Tag: stars

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Milky Way above lighthouse

The Milky Way stretches across the night sky, casting a celestial glow over a tall white lighthouse illuminating the surrounding sky.

I’ve photographed the Castlepoint lighthouse a number of times. Last winter I planned a weekend stay to coincide with a new moon. Luckily on the first night the clouds cleared and the stars shone brightly. The lighthouse is very bright though. I had forgotten just how bright it appears on camera. So my original view of the lighthouse in the foreground and Milky Way above didn’t quite work out. Getting my camera close to the base of the lighthouse and looking up I was able to capture the above. This is one of my best photographs of the Milky Way so far but still very much work in progress in my opinion. I have unfinished business with astrophotography at Castlepoint. 

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Rarotonga lagoon at night

Night sky with stars and blurred clouds with the Rarotonga lagoon lit up in the foreground.

Seeing the stars from a remote island in the middle of the South Pacific is magical. There is very little light pollution. After a couple of clear nights I knew I had made a mistake. Travelling light and not bringing my 14mm astrophotography lens. I had to resort to my all rounder 24mm zoom lens which can only capture a fraction of what is possible. Still I gave it a go and I’m pleased with the results. You can clearly see some stars in the night sky. In the foreground the waters edge is lit up by the house. This ended up being a 30 second long exposure at f3.5. I wish I had tried a few shots with a higher ISO than 100, not sure what I was thinking when I took this, must be out of practice.

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Milky Way above the Church of the Good Shepherd

The stars of the milkyway raising up behind a small stone Church at night with snow capped mountains in the background.

This is one of my best photographs of the Milky Way and the church in the foreground makes it all the more special. Yet, I still have unfinished photographic business on the shores of Lake Tekapo. Especially when it comes to better astrophotography, landscapes at night and the Church of the Good Shepherd. My vision for this location is a higher up view with a wide lens. Combining my previous Lake Tekapo with Church of the Good Shepherd photograph. Where you can see the lake behind the church with this photograph of the stars above. This would probably be taken from the MacLaren Footbridge. I tried that on this night but the wind made it impossible to get a sharp enough photograph of the church or a long enough exposure to capture the Milky Way. I could use Photoshop to combine the two images but I would rather capture the one photograph in the camera. That will have to wait for another visit to the beautiful Mackenzie country.

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Sirius and Canopus in the night sky

Sirius and Canopus in the night sky

I captured this astrophotograph near Point View Breaker Bay. Taken at about 10pm at night in early December. With some clouds in the sky, I’d wondered if the camera would capture any stars. With a 15 second long exposure time, the camera captured thousands of stars I couldn’t see with my eyes. The bright star on the left is Sirius, the brightest star in the night sky. The one in the upper middle is Canopus, the second brightest.