Moonlit Mitchell Falls Star Trails

[iceman]

Ok, so I think we need a nightscapes forum :)

In the first from the Kimberley Tour (http://www.mikesalway.com.au/tag/kimberley), here’s an image of Mitchell Falls with star trails under bright moonlight!

I’ll be talking more about the fantastic tour over time, but with limited time to process images I wanted to get something out there :)

This image was taken at about midnight on the 3rd July, after Ken and I trekked back to Mitchell Falls under moonlight (a 1.5 hour walk with 2 river crossings) to photograph the falls at night and to also catch the first light in the morning before the group headed off to Bell Gorge.

The Moon was practically overhead and was only 2 days from full, so the falls lit up light daylight using a long exposure.

We ‘slept’ on the rock ledge overlooking the falls, but it got so cold at around 3am that it was too hard to sleep. The rock ledge had lost all its warmth from the day’s sunlight, the cold wind picked up, and I hadn’t prepared for the cold and didn’t have a sleeping bag.

The foreground is a single 25s exposure with the Canon 5D Mk II and Samyang 14mm lens @ ISO2500, f/2.8. The sky is 3 lots of 15 minute exposures stacked (45 minutes total), with each exposure @ ISO200, f/9.

Worth looking at the large:
Large (http://www.mikesalway.com.au/download/252)
Blog (http://www.mikesalway.com.au/2012/07/11/moonlit-mitchell-falls-star-trails/)

Thanks

[Octane]

That's a nice start to your campaign. :)

It's certainly an interesting look. I think the composition is about right for the landscape, too.

I think this belongs in the terrestrial forum, though. :P

H

[jjjnettie]

I think the Moon is brighter in the Outback. :)

[colinmlegg]

Stunning Mike! Beautifully composed.

I know it's hard to choose, but what was your favourite spot? For me I have a soft spot for the Bungles...it's just so unique and out of this world (especially in moonlight).

Looking forward to your other shots. Did you do any timelapse out there?

+1 for the Nightscapes forum!

[gary]

Fabulous Mike and we are looking forward to more.

Sounds like the type of sleeping arrangement that even Bear Grylls would have
something to growl about in the morning.

Perhaps the price for the pursuit of art?

[CapturingTheNight]

Fantastic Mike! :thumbsup: Love that landscape. Can't wait to see more.

+1 for nightscapes section as well

Cheers
Greg

[Deeno]

What a great start!
More.....

[silv]

noice pic!
I can't help it but imagine you getting there during the night... one wrong step.... uuuahhhhh.

[lacad01]

Spectacular shot Mike, look forward to seeing more from the trip :thumbsup:

[strongmanmike]

Good proof that Moonlight is indeed Sunlight :thumbsup:

Great shot...I sense a few more coming too ;)

Mike

[h0ughy]

wow great start mike - now how many gig did you take....

[stardust steve]

Very interesting image considering the time and moon phase. I love how there is detail still visible in the shadows, the water has a depth perception with the submerged rocks clearly visible and the impact at the base of the lower waterfall looks moonscape and impact crater like with the line radiating outwards:thumbsup:

Edit:- +1 for nightscapes section

[iceman]

Thanks H. I took so many images it's hard to know where to start but wanted to see how this one turned out, and am pleased with it :)



hehe it sure was bright. Ken and I walked back to camp just after twilight, had some dinner and re-stocked with some more food, drink, jacket etc, and then left camp again at about 10pm. We got back to the falls at about 11:30pm after stopping along the way to look at the aboriginal art on one of the rock walls near Big Mertons Falls.
The river crossing was a lot harder on that last trip - the headlamps didn't penetrate the water enough so it was hard to see where to put our feet. But we had left our camera gear on the ledge so it wasn't as scary knowing that one wrong step could sink our camera gear! :eyepop:




Thanks Colin! I know what you mean - so many stunning places. The bungles was certainly a favourite, but I also really loved Cape Leveque and Mitchell Falls.

I didn't do a lot of timelapse unfortunately - the Moon was getting too bright and after early starts and long days, we were very tired by 9pm :)

We did get out to the Bungles at night which was AWESOME! It was lit by the waxing crescent and was stunning.



haha yeh. Ken was smart enough to take a sleeping bag but it was a warm day and didn't think I'd need one - I was wrong!
We ended up sharing (lying back to back) trying to stay warm but after a while it was no use so we both just got up :)




Thanks Greg!




Thanks Deeno - more soon!




Thanks, you're right - a few times we were literally right on the edge of a rock ledge with a big fall into nothingness. In fact many times during the trip you see some of the places the photographers were (myself included) and we're certainly asking for trouble :)




Thanks Adam!




Thanks Mike, such stunning scenery it's hard not to get a great shot. I wish there was something in this photo to show the SCALE of Mitchell Falls. The shot just doesn't show how big it is. And the constant ROAR of the falls!




Thanks Dave. I was backing up to external HDD every night and think I got to about 90-100GB worth of raws. Lots of panoramas though.




Thanks Steve! Most of the time we didn't even need our headlamps around the falls, until the Moon had starting setting in the west.

[Ross G]

A beautiful photo Mike with a unique look.

How did you combine the 2 images?

A seperate Nightscape forum is a great idea.

Thanks.

Ross.

[RobF]

Beautiful. Must have been magical sitting and listening to the falls in the early hours of the morning at such a beautiful place.

[Phil Hart]

lovely shot mike.. very well managed given how bright the moon was.

nice to see you suffering for your night sky pics too ;) but can't believe you ended up so cold and uncomfortable on an outback australia trip.. what were you thinking!

Phil

[beren]

:thumbsup: Top image Mike, what a great experience the landscape and company look forward to more :)

[gregbradley]

Great shot. Worth the effort.

Greg.

[iceman]

Thanks Ross. I combined them just using simple masks in Photoshop.




Thanks Rob, it really was magical. A unique experience I never thought I'd be having. The falls were quite deafening as the sound bounced off the rock cave we were under.




Thanks Phil! I was generally surprised every night at how cold it got! :) It got down to 1 or 2 degrees in some places - Fitzroy Crossing was the coldest but the Bungle Bungles was damn cold too.

I tried to pack light and paid the price :)




Thanks Stuart, appreciate your comments :) Ken and I spent a lot of time together over the tour and he's a really great bloke - we got on really well. He was interested in the type of photography we do (the nightscapes) and I was able to teach him a few things about night sky photography.




Thanks Greg - it was definitely worth it. Lots of hiking in and out but lots of fun.

We got a helicopter out at 7am the next morning, so didn't need to do a final hike back to camp with the camera and sleeping gear (thank goodness!).

[iceman]

One of the ladies on the tour group took these pictures of the river crossing at the top of Mitchell Falls.

I'm in the middle of the second one, helping others across after I'd taken my camera gear over.
Everyone was so worried about slipping and getting their camera gear wet, but luckily noone did!

It was only up to about knee/thigh level in most places, but some slippery rocks underneath!

It was a little bit scarier at 11pm at night because we couldn't see where to put our feet :)

[RB]

Great start Mike, what a lovely scene.
Can't wait to see more and to hear your stories of the trip with Ken.
Amazing how cold it gets out there.

You must be so happy with the camera too.
Hope to catch up soon.

RB