Karoo Nights

[Morkel Erasmus]

Hey everyone - apologies for my silence the last 10 days or so.
We were on an extended family roadtrip...and I was able to take along my camera as well, score! :t3

This was taken around midnight with a new moon on a sheep farm in the heart of the Karoo desert in South Africa. The Karoo, the Kalahari and the Namib are THE spots in Southern Africa for astrophotography...with a new moon the stars actually cast shadows.

Windmills are characteristic of farms in this area, and my portfolio is seriously lacking with some shots of these structures. The flaring in the stars is the result of a mist cloud that was moving overhead. Within 10 minutes of this image being taken the stars were not even visible anymore (it was pretty cold!).

Techs:
Nikon D800
Nikkor 14-24mm f2.8 @ 14mm
f2.8 | 30 seconds | ISO-6400
I know many people don't like the WB setting I use for these nocturnal shots, but I don't like the red colour that "naturally" comes out when using a warmer WB, so I prefer to stick to Fluorescent for these images.

[Dvir Barkay]

Actually the white balance looks pretty good or at least the colors, it is too blue and purple. I really like the long exposure on the windmill as it really adds.
Here is a version with a more what one could say accurate white balance though as I learned from astrophotography, accurate white balance and celestial things tend to not be related. Just less blues and purples.
151871

[Diane Miller]

Wonderful! I am SOOO jealous of the view you southerners have of the galactic center. My latitude places it lower, nearer the horizon.

The light on the building next to the windmill -- is that star/ambient light??

For more telephoto shots where individual star colors can be resolved, the conventional wisdom is to use daylight WB for accurate colors, but for the Milky Way, artistic license reigns.
Is that the Andromeda Galaxy in the UL? I'm trying to flip my brain to your "down-under" view.

[Don Railton]

Hi Morkel

Very nice...! and I don't mind your WB choice. I have been through that with a few of my images its all subjective/ creative licence stuff that in the end becomes a personal choice... I cannot answer Diane's Andromeda question, I think she will have to make a trip down under sometime... I like the inclusion of the windmill, but its pity (in my mind) it was spinning, I would prefer it stationary. The long exposure make it look like it is doing about 5000 rpm and looks a little un-natural..

regards

DON

[Andrew McLachlan]

Beautiful scene Morkel, the windmill really adds a great element to the scene.

[Don Lacy]

Wonderful image Morkel, I really l;like the windmill and the fact that it is spinning to me it symbolizes the passage of time and the age of the galaxy