Wrapping up the two nights’ photography I had around the lighthouse at Airey’s Inlet, I thought I’d share the last few shots I took on those evenings- mostly different angles of the lighthouse with the stars behind. I really don’t get tired of this viewpoint- each shot was a joy to take and exciting to see the result. Stars are a breathtaking phenomenon, and to see them revealed on the camera’s sensor in this way made this photoshoot an incredibly enjoyable one. Apologies if you’ve seen too many of these now. This’ll be the last lot. 🙂
A more underexposed, later-night shot captures the dark hues of a nearly black sky. You can see the streaked trail of a satellite just above the lighthouse’s crown.
This shot, taken shortly after sunset, shows up some of the softer blue hues still in the sky and reflecting from a sun beyond the horizon, while stars are visible overhead. Yellow light in the bottom-left corner of the frame is not solar residue but is ambient light pollution from the town of Geelong catching in clouds near the horizon.
This shot, taken looking nearly straight up and avoiding the lighthouse altogether, shows the bright band of the Milky Way, with a satellite tracking across the top of the shot for the duration of the exposure. I was startled by how many of my shots showed up satellites as they traversed the sky- there are a lot of them up there! I didn’t notice a single one while I was actually doing the shooting and only saw them after looking at the photos themselves.
Looking nearly straight up, the camera’s wide angle captures the lighthouse protruding into the frame- and yes, another satellite.
From this angle, you can see the beams of light from the beacon catching in moisture in the air. In fact the effect visually while standing watching the blinking light from the massive bulb was quite spectacular- it shot outwards like rays from a laser gun into the night, though the effect was subtle and hard to capture on the sensor (click the image to see the effect larger and more clearly).
And in this last shot, grain/noise from the camera’s high ISO setting (1600) makes the shot a little overtextured for my liking, but still returns a pleasing composition/exposure.
Thanks for dropping by!
WanderLust 