system allowed me to capture almost any exposure time from a third of a second to freeze water to a 20-minute long exposure capturing movement in the sky.
In 2020 I wanted to master and be able to capture full Moon and Sunrise/Sunset over towers and buildings, I moved to a Nikon D850 mainly because of much higher resolution and the dynamics which I had heard were fantastic. I spent a while doing a lot of research on how the Moon and sun works with their different phases, movement, etc.
August 2020 I captured my full first-ever planned full Moon over Darwen Tower which was so surreal watching the Moonrise from the Horizon knowing I have a Nikon D850 with a Sigma 150-600mm lens on it. I managed to capture the Moon just before it went into the cloud. Due to the time I took this photo (about 8 pm), it was still daylight giving the moon a stunning orange glow.
The next day I wanted to see if I could capture the full Moon again – I set myself my plan, I knew my position and I knew what time the Moon would rise, I set off 1 hour before Moonrise setup waited and it happened again – this time I captured it in darkness giving off the Moonglow over Darwen Tower.
I posted these on social media and started to get more likes, shares – both photos were published in national newspapers and lots of news websites such as PetaPixel from the USA contacted me.
These photos and all my others can be seen on my gallery and also through my achievements page.
It has become a fun challenge for me each month to plan a full Moon over towers and buildings now I fully understand capturing the full Moon. This technique also works for Sunrise and Sunset, this has allowed me to capture the Sun either rising or setting over buildings and towers.
Having my photos published in local and almost every national newspapers, live on BBC TV & ITV, BBC News, BBC One Show and also during the weather forecast makes me proud of what I have achieved with this fantastic hobby. My Moonscapes have also been featured in the official Nikon magazine and other various photography magazines.
All my photos are available on print, canvas, or image, I also offer commissions and commercial photography such as homes, sculptures, monuments, events, industrial, and interiors. All commissions once approved full rights and the copyright will belong to the client.
My images/photos are also available to purchase for wallpaper, home decorative, posters, advertising on your property/transport etc.
For more info please send me an email to info@leemansfield.co.uk
Lee Mansfield
“Winner of the 2022 Lancashire Life reader photography competition” (full story in my Vlog section)
“Winner of the 2023 Cheshire Life reader photography competition” (full story in my Vlog section)
“Shortlisted in the Astro Photography of the Year 2023” (full story in my Vlog section)
“Photo of the day (PhotoPills) 2021 / 2022 / 2023”
Last updated December 2023