STARRY ATCHU

Kuto, Isle of Pines

Though cyclone Uesi was north of New Caledonia, it’s effect on Isle of Pines was minimal with some grey clouds and occasional drizzle in the night. An image I was hoping to capture was the Milky Way over Adventure Island. I got one clear night out of the four we were there. This shot was taken on our last night in Isle of Pines.

Sony a7 III + Tamron E 28-75mmƒ/2.8 Di III RXD28mm, 8 seconds @ ƒ/2.8, ISO 3200

If you haven’t read my last post, my friend, her two kids and I spent four nights, five days in Isle of Pines at Atchu Camping. The campsite has kind of a private beach and that is where I took this photo from. I was pretty lucky to capture this image as it was our last night on the island. The first night I got up it was clear but clouds came rolling in at such speed, it was amazing to watch. It covered up very quickly and I couldn’t see the Milky Way to begin with. The second night was overcast and the third night it rained. I didn’t give up thought, as there was one more night.

I used the PhotoPills app to see where the Milky Way was going to appear. The app showed it above the horizon at 2:30 am, just over Adventure Island (the island to the left of the image). Unfortunately, with dawn only a couple of hours away and the sun rising from the same direction, it was too bright, not only me to see it but, for the camera to capture it, as well. This eight second exposure was taken at 2:40 am and as you can see, it looks almost day time. I did miscalculate one thing though, the angle at which the Milky Way would appear. I thought it was vertically above the island but in fact, it was at a 35º angle to the right. I should have studied the app thoroughly. Great app though and highly recommend it, PhotoPills.

My first exposures of the Milky Way were framed more to the right with Adventure Island in the middle of the image. Once I realised I wouldn’t capture the Milky Way, I reframed my shot to still include the kayak in the foreground but to add the branches as a natural frame to the stars. I tried different exposure times to see how long I could go before the stars started streaking. Eight seconds seemed to be perfect for this scene. Now I was only two meters from the kayaks which is why they’re out of focus. I should’ve taken another exposure with the focus on them and blended the two images to get sharpness throughout the image. I can’t tell you why I didn’t do it, I can’t only tell you I should have. Editing was fairly quick. Once I got the White Balance right, I pulled up the Shadows to see more of the kayaks and the land mass to the left. Then I added an Graduated Filter to the foreground with a bit of Whites to accentuate the highlight a little. Another Graduated Filter was added to the sky with Clarity and a little Dehaze, just to make those stars pop more. A couple of Radial Filters were added to lighten the water and the other as a vignette. Last bit of edit was with the Adjustment Brush to add Highlight and Whites to a few stars, just to make them shine a little more. Overall, I like the image even though it’s not the most eye catching.

There’s another photo though that I find much more interesting but that’s for a different post.