ZJR Photography

07/11/2021

New to the timelapse game. Setup got knocked out by some dew early in this spectacular show on November 4th. So unfortunate as the bio and aurora combination was spectacular.

Anyone have some tried and true methods for keeping dew at bay? Bonus points for links or Australian options.

I've heard of:
- Hand warmers strapped to lens
- Dedicated lens warmer with external battery
- External fans mounted on camera

13/05/2021

South Arm Aurora Timelapse

An hour of the strongest aurora we have witnessed since moving to Tasmania. Taken from about 23:30-00:30 on May 12th-13th looking South from the South arm peninsula.

The pink glow extended high from the horizon and the beams danced between the clouds. Will try and post some stills later.

09/04/2021

Peron Dunes Aurora

Captured during the brief aurora event on the evening of April 7th.

Camera: Sony A7Rii
Lens: Sony G 24mm f/1.4
ISO: 3200
FL: 24mm
Av: f/1.4
Tv: 20s
Filters: None
Panorama: 2 rows of 7 images shot on Novoflex VR slim head
Processing: Merged in PTgui, Edited in PS with most edits in Adobe Camera Raw/Lightroom.

30/09/2019

Timelapse: Aurora over Wineglass Bay and Mount Freycinet

This was our second attempt this year to shoot aurora australis from the summit of Mt Amos. We hiked up around 21:30 and descended around 01:30. The temperature was a balmy 5 degrees and winds were gusting through most of the night.

Although the aurora was slightly stronger than last time, the clouds were concentrated along the Southern horizon and blocked most of the view. Just as the beams came to an end, the horizon cleared and we had some excellent sweeping views of the night sky. As there was no moon, the foreground was illuminated by starlight alone.

There weren't any great stills, but all the cloud movement provided an opportunity to try out some timelapse techniques that I haven't used before.

Fingers crossed for the third time!

31/03/2019

Maria Island panorama over Bishop and Clerk

The Devils’ Playground

Wide field panorama over the fossil cliffs and peaks of Bishop and Clerk on Maria Island. I’d scouted our this location earlier in the day and had my fingers crossed that the squid boats weren’t going to be out at night. As you can see there were three on the horizon almost all night. I must have shot this panorama about 4 times because they would occasionally swing their lights around and overpower the image.

There is so much potential for widefield astrophotography on this island - can’t wait to visit again when the fishing season is over.

Venus is just rising at the edge of the mountain and both Magellanic Clouds are in full view.

Ended up spending about 5 hours out on the island that night - unfortunately we didn’t see any devils this time round.

Camera: Sony a7RII
Lens: Canon 16-35 f/2.8
ISO: 5000
FL: 16mm
Av: 2.8
Tv: 25s
Filters: None
Panorama: 2 rows of 8 images on a novoflex panorama tripod head.
Processing: Merged in PTgui and then postprocessed in PS CC.

31/03/2019

The Devils’ Playground

Wide field panorama over the fossil cliffs and peaks of Bishop and Clerk on Maria Island. I’d scouted our this location earlier in the day and had my fingers crossed that the squid boats weren’t going to be out at night. As you can see there were three on the horizon almost all night. I must have shot this panorama about 4 times because they would occasionally swing their lights around and overpower the image.

There is so much potential for widefield astrophotography on this island - can’t wait to visit again when the fishing season is over.

Venus is just rising at the edge of the mountain and both Magellanic Clouds are in full view.

Ended up spending about 5 hours out on the island that night - unfortunately we didn’t see any devils this time round.

Camera: Sony a7RII
Lens: Canon 16-35 f/2.8
ISO: 5000
FL: 16mm
Av: 2.8
Tv: 25s
Filters: None
Panorama: 2 rows of 8 images on a novoflex panorama tripod head.
Processing: Merged in PTgui and then postprocessed in PS CC.

25/03/2019

The Painted Cliffs

A slow burning sunset on a cloudy day at the iconic sandstone cliffs on Maria Island’s North-West coast. There are endless compositions from this location and the combination of sunset and low tide provides a rich foreground. This sunset had looked like a dud initially, but a small break in the clouds at the horizon became apparent in the late afternoon. Had to go for a bit of a runner to get to the cliffs before this began. Fortunately there was no one else there, which made it way easier to compose a shot.

