PhoTophe

BLOG

Photography has changed the way I see the world around me.

Through it I discover new things and rediscover old ones. Like my island, New Caledonia.

This blog is just me sharing my world through my photography.

Hope you enjoy.

Posts tagged astrophotography
ATCHU WAY

Kuto, Isle of Pines

I got this shot only a few minutes after my last shot. Not quite satisfied with the scene, I switched my attention to these pine trees and thought it would make a nice image with the stars above it. Little did I know I’d capture part of the Milky Way.

As mentioned in my last post, I was hoping to capture the Milky Way over Adventure Island from Atchu Camping. The centre of the Milky Way was too close to the fairly bright horizon to be seen. The sun rises from the same direction and the two hour window before hand wasn’t enough to capture it over the island. Turning my attention about forty degrees to the right, I was able to capture a part of it higher in the sky. To my surprise, as I couldn’t see it with my eyes. Though very happy I capture the Milky Way, it wasn’t my intention on this photo. My attention was captured my the three pine trees pointing up towards the stars. To me, it made for a better composition than my previous photo. And, as with the last photo, it wasn’t taken at dawn but only ten minutes after the first shot at about 2:50 am.

If you’d like to know more on Atchu Camping, check out my blog post To Atchu Beach.

Editing took a little longer on this image. Trying to bring out the Milky Way as much as possible without over doing it, was difficult. A Graduated Filter loaded with Clarity and Dehaze can do wonders but dodging and burning with the Adjustment Brush helped too. The rest of the image was fairly straight forward in regards to editing.

 

SONY a7 III

full-frame mirrorless camera (body only)

TAMRON E 28-75mm ƒ/2.8 Di IIIRXD

standard zoom, e-mount lens

VANGUARD TRIPOD

VEO 235AB Tripod with TBH-50 Ball Head

L-BRACKET

quick release Arca-Swiss L-plate for Sony Alpha series cameras

SANDICK EXTREME PRO CARD

128GB SDXC memory card

HEADLAMP

Letmy headlamp with white and red Light

 
New CaledoniaCHRIStophe Robert HERVOUËTa7 3, a7 III, astrophotography, atchu camping, atchu way, beach, campimg atchu, christophe hervouet, christophe robert hervouet, galaxy, ile des pins, isle of pines, kuto, long exposure, milky way, new caledonia, night, night photography, nouvelle caledonie, pine trees, province sud, sony, south province, tamron e 28-75 mm f2.8 di iii rxd
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.

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.

 

SONY a7 III

full-frame mirrorless camera (body only)

TAMRON E 28-75mm ƒ/2.8 Di III RXD

standard zoom, E-mount lens

VANGUARD TRIPOD

VEO 235AB Tripod with TBH-50 Ball Head

L-BRACKET

Quick Release Arca-Swiss L-plate for Sony Alpha Series Cameras

SANDISK EXTREME PRO CARD

128GB SDXC memory card

HEADLAMP

Letmy Headlamp with White and Red Light

 
New CaledoniaCHRIStophe Robert HERVOUËTa7 3, a7 III, astrophotography, atchu camping, beach, campimg atchu, canoes, christophe hervouet, ile des pins, isle of pines, kayaks, kuto, new caledonia, night, nouvelle caledonie, province sud, sony, south province, starry atchu, stars, tamron e 28-75 mm f2.8 di iii rxd
RION'S SKIES

Païta, New Caledonia

I’m back everyone and I’d like to apologies for the lack of content for the last few weeks. I was very sick with high fever and a lung infection. I couldn’t sleep and when I could it wasn’t good, the constant headaches prevented concentration and couldn’t look at a screen long enough without getting nauseous. I rarely get sick but this was the worst I’ve ever been sick in my life. It really knocked me out. All good now though so hopefully I’ll be able to get back to posting regularly.

This photo was taken from a good friend of mine’s home in Naïa. At the time, the house wasn’t quite finished yet. This was late February. We were there to checkout the advancement on the house and to celebrate another friend’s birthday. This is pretty much the view he has from his lounge room. Absolutely stunning during the day too.

I was still trying out astrophotography with my new camera and though I had a few drinks in me, I had the urge to get the camera out and shoot the night skies. I took two shot for this image. The first was of the stars and the second of the foreground which I illuminated with a small torch. I then used Photoshop to blend the skies of the first photo to the foreground of the second and edited the blended image in Lightroom. It took me quite a long time to get the edit to the point where I was happy with it. The skies is where I had the most trouble getting right. I looked up a few astrophotographers on Youtube to get an idea on how they edit their images and used some of their techniques here. Not the most interesting photo, I admit, but I’m pretty happy with the results.

A big thank you to Roro & Mumu for that weekend. Cheers guys.

28 mm, 10 seconds @ ƒ/2.8, ISO 3200

New CaledoniaCHRIStophe Robert HERVOUËTa7 3, a7 III, astrophotography, christophe hervouet, galaxy, milky way, naia, new caledonia, night, nouvelle caledonie, paita, province sud, skies, sony, south province, stars, tamron e 28-75 mm f2.8 di iii rxd