The Southern Cross over Mt Painter

Definitely like it mate, and thanks for the specs. I’ll have a go myself soon!

deye is correct. It’s a 30 second exposure at I think f4, on an 11mm lens. It was just on last light, so there was still a tiny bit of light from the sunset behind me to bring out Mt Painter.

I also walked way out to the right and hit the foreground rocks with a soft flash, but to be honest I don’t think it had a lot of impact.

A bit of cropping in Photoshop, as well as slight darkening of the sky and a slight boost to the foreground.

I’m still in the process of experimenting with these kinds of shots, so glad you all like this one 🙂

Holden Caulfield said :

Ben_Dover said :

How long was the exposure Ozhair? I’ve just acquired a tripod, may have a go at some long exposures.

I don’t think it would be too long (seconds, not minutes) otherwise you’d notice movement in the stars.

I would guess around 30 seconds, more than that in a wide angle and star trails start to form. If it was a telephoto then you would have to be around 5 seconds to prevent trails.

Unfortunately Ozhair I think you were probably too late to get a photo of Pan-starrs even if the cloud behaved.

This is one I took on the 5th of March, just as it set behind the mountains http://www.flickr.com/photos/d-eye/8531207934/in/set-72157632921748366/
(wide angle)
and with a telephoto
http://www.flickr.com/photos/d-eye/8530094581/in/set-72157632921748366/

Ben_Dover said :

How long was the exposure Ozhair? I’ve just acquired a tripod, may have a go at some long exposures.

I don’t think it would be too long (seconds, not minutes) otherwise you’d notice movement in the stars.

I remember the first time I took 5 minute+ exposures in the middle of the night, it was a real spin out to see pics that looked like they were taken in the day time.

johnboy said :

I don’t think you’re getting benett’s poor attempt at humour.

Benett put in an impressive dump of posts last night! Cyclists and carrots (and bizarrely, orange juice) were the key themes!

johnboy said :

I don’t think you’re getting benett’s poor attempt at humour.

Obviously not – I’ll try and wind back the literalism. I’d still like to see Ozhair’s EXIF data.

benett said :

I’m amazed the sky isn’t white, considering that the lens was open for about 2 hours to capture Canberra’s light, or lack of.

There’s no way this is a two hour exposure. If it was, the stars would look like big light trails circling the south celestial pole.

Just looking at it I’d say it is about two or so minutes in the half hour or so after sunset. Hopefully Ozhair could post the EXIF data from the shot? And mention if any ND filters or the like were used to lengthen the exposure (pls).

How long was the exposure Ozhair? I’ve just acquired a tripod, may have a go at some long exposures.

Cimexus said :

LSWCHP said :

Down closer to the ground at the 5 o’clock position are two bright stars pointing upwards and to the left, right at the top of the cross. These pointing stars are known, for some reason, as “the pointers”.

And, as an additional piece of trivia which is both interesting and easy to remember, the pointer star furthest from the Southern Cross is Alpha Centauri, the closest visible star to us other than the Sun. (Well, it’s actually two stars orbiting each other, but I digress)

Also, if you want to be a boy scout for a moment, you can use the southern cross and the pointers to find south, thereby working out your place in the world. You just need to draw three imaginary lines and where the two longest lines intersect, that is roughly south.

I’ve edited the OP’s excellent pic to illustrate (hope the OP doesn’t mind): http://i.imgur.com/dvdOq0a.jpg

LSWCHP said :

poetix said :

I know I’ll be ridiculed, but I can’t see the Southern Cross. Where is it? All I can see is a muster of stars.

Ahem, almost exactly in the centre of the image of the sky (or a quarter of the total image length down from the top) is a formation of 4 bright stars and one duller star that looks like a cross lying on its side with the long axis pointing down towards bottom left. Down closer to the ground at the 5 o’clock position are two bright stars pointing upwards and to the left, right at the top of the cross. These pointing stars are known, for some reason, as “the pointers”.

It might be time to take a break from the iambic pentameter, and have a look out the window. 🙂

Thanks! That was, like, um, almost totally my computer’s fault…In my spare time I discover new Pacific Islands, using only the stars to guide me.