Arrested Light Photography

02/03/2025

First post with the newly purchased star tracker. I was a little surprised at first by how difficult it was to get the thing set up, especially out in the field. However, now that I've refined my process for levelling and polar alignment, I'm feeling more confident and excited about the results.

The image above I'm up on the Crown Terrace, overlooking the rolling paddocks. I wanted to keep my foreground composition simple so I could focus on the tracked sky shots. It's funny because as soon as I had the tracker set up and aligned, an aurora began dancing to my right. I chose to ignore the aurora and focus on tracking the rising milkyway, using the aurora for entertainment during the four minute exposure time I’d opted for.



Sky - f/3.2_ Iso800_ 5 x 4 minute exposures stacked.

Foreground – f/5.6_ iso2500_4 x 4 minute exposures stacked.

29/10/2024

Here's another shot from October 11th. This was the moment just before the aurora hit Corona, as shown in my last post. The sky was unbelievably bright!

Location - Ben Lomond, Queenstown.

F/2.8 - iso2500 – 2 second exposure.

26/10/2024

My latest blog post featuring October 11th's spectacular solar storm is now live on my website. Hit the link below to check it out!

On October 11th 2024, a huge solar storm arrived sparking an incredible aurora over Queenstown, New Zealand. The intensity of the storm was so great the resulting aurora form a corona overhead.

24/10/2024

Corona.

I couldn't believe my eyes when this happened! A strong solar storm was predicted for the night of October 11th, but I wasn't prepared for this! I was set up for a composition I'd had in mind for a while (facing south). Suddenly, the beams were directly overhead forming a corona above me and melting my mind!

04/10/2024

Will it ever stop raining?! I don't think it's ever rained so much in the 19 years I've been in NZ. Hope we can get back to clear skies soon.

Pic - Aurora under a 40% moon, just a couple months ago.

10/09/2024

Meikle Johns Bay.

How good is this location! It's also where I first witnessed an aurora visible to my eyes. That was back in 2017. Although I’ve always loved my image from that special night, I’ve always wanted to improve it. I think it's safe to say I’ve done that! So pleased with this one!

www.arrestedlightphotography.com

03/09/2024

I captured this beautiful aurora shot a few weeks ago on August 12th. While on my way to another location, I noticed strong beams above Walter Peak, so I had to pull over to get some shots. I'm quite pleased with how this one turned out, especially considering it felt a bit rushed at the time!

www.arrestedlightphotography.com

20/08/2024

It appears that 2024 will be remembered for its massive aurora displays! Not only did we experience a massive storm on May 11th, but we were also treated to another magical display last week on August 12th. And I’ve no doubt that the lucky client I had booked for an astrophotography tour that night had an unforgettable experience.

Starting the night with a 40% moon, I knew we'd have a difficult time shooting the Milky Way. Despite being informed of this, my client was still keen to head out. Luckily there was some auroral activity, and with a Kp-index of 7, if conditions held, we’d be in for a good night.

At our first location, the night began with a faint aurora glow on the horizon. Nothing spectacular, but a nice point of interest in our photographs. Then while driving to our next location, I noticed that the sky had brightened significantly, and making an unplanned stop at a viewpoint on the side of the road we witnessed our first auroral beams of the night.

With some decent aurora shots and big smiles, we continued on to Meikle John's Bay, excited for what appeared to be a strengthening aurora display. Lady aurora didn’t disappoint! Treating us to magical green swirls and beams of light. My client was getting a night to remember.

Bringing us towards the end of our night we stopped at one more location. There was still some auroral activity, but it had seemed to have died down somewhat and after reflecting on the night we’d had decided to call it a night, or so we thought. While we were loading our equipment into the car, the sky suddenly lit up with an intense amount of light and colour. There were auroral beams everywhere! And completely visible with the naked eye! Fortunately, it lasted long enough for us to quickly set up and capture some truly stunning images. What a night! And what a lucky client!

Head over to my website to view my lastest blog containing more images from the night.
www.arrestedlightphotography.com

27/07/2024

Spent some time light painting with my kids during the recent school holiday. For some time now, they had been requesting to do this again, and my son had saved a big leaf from Autumn specifically for light painting. I knew a rotation setup would look good, so I did the rotations while he light painted. Think we got two really cool looking images.

01/06/2024

Any one sick of images from May 11th yet? No? Good, here’s another. So happy this two row, 24 shot, panorama stitched nicely. I remember doubting if it would work on the night due to the amount of movement in the sky. Buzzing that it has!

I think we were all in disbelief of what we saw that night, and this image is a perfect representation of what I saw. The huge, rayed arc. The incredible green glow across the entire sky. The auroral dunes, which I’ve never seen before and thought was airglow. And the way the water glowed from the madness in the sky above.

On the point of auroral dunes, I’d like to ask your opinions. I’d never heard of auroral dunes before this storm. Is the rippling on the right of my image dunes or airglow?

Nikon New Zealand Tamron New Zealand

19/05/2024

The Remarkables, as I will most likely never see them again! May 11th 2024 will be remembered for years to come, as an aurora of a lifetime. I'm actually still pinching myself that I've got this shot!
For those not familiar with Queenstown, I'm facing due east for this shot, and seeing aurora spread across the Remarkables like this is unheard of!

Tamron New Zealand Nikon New Zealand Queenstown.com Queenstown NZ

23/12/2023

The light in our soul.

This is one of my favorite images of the year. When I found out I’d be shooting twins at an aerial light painting shoot earlier this year I was very excited. I was so happy to come away with this special image!

Although the pose is very simple with Olivia & Taylor gazing at each other, combined with the light painting I think it makes a powerful symbol of the lifelong bond these girls will share.

Stellar Aerial Arts Queenstown Art Society