Thread: Night Photography

Long ago, and for a reason that I have long since forgotten, I needed to make a round trip from Melbourne out to Geelong. At some point, I needed to correct a pressing hydrostatic problem. Pulled into a very, very dark rest stop clearing and shut it down.
Given the orintation of the solar system, I had no idea of the sheer quantity of stars and galaxies that you all get to look at. My northern sky is empty by contrast.

Isn't it interesting the sort of rainbow in the lights of the city on the horizon. Is that with your night vision lens thingy? Nice.

Heaps o' stars at Venus Bay. Just toddle off a bit further.

The true beauty of digital = blast away!
1, 2, 4, 8, 16 secs. Keep track of the other values for openings and ASA equivalent. You can develop a little private formula to put that city-glow on the horizon.
And, I suppose, you can cut/copy that and paste it into any image?

tl, imagine, if you will, that our galaxy is shaped like a tea saucer with a few tight arms flung out around the rim. Our solar system is in one of those arms, about 1 cm from the edge of the dish. It is tipped so that those of us in the northern hemisphere are looking outwards at the rim. . . . the star populations are quite sparse.
You, on the other hand look up to see right across the middle of the galaxy to the far side. Orders of magnitude more stars that what I ever see here.

I have had the good fortune to see both and compare. I have had the good fortune to sail and watch the constellations twist, night after night, from 50N to 47S. Plus, I am not a polliwog. I have, in fact, sailed across the equator twice. I AM a turtle.

One of the good things about digital cameras is that it is possible to mess about with things like night photography without the need to think about the cost too much. Over the years I built up enough confidence to have a go with the (expensive per shot) film in the Box Brownie which I posted a couple of last September. I used the 7D as the exposure meter for the Brownie then.

Anyway, here's a bunch taken over the last 5 years, mostly with the 400D but some with the 7D.
In no particular order...IMG_0369.jpgIMG_3369a.jpgIMG_3707.jpgIMG_4592.JPGIMG_4895.JPGIMG_5115.jpgIMG_6185.jpgIMG_6214.jpgIMG_6263.jpgIMG_7797.JPGIMG_7973.JPGIMG_8113.JPG

Originally Posted by Robson Valley

I have had the good fortune to see both and compare. I have had the good fortune to sail and watch the constellations twist, night after night, from 50N to 47S. Plus, I am not a polliwog. I have, in fact, sailed across the equator twice. I AM a turtle.

RV, one of my great disappointments in the northern hemisphere was finally, with difficulty, seeing some of the famous constellations through the light pollution. The southern hemisphere IS better.

TL, along with what RV said about where we are on the disc, not only do we have more stars in the southern hemisphere we have the brightest ones too. Of the 4 brightest stars in the sky, we can see all of them at least some of the time, but the second (Canopus) and fourth (alpha centauri) brightest are never visible from most places in the northern hemisphere.

It is a shame I live in a larger city now but I still carry extraordinary memories of walking through the northern south Australian scrub under a moonlit sky with no other light at all... I am sure many people don't miss what they have never known. I would be very jealous of RVs boating fortune.

(Polliwog = tadpole(!) stuck in a pond I imagine)

Regards
SWK

Originally Posted by tea lady

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Is that with your night vision lens thingy? Nice.

Heaps o' stars at Venus Bay. Just toddle off a bit further.

If you mean my UV filter, the answer is no.

I'm plannning an overnighter or 2 days at the Prom, so a visit to Venus Bay is a definite maybe.

Well? What have you been up to, photo-wise?

Moving lights. Writing with light. Recording the passage of time.
Fireworks always did that for me.