This was an amazing night of photography with one of the best night skies I have EVER seen.
After spending around 5 months in Kakadu National Park which can only be described as ‘wild’….beautiful but truely WILD, the next part to our Australian adventure was upon us.
Western Australia called! But before crossing the border into WA we had a long drive across west. We decided the stop at remote campsite called Big Horse Campground close to Timber Creek.
What a great little spot this was with the entire area covered with Boab trees, or the ‘trees of life’.
As darkness fell and millions of stars stared back down at us I immediately started to
envision this shot.
This is the type of photography I really enjoy, spontaneous and ‘in the moment'
Don’t get me wrong there is a time and a place for a well thought out shoot with days of planning etc. BUT photography opportunities that just appear out of nowhere are ALWAYS my favourite. This is the reason that I chose ‘SNAPS’ over ‘Photography’ in my branding as I feel it reflects me as a photographer much more accurately. Lots of you have asked me this question before so I thought this would be a great opportunity to explain myself!
After picking out the perfect Boab tree that sat nicely under the milky way, I set up my tripod and took a few test shots.
As you can imagine in outback Australia there is next to no light pollution making this a perfect place for astro photography. Using a torch I lit up the Boab in front of me to help me frame my shot. Once I was happy I took a range of shots with slightly varied compositions.
I was so happy with the end result given this was a single exposure and no tracking was used.
If you have any questions about the location, settings used , or any general photography questions please comment or message me directly via the ‘contact’ page.
What would you like to hear more about next month? Id love to hear from you!
Tips & Tricks:
A relatively fast wide angle lens is essential for this type of photography. Not only will this allow you to capture as many of those stars as possible it will also allow you greater freedom when framing your shot with subjects in the foreground.
The darker the better! The less light pollution (the Moon included) the greater number of stars you are going to be able capture with minimal noise. Likewise a clear sky is obviously going to be a key factor here too.
A stable tripod is a MUST. You are going to be shooting at long shutter speeds of say 10” or more therefore you need a solid base for your camera that is going to keep it steady throughout the shot.
Don’t be afraid to up the ISO. In my case with the Boab Tree I had very limited light pollution which meant my foreground was still correctly exposed even at a 30” shutter speed. You may find that your foreground becomes over exposed at higher shutter speeds if there is light pollution close by. In these circumstances I highly recommend you take a seperate, or several shots just of the foreground which can be stacked and masked into your final composition. Another little tip to make sure your foreground is exposed to how you would like is to utilise the use of an external light source of your own. You can get very experimental with this.
If you are lucky enough to have a star tracker with you, this will allow you to shoot several exposures of the stars which can then be stacked at a later date. This method is going to provide the least amount of noise and lead to a sharper overall image. I
A remote shutter release or using a delayed shutter option on your camera is definitely recommend to ensure the camera and tripod is as still as possible throughout the shot.