Or in this case a rusty piece of farm machinery! An enjoyable evening of bush camping under the stars near Inverell in New South Wales allowed me the chance to play with some new camera and light painting equipment. The sky was not completely obliging, but the end result and colours were very pleasant (as was dinner and a glass of red).
Ok, some others may disagree with that, but I’m pleased to announce that I was kindly awarded the Erwin Van Der Velden memorial trophy for best widefield Astro photo for the second time this Astrofest.
I’m very happy that this massive panorama of 42 shots, somewhat cut down, won. The outback town in deepest Qld that it was taken is called Boulia and is a most exceptionally remote place to visit!
I do take a lot of star-trails photos!
Not only do I like the dramatic effect of the trails themselves, but there is a certain mystery in the end result caused by stray light from unexpected sources. This photo was no exception with extra drama being added by the road-trains crossing the Nullarbor Plain 24/7. Taken on the WA/SA border over four hours, this image really captures the spectacular landscape of the area and how humans have impacted it.
Tucked away in outback Western Australia is a very bizarre but ultimately engaging art installation by the British artist Anthony Gormley. Over 50 locals from the town of Menzies stripped naked to be scanned and used ad the basis of these weird figures scattered across Lake Ballard.
Of course, I braved freezing conditions to photograph them at night – with decidedly more clothing on than they!
There is no greater honour, than to be judged by your friends and fellow Qld astronomers. My Nightscape “Reach for the Stars” won the Erwin van der Velden Memorial Trophy for Non-Telescope Astrophotography 2016 at Queensland Astrofest. Here’s how it was done:
A star trails image, I just can’t do enough of them, but this time using a telephoto lens at 150mm.
I’d been sat on the beach looking at the island a kilometre out and decided it may be nice to frame it up and see if I could capture the stars emerging from atmospheric extinction. When I went back on the beach later that evening, there was a fair bit of cloud about and I thought that I would get nothing of merit. I grabbed 40 mins of data anyway (There are a lot worse things to do that to lay on a beach watching the stars after all).
What came out was this shot. I don’t know why, but it’s my favourite to date – just something about the clouds and the merged wave tops being in harmony, and where did that lilac sky come from?! Other than stacking, and some gentle adjustments, it’s how it came off the camera. 
How much astronomy can you get in a single photo!
Here we see a full moon rising on Christmas day, surrounded by anti-crepuscular sun rays and on the belt of Venus (The Earth’s rising shadow)
It’s been a great season, see you again next year!
In a magical moment looking across Tin Can Bay from Rainbow Beach, Venus shines brightly over the waters surrounded by the faint glow of zodiacal light. It was so pretty I made a video too!
Such a fantastic dark sky location in rural Queensland. Monto is a small but very friendly bush community and a delightful place to spend a few days. This star trails shot was taken looking back towards the campsite on the edge of town. How dark is that!!!
