Wanaka Way
40 image stitch captured back in 2014, my signature shot.
Canon 6D, Samyang 24mm ƒ1.4, chest deep in leaky waders in the middle of winter. 20 seconds, ƒ3.5 and 10,000 ISO.
A night I will never forget, as this shot wasn't meant to happen. The night before I shot the sunset at 'That Wanaka Tree', and that shot gained some traction. Then someone said 'hey you should shoot some astro there!'. We were meant to be traveling to the next destination, Tekapo, this day.
After a small argument with the wife to let us stay one more night, we decided to stay. A few wines, some loud music, then 12am rolls round. I put my waders on, borrowed off my brother. Ventured out into the lake in 4ºc waters. My left boot started filling with water. I took the first shot, and saw what was on the screen, I knew I had captured something special.
1.5 hours later I left the lake, woke my wife up – she was sleeping on the beach in a sleeping bag. Time to head back, I'd captured to this day, the best memory of photography I'd ever had. I felt like blubberman with all the water my waders had collected, I never noticed the cold. Let alone the battery for my dew heater dangling perilously close to the lake surface.
Looking back 2.5 years ago, I don't think I can ever recreate what I saw. And I don't feel the need. This image just keeps on giving, for me and my family, and to the people who enjoy seeing something they might never see.
Astrophotography is in everyone's blood, whether capturing or admiring.
Wanaka Way
40 image stitch captured back in 2014, my signature shot.
Canon 6D, Samyang 24mm ƒ1.4, chest deep in leaky waders in the middle of winter. 20 seconds, ƒ3.5 and 10,000 ISO.
A night I will never forget, as this shot wasn't meant to happen. The night before I shot the sunset at 'That Wanaka Tree', and that shot gained some traction. Then someone said 'hey you should shoot some astro there!'. We were meant to be traveling to the next destination, Tekapo, this day.
After a small argument with the wife to let us stay one more night, we decided to stay. A few wines, some loud music, then 12am rolls round. I put my waders on, borrowed off my brother. Ventured out into the lake in 4ºc waters. My left boot started filling with water. I took the first shot, and saw what was on the screen, I knew I had captured something special.
1.5 hours later I left the lake, woke my wife up – she was sleeping on the beach in a sleeping bag. Time to head back, I'd captured to this day, the best memory of photography I'd ever had. I felt like blubberman with all the water my waders had collected, I never noticed the cold. Let alone the battery for my dew heater dangling perilously close to the lake surface.
Looking back 2.5 years ago, I don't think I can ever recreate what I saw. And I don't feel the need. This image just keeps on giving, for me and my family, and to the people who enjoy seeing something they might never see.
Astrophotography is in everyone's blood, whether capturing or admiring.