Elaine, Jimmy & Bump under the stars
When I usually take photographs of Jimmy, he’s on his bike. This time was a little different, we stayed up late and along with Elaine and their almost ready to be born first child went for a night under the stars to create a set of truly amazing maternity photographs.
Some people say that astrophotography in the summer months isn’t worth it, usually it’s the same people that say astrophotography when the moon is up isn’t worth it either.
Thankfully, we don’t hold by either of those opinions. There are a few major differences between the summer and winter months, but like many things in life, different certainly doesn’t mean better or worse … just different.
One of the major positive differences, it’s WARM and sometimes you could even say it’s hot. There’s no need for multiple merino base layers and a heavy down jacket, remember to bring a jersey though and wear socks with your jandals if you can’t bring yourself to wear shoes in January.
The Milky Way Core is below the horizon for most of the dark hours, of which there certainly aren’t as many as there are during the winter months. This means that we need to start much later on, around 11:30pm, but it’s oh so worth it.
The absence of the core allows a much greater freedom with composition. You really can’t ignore that beautiful clustering of stars in the sky, it’s dominance in the heavens brings many restrictions in terms of locations, timings and composition.
The core really isn’t the ‘be all and end all’ that many people want you to believe. We can see so many constellations so clearly with the naked eye, they really do jump out of the sky. Orion sands proud to the North along with Matariki. The Magellanic clouds are easily visible, along with Crux and Alpha and Beta Centauri.
Did I mention the shooting stars? As always, when we go somewhere dark and let our eyes adjust, you really can’t fail to see a fair few, so get thinking about what you want to wish for.
The AuthenticAs Starry Night Tour isn’t a frenzied effort to create hundreds of photographs kind of experience. Astrophotography requires us to slow down and stand still. Simon will guide you around some of the stars and planets high above, and previewing the images on the camera will enhance your experience even more.
It’s super simple to book online securely, and then we’ll be in touch to discus the finer details. We work with you and the time you have available during your stay here in Queenstown so we can get the best possible weather window and location.
If you have an idea, we’d love you to run it by us, all you have to do is emailus@authenticAs.org and we can start planning.