Milky Way Astro-seascapes & landscapes

[Richard A]

I'm quite lucky that I don't have to drive too far south to get quite dark skies. Wildlife can be a bit of a problem but I wouldn't see that much down there. The biggest thing is finding interesting foregrounds in the direction you want to point the camera.

 

[Richard A]

So I've been playing around with this shot for a few weeks and I'm finally pretty happy with it. This was the best shot I took I think (least affected by cloud).

• ILCE-7RM5
• 16.0 mm
• ƒ/2.8
• 8 sec
• ISO 1600

Here is a version with less stars.

• ILCE-7RM5
• 16.0 mm
• ƒ/2.8
• 8 sec
• ISO 1600

These are 60 shots stacked along with 20 dark frames in Starry Landscape Stacker. Processed in Photoshop.

I was thinking tonight would be a good night to go back down there to the spot I discovered a couple of days after taking these. Conditions were perfect until I remembered there's a nearly full moon. Hopefully it'll still be good in a week or so. This is probably about the best time of year here to do stuff like this, weather wise. Except the actual core of the Milky Way only rises about 3:00 - 3:30 in the morning. I'm looking forward to late winter now when it is horizontal across the western sky.

 

[AKVet]

Nice composition! The MW came out pretty good even though there was a full moon. The moon lit up your foreground nicely.

 

[DaveC Oz]

Last night I travelled to a site near Newstead in central Victoria hoping to get some Milky Way shots. As I was packing up at around 1am I noticed a faint glow on the horizon and reset my camera for a few shots to the south to capture a faint Aurora Australis. High ISO so not the cleanest of images, but I was happy for the bonus.

• Viltrox 16mm F1.8 FE
• 16.0 mm
• ƒ/1.7999999523163
• 8 sec
• ISO 5000

 

[DaveC Oz]

Spent all last night out taking photo's or driving between locations, a bit over 900km covered so I'm a bit tired today. Only one 8 second photo processed so far, showing the Milky Way core over the sign at the Lake Tyrell viewing platform just before moonrise

• Viltrox 16mm F1.8 FE
• 16.0 mm
• ƒ/2.5
• 8 sec
• ISO 5000

 

[Richard A]

Wow! Excellent. Driving 900km in a night - it’s a wonder you had time to take any photos. What time did the Milky Way core rise?

I’m seriously thinking about getting a fast wide prime for doing Astro.

 

[DaveC Oz]

It wasn't all at night, I travelled to Boort during the day. Caught a bit of sleep then took some shots there. Then went to Lake Tyrrell afterwards. Saw some great meteor action just after arriving. The Milky Way core was visible from just before 9pm at my location. The moon rose at around 1:15

 

[DaveC Oz]

Exact same view as previous but this time 20 photos exposure stacked in Sequator, then duplicated for two layers with star reduction applied to one before blending

 

[evacguy]

Spent all last night out taking photo's or driving between locations, a bit over 900km covered so I'm a bit tired today. Only one 8 second photo processed so far, showing the Milky Way core over the sign at the Lake Tyrell viewing platform just before moonriseView attachment 73552

Great shot Dave. There seems to be some star trailing in the top left corner. How did that happen? Why would the trailing only be in an isolated part of the image?

 

[DaveC Oz]

Great shot Dave. There seems to be some star trailing in the top left corner. How did that happen? Why would the trailing only be in an isolated part of the image?

Not sure how it was introduced. It's not there in the original arw file. I can only put it down to tiredness and the nut on the controls when processing.

 

[Richard A]

That looks way better. As far as some star trailing is concerned that could be a combination of the lens and the stacking I reckon. That's just a guess though. This one is much bluer in the sky. Did you change the white balance during processing?

 

[DaveC Oz]

That looks way better. As far as some star trailing is concerned that could be a combination of the lens and the stacking I reckon. That's just a guess though. This one is much bluer in the sky. Did you change the white balance during processing?

No change to the white balance, first shot was a single 8 second exposure @ high ISO. The second was 20 shots stacked for a single 160 second exposure, then layered for emphasising foreground, milky way, and nebulae. The rising moon just below the horizon was tending to give the sky quite a red hue, so I adjusted the blue curve level to neutralise it somewhat

 

[DaveC Oz]

Another shot from Tuesday night. A different kind of Star Fish, beside Little Lake Boort, Boort, Victoria. Pleased with the result given the high amount of peripheral lighting around

• Viltrox 16mm F1.8 FE
• 16.0 mm
• ƒ/1.7999999523163
• 160 sec
• ISO 5000

 

[FowlersFreeTime]

Another shot from Tuesday night. A different kind of Star Fish, beside Little Lake Boort, Boort, Victoria. Pleased with the result given the high amount of peripheral lighting aroundView attachment 73576

love this one too, pity the fence was in the way, otherwise you'd have a fish swimming in an endless sea of stars...

 

[DaveC Oz]

love this one too, pity the fence was in the way, otherwise you'd have a fish swimming in an endless sea of stars...

Yeah, I was annoyed that they had fenced the sculptures, I tried multiple levels and angles, but all had compromises, in the end I decided that maybe a different kind of fish needed a different kind of fish tank