The Dark Sky: Astrophotography

Alpha_Plus

I spent 8 months in Africa last year and was able to get out under the night skies a few times. Here are some favourites...


Sleeping Under Galaxies
Before arriving in Zambia I had envisioned a photo similar to this one so when I found this village I was rather excited. For this photo I had to get my camera as low as possible to avoid including my shadow in the photo as the setting moon (about 20% I think) was directly behind me. This is a blend of two exposures - one for the foreground and one for the sky.
Nikon D600 & Samyang 14mm — 30 sec @ f/2.8 and ISO 4000 // 93 sec @ f/2.8 and ISO 1000


Zambezi Panorama
This is my first Milky Way panorama attempt. Stitched from 9 vertical frames taken with my Samyang 14mm. In the foreground, the Zambezi River is rushing past on it's way eastward. I could hear the hippos grunting loudly almost constantly as I stood out there under the stars.
Nikon D600 & Samyang 14mm — 9x 30 sec @ f/2.8 and ISO 3200


Circles in the Sky
On the way back to my campsite from shooting the above photo I thought I'd try for a longer exposure. This is a 15 minute exposure to capture the movement of the stars.
Nikon D600 & Samyang 14mm — 904 sec @ f/2.8 and ISO 1600

ChrisJ

These are beautiful. What country(ies?) were you in?

Eia

they are all great but the last is killer - at least I think so. Would like to know if there is a story behind these... Might you share your exif?

Stumblebum

Mind blowing! Did you use light painting?

David_S85

Phenomenal shots.

kdog

Terrific shots, Karl. #2 is my favorite followed closely by #1.

Alpha_Plus

ChrisJ wrote: »

These are beautiful. What country(ies?) were you in?

Thank you Chris. These are all from Zambia.

Eia wrote: »

they are all great but the last is killer - at least I think so. Would like to know if there is a story behind these... Might you share your exif?

Thanks Eia. I've added the stories and exif to the original post now.

Stumblebum wrote: »

Mind blowing! Did you use light painting?

Thanks Stumble bum! No light painting at all. The first one is lit by the setting moon and the last two are by the stars only as the moon wasn't out. I've added the exif to the main post now.

David_S85 wrote: »

Phenomenal shots.

Thanks David!

kdog wrote: »

Terrific shots, Karl. #2 is my favorite followed closely by #1.

Thanks kdog. Those are my favourites too!

bnickeson

Phenomenal stuff man! Big fan of the first and second ones. The dark skies out there have to be a dream to photograph.

ian408

Some very nice dark sky shots! Especially 1st and last.

Stumblebum

Thanks for sharing the exposure setting!!

Did you have to make multiple layer masks and such to process these?

fool4thecity

Killer shots! Wow!

Alpha_Plus

bnickeson wrote: »

Phenomenal stuff man! Big fan of the first and second ones. The dark skies out there have to be a dream to photograph.

ian408 wrote: »

Some very nice dark sky shots! Especially 1st and last.

fool4thecity wrote: »

Killer shots! Wow!

Thanks everyone. It seems everyone has different preferences, which is great!

Stumblebum wrote: »

Thanks for sharing the exposure setting!!

Did you have to make multiple layer masks and such to process these?

No worries.. Yes I did. I used a few luminance masks with curves adjustments to various areas of the photos.

Here is the non-pano version of the Zambezi River...

Stumblebum

Last one might be my favorite! It is more than just galaxy! Its a wallhanger!

photobiker

I really enjoy shooting night photography and I love those photos. I do appreciate you sharing your exposure data. Every situation is different but the more information you have at hand the better the chances of getting a great photo. I have to go somewhere to get away from the lights. Heading to Big Bend in a few week. Been practicing and taking lots of notes with the various lenses. Though I might give the time lapse thing a try.

tsk1979

Oh boy, this is indeed magical! Love them . I also love astrophotography, but my work is nowhere in the same league as yours!

sapphire73

These are all amazing shots. So beautiful! Thank you for sharing them and for sharing the exif data as well.

Came back to add: Just checked out your fb page and blog - partly to look for photos of wildlife in Africa. Lots of great captures of the best kind.

Along the way, I saw that you've included some of these night shots are in your 2014 calendar.

Thanks for sharing what you've seen in your travels.

Alpha_Plus

tsk1979 wrote: »

Oh boy, this is indeed magical! Love them . I also love astrophotography, but my work is nowhere in the same league as yours!

sapphire73 wrote: »

These are all amazing shots. So beautiful! Thank you for sharing them and for sharing the exif data as well.

Came back to add: Just checked out your fb page and blog - partly to look for photos of wildlife in Africa. Lots of great captures of the best kind.

Along the way, I saw that you've included some of these night shots are in your 2014 calendar.

Thanks for sharing what you've seen in your travels.

Thanks for all your comments everyone. Yes, I did have one or two of these in the calendar.. I'll be putting more of them that I take this year in my 2015 calendar when it comes time too

photobiker wrote: »

I really enjoy shooting night photography and I love those photos. I do appreciate you sharing your exposure data. Every situation is different but the more information you have at hand the better the chances of getting a great photo. I have to go somewhere to get away from the lights. Heading to Big Bend in a few week. Been practicing and taking lots of notes with the various lenses. Though I might give the time lapse thing a try.

All the best with your expedition! I have a few tips to share on my blog if you're interested in learning more...