Hmmmm,

I now have an equatorial tracker to track the stars, but long exposure at high ISO is problematic.  I am climbing the steep learning curve!!  There are so many things to learn and so many discoveries to be made.  New Zealand is such a great place for Astrophotography – many places with little light pollution, and good to be able to experiment and learn.

Although winter time is the best time for astrophotography, lately, it has been either very cold or moon-lit, or cloudy- making it hard to track the stars!  Moonlit nights offer a different opportunity: the landscape can be shown better in the foreground, and with the moon-light, comes also the extra advantage of not having to grope for dials to adjust the equipment in the dark!.

I have been too busy to scout new locations.   Hopefully I can get to Mackenzie Country for the incredible night Sky soon.

I hope to go to one of the Island nations shortly – and I am wondering if the night sky there is as good as it is in NZ.  I suppose it would be, as noise pollution should be minimal.  I guess the sky does not ‘belong’ to any country, so my shots from there can still count as New Zealand pictures? Or should I list them under “overseas!

(update) – with the advent of the Super Moon, I’ve taken several shots pre, during and post the full moon.  It also means that it is hard to take start shots as the night sky is very bright!  I’ve now separated out the lunar shots into a category by itself.

Night of “Super moon” 11th August 2014