Camera: Sony a7RII
Lens: Canon 16-35mm f/2.8 II
ISO: 100
FL: 16mm
Av: f/8
Tv: 1/40 for middle exposure (+2, -1, 0, +1, +2)
Filters: None
Panorama: No
Processing: Merged 5 frames in LR, then post processing in PS.

22/03/2019

A Convict Island

Had the opportunity to visit Maria Island for the first time last week and started out with a decent sunset at the Painted Cliffs. The forecast was for clear skies from about 02:00, so we went to bed early and woke up at 02:30 to catch the Milky Way rising at a few planned locations. This was shot just outside of the Darlington main settlement - the inside of this warehouse was illuminated with a head torch. Some light on the left horizon is from the squid fishing boats which were a bit of a nuisance when we tried to shoot later on at the Fossil Cliffs. I'll post a few more photos from the trip later in the week.

Camera: Sony a7RII
Lens: Canon 16-35mm f/2.8 II
ISO: 4000 + 1000
FL: 16mm
Av: 2.8
Tv: 25s + 180s
Filters: None
Panorama: No
Processing: Median stacked 6 images for the sky, and then merged a long exposure/low ISO image of the foreground. Processing with LR and PS.

08/03/2019

'The Mt. Amos Observatory'

This is the second panorama shot from the summit of Mt. Amos last week. This is a multi row panorama shot using a much tighter focal length (35mm) at a much greater aperture (f/1.4) in comparison to my previous pano.

The detail was outstanding, and the galactic core had plenty of detail along with the Magellanic Clouds. By sheer luck there were two meteors caught during this shoot and they are both included in the centre of the frame. The aurora had lulled at this point, so the horizon lights are purely artificial from the fishing boats, but there is a slight amount of airglow.

Camera: Canon EOS 6D
Lens: Sigma 35 mm Art series f/1.4
ISO: 4000
FL: 35mm
Av: 1.4
Tv: 13s
Filters: None
Panorama: Shot on a novoflex mount, 4 rows of 8 portrait shots. Stitched in PTgui Pro.
Processing: Adobe camera raw + PS. Mostly a combination of luminosity masks to add contrast, and then some noise reduction.

04/03/2019

'Wineglass by Night'

It has been another long break between images, but this one is worth the wait. I was in Freycinet National Park with my wife for a conference and the conditions were great for astrophotography. The previous evening was the first big aurora of the year and I missed it due to work commitments. Kicking myself, and hoping that there might be a little activity at the tail end of this solar storm, I hiked up Mt. Amos at around 10:00 PM.

If the aurora activity was low, at least I had the return of the galactic core and the 22% crescent moonrise to capture instead.

On reaching the summit there was some moderate pink/green aurora activity, but the milky way was an hour away from rising. I ran a timelapse for a couple hours and familiarised myself with my neglected gear. The aurora activity was variable but, just as the moon crept over some low clouds there was enough to capture a faint pink and green glow (possibly artificial) over the Freycinet peninsula. There was a moderate amount of light pollution from some fishing boats on the East coast, but it doesn't detract too much from the image.

I posted a quick single snap to a few pages, but it was essentially a raw file, and there was plenty of room to adjust the exposure to really bring out the MW, aurora, and the foreground. I have about 3 panos to get through, but this is the first. Taken just after moonrise.

Camera: Sony a7RII
Lens: Canon 16-35 f/2.8
ISO: 5000
FL: 16mm
Av: f.8
Tv: 25s
Filters: None
Panorama: 2 rows of 9 images (12000x6000 px)
Processing: Merged in PTgui, exported to PS and processed with Adobe Camera Raw and a few luminosity masks.

01/05/2018

Lake Tahune

A lone fagus turning colours above Lake Tahune on the track to the summit of Frenchman's Cap last week.

Camera: Sony A7rii
Lens: Canon 16-35 f/2.8 II
ISO: 100
FL: 16mm
Av: 6.3
Tv: 1/30
Filters: C-Pol
Panorama: No
Processing: Focus stack of 4 images, blended in PS and minor edits in LR