Whitby – my favourite coastal town is a very popular place for the tourists and even on a cold winters day it was very busy. I had to wait until dusk before I could start shooting and luckily I had a great sunset, with some nice colourful moody clouds above the pier. When I was planning this trip I was hoping to shoot some star trail photography and for once the English weather was on my side! The clouds disappeared soon after sunset and the night sky was filled with stars 
While I was on the pier I had a play with light painting; I love to capture long exposure images with the aid of a torch.
Whitby is very popular with Goths because Bram Stoker was inspired by the church yard and Abbey in Whitby to write ‘Dracula’. I did see a few Goths driving around in a hearse looking very Gothic! The church and Abbey are high up on the hill overlooking Whitby and you have to climb 199 steps to get up there! The Church and graveyard were a great setting for my star trail shot. It took me about 30 minutes to capture the star trails photograph. The stars seem to be moving but it is because of the earths rotation. It was a bit spooky hanging around graveyard on my own at night! The final images are of the Abbey at night and an impressive old mansion’s façade which is part of the youth hostel.
Mark Tierney is a Yorkshire based Contemporary Wedding Photographer covering the UK and beyond.