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Astro Che Photography

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Astro Che Photography

Chester Hall-Fernandez
20y/o kiwi Astrophotographer
Christchurch-based, studying mechatronics

17/05/2026

Arthur’s Pass After Dark

Showcasing the gorgeous Carroll hut which sits above Arthur's Pass. Genuinely the coldest I have been in my life, sitting outside in the snow for 40 minutes taking this photo was 0/10.

Z6a | SWSA | Tamron 35
FG: 13 x 30s
Sky: 21x30s | 5x120s

13/05/2026

The Hunter's Comet

Comet C/2025 R3 is currently putting on a show for us right now, passing through the constellation of Orion. For those of us in the southern hemisphere, we are lucky enough to catch it just after sunset.

Capturing this photo was quite stressful, as it was the first time I had done any deep-space photography, and had completely forgotten how to polar align. It didn't help that I was on the clock, as I only had an hour or two after sunset until the comet set as well.

With only 30 minutes of integration, I am very pleased with how much of that iconic detail I have captured in Orion, from the horse head, through to the faint brown dust that litters the constellation.

01/05/2026

The Night Tarns

The South Island is littered with small alpine lakes known as tarns. This collection here sit high above the Arthur's pass highway.

The hike up to this location was brutally steep, with almost a kilometer of altitude gain in 3km of walking for the first section. As night fell, the forecasted cloud clearing didn't seem to fully materialise. Not going to put the walking effort to waste, I shot through the occasional clear patch of sky that formed overhead to build up the panorama.

37 Panel Mosaic, 30s F1.4 subs
Z6 / SWSA / Tamron 35

19/10/2025

Taken during a near-perfect night at Mount John Observatory, this image shows the southern milky-way in all its glory. You can also easily see the zodiacal light, which is only visible from dark-sky locations.

Z6a / Laowa 15mm
15*20s Exposures
Edited in Pixinsight and photoshop.

13/09/2025

A classic rural canterbury landscape, tussock plains and snow capped mountains. Taken with my good friend during his New Zealand adventure a few months ago.

Slowly getting back into editing photos again, with some new techniques up my sleeve so hopefully more milkyway goodness soon!

Z6a | Tamron 35 | Star Adventurer
Sky: 3 * 30s F1.4
Ha: 2 * 160s F1.4
FG: 3 * 30s F2.0

02/06/2025

Lake Reflections

Epic night chasing aurora with .by.oscar and during the June 1st Aurora. Myself and Oscar arrived at the carpark right as we started to see the display kick-off around 1030. We booked it down the path and ripped open our bags once we got to the lake-side. I only realized a little later that Lake Ellesmere was extremely glassy, which was producing stunning reflections.

Hope y'all enjoy!

Z6a | Viltrox 16mm | 5 panel @ 5s F1.8

26/04/2025

Fire and Ice

Cygnus over the Tasman Glacier and Southern Alps.

Z6a | Nikon Z 85mm | SWSA

7x30 F1.8 Sky| 5x120 F1.8 Ha | 3x30 F1.8 Foreground (Pano)

25/01/2025

Beneath Giants

Maybe my favourite landscape images to date, and first (published) one with me in it. Does this count as a selfie?

I took this photo back in March with a friend of mine, , in the very remote Molesworth station region. This area of the country is only accessible by 4x4's and is dominated by tussock-covered hills.

When we drove out, we had very little idea what the location would look like. I wasn't originally planning on doing an Arch, but when we got to the location, we both realised how perfect the composition was with the central rocky outcrop. We stayed out there as long as we could, only leaving at around 3am. By the time I was nearly home, I was driving through rush hour morning traffic.

30 Image Panorama - F1.4 - 60s Exposures
Astromodded Nikon Z6 - Tamron 35 F1.4 - SWSA

22/01/2025

C/2024 G3 (ATLAS)

First time doing astro in many months, and first time seeing a comet trail! Shot this while the comet set over Lake Lyndon, didn't quite realise how close it was to the sun, so I only got ~10m with the comet before it set behind the hills. Hopefully in a couple of days I'll point my telescope at it for some close up shots.

Z6 | SWSA | Samyang 135mm
Stack of 52*5s F2 exposures for comet. HDR forground.

31/10/2024

Macaulay Hut

The result of an epic mission with .by.oscar out into the NZ wilderness. About 6 hours of walking in with some of the roughest river crossings ive done, you can see the valley we walked up on the left. If you're unfamiliar, New Zealand has a very extensive network of backcountry huts. This one is mainly used by hunters who hunt wild goats in the area.

Astromodded Z6 | SWSA
30s each, F1.8 35mm
Sky: 18 shots. FG: 11 shots.

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