leonelpc24
Reflecting on reflections
Lake Ninan, one of many salt flats in Western Australia. It might not have the fame of Bolivia’s Salar de Uyuni, but it holds its own when it comes to raw, natural beauty. And with camping allowed for self-contained vehicles, it's a stargazer’s dream. No wonder it's a top spot for stargazing.
This 43-image panorama captures a sky full of jewels—some dimmed by fog and a dense atmosphere, but still shining through. I was stoked to spot again some northern hemisphere favourites like the Cygnus constellation, the Sadr region, and even the Andromeda galaxy peeking through the airglow on the far right. From this latitude, that’s about as high as they rise.
We’re just tiny specks in the vastness of space. This shot came almost exactly how I envisioned it: a small silhouette reflected in the water—subtle, but visible. I wanted the reflections to be real, imperfections and all. You might notice the reflected sky looks a little off—that’s because it is. I captured the foreground before the sky, and by the time I started shooting the stars, they had shifted quite a bit. That’s the challenge of shooting a multi-row panorama with limited time.
I had just 1 hour and 45 minutes before the sky started brightening (sunrise approaching). I was juggling two setups, trying not create too many ripples on the water, racing against twilight...no pressure at all :P. In fact, the last row of this pano was shot during astronomical twilight, with the zodiacal light already glowing in the east—thankfully, I was shooting west. No time for H-alpha shots this time around.
But I’ll be back next new moon to re-shoot this scene with a bit more time, and a slightly different approach.
Nikon D5500 (modded)
Samyang 24mm f/1.4
Star Adventurer 2i
Hoya UV/IR Cut
Reflecting on reflections
Lake Ninan, one of many salt flats in Western Australia. It might not have the fame of Bolivia’s Salar de Uyuni, but it holds its own when it comes to raw, natural beauty. And with camping allowed for self-contained vehicles, it's a stargazer’s dream. No wonder it's a top spot for stargazing.
This 43-image panorama captures a sky full of jewels—some dimmed by fog and a dense atmosphere, but still shining through. I was stoked to spot again some northern hemisphere favourites like the Cygnus constellation, the Sadr region, and even the Andromeda galaxy peeking through the airglow on the far right. From this latitude, that’s about as high as they rise.
We’re just tiny specks in the vastness of space. This shot came almost exactly how I envisioned it: a small silhouette reflected in the water—subtle, but visible. I wanted the reflections to be real, imperfections and all. You might notice the reflected sky looks a little off—that’s because it is. I captured the foreground before the sky, and by the time I started shooting the stars, they had shifted quite a bit. That’s the challenge of shooting a multi-row panorama with limited time.
I had just 1 hour and 45 minutes before the sky started brightening (sunrise approaching). I was juggling two setups, trying not create too many ripples on the water, racing against twilight...no pressure at all :P. In fact, the last row of this pano was shot during astronomical twilight, with the zodiacal light already glowing in the east—thankfully, I was shooting west. No time for H-alpha shots this time around.
But I’ll be back next new moon to re-shoot this scene with a bit more time, and a slightly different approach.
Nikon D5500 (modded)
Samyang 24mm f/1.4
Star Adventurer 2i
Hoya UV/IR Cut