After the experience of capturing the Southern Lights, it was time to focus on another classic of long exposure photography: the Milky Way.  

There is something magical about looking at a star-studded night sky and capturing its splendour. Even though the best time to view the Milky Way in Victoria is during the winter months from June to August, when the galaxy is most visible, the nights are longest, and the air is clearest, I could not resist chasing the stars on a couple of clear nights in late January, bang in the middle of summer!

Many years ago I took this winning shot of the Milky Way in Winter at Aireys Inlet with the Split Point Lighthouse shining brightly.

It was published in a photography magazine and of the thousands of photos I have taken, it remains one of my absolute favourites.

You see on Anui, although we often observed the Milky Way, particularly when we were offshore, miles away from coastal lights, there was the small problem of constant movement… which did not mix with long exposures and tripods! So I have literally been starved of opportunities to take Milky Way shots.

I was intent on revisiting the iconic Lighthouse which was probably a bit ambitious given how rusty I was with Astro settings and the use of a tripod. My old ‘how to’ notes came in handy!

On my first night out I spent a couple of hours fiddling in the dark and getting a wee bit frustrated by my inability to get it right. Just as well I was on my own as there was a lot of talking aloud to myself! I found it hard to adjust the focus, line up the tripod and camera angle properly in the dark with the uneven sloping ground. You just can’t see a thing through the viewfinder! So the first few of my images were disappointing, all looking crooked like this one!

It is a bit of trial and error… lots of errors actually! But over two separate visits things improved a little. Here are several shots I was reasonably happy with. They were taken in different conditions, and with different settings. On the first day there was a hint of Aurora hues, though quite faint and only the smallest of moon, so a multitude of stars were visible. Can you see the bright one to the right of the lighthouse? That’s Bengie keeping an eye on me.

Several days later there were a few clouds about, the moon was larger and consequently less stars were on show. But I quite like the wispy effect of long exposure on the clouds and you could see Orion high in the sky above the lighthouse, particularly once they dispersed.

Post-processing is a big part of astrophotography, because the camera captures a low-contrast sky that needs some work. So after spending a couple of hours taking shots, you spend the same again developing them. I do all the editing in Adobe Lightroom. These “before and after” photos illustrate the difference editing images makes:

Photographing the night sky can be a tricky job. However, it is also well worth the effort. The hardest part is just staying up late in the first place, and having the heavens cooperate: little to no clouds, new moon or only a tiny crescent so there is no light pollution. Luckily, we are only a short drive from ideal vantage points along the Surf Coast. There are endless opportunities to experiment, learn, improve: playing with light painting in the foreground, scouting new viewing spots, using a different lens (my old wide angle lens has perished and I have just acquired a secondhand but better one for low light photography). There will be more late nights when the conditions allow!