Galactic Ocean

[colinmlegg]

This one was taking in June from beautiful Albany around the 'setting magic moon' hour. First time shooting from there. The walk out to Bald Head along the peninsula is one of the best in SW WA.

16mm + 5D2 + iso 3200 + 30s + f/2.8

[Octane]

So many different kinds of awesome.

What an amazing perspective!

H

[Joshua Bunn]

Fantastic framing and choice of scenery Colin :thumbsup:

[Ric]

Wonderful image Colin

It draws you in on so many angles.

[iceman]

Cracker!

Wow, so awesome. What an amazing place!

[dvj]

Most excellent!

[SkyViking]

Fantastic composition and light, really awesome.

[gregbradley]

That's a great shot Colin.

Greg.

[Deeno]

fabulous image!

[Astro_Bot]

Nice shot!

[CapturingTheNight]

Yeah, that's a ripper Colin :thumbsup: Your spoiling us. I'm not complaining though. Keep em coming.....

[strongmanmike]

King Colin :bowdown:

I am determined to get out with my DSLR, I am determined to get out with my DSLR, I am deter.......

Mike

[lacad01]

Bew-dee-full!! :thumbsup:

[pixelsaurus]

Absolutely fabulous!

[leon]

Very impressive indeed, well done Colin.

Leon

[colinmlegg]

Thanks All, glad you enjoyed it.

It's one of my favourite spots in WA and one I would choose for that moment of solitude under a moonlit star filled sky, with distance waves crashing and the lovely smell of the sea air. :)



Nah mate, NATURE is king! I'm just trying to uncover some of her beauty. :)

[multiweb]

You sure do get around to get your compositions just right. Amazing geometry. :thumbsup: The only luck in this shot would be the clouds fanning just the right angle and direction but all the rest is obviously staged. How do you plan for shots like that? Spur of the moment, coincidence or do you book your holidays in advance? :)

[colinmlegg]

Thanks Marc. Probably a combination of luck and planning for that one. I've had that spot in the back of my mind as a good candidate for awhile. Just had to wait for the right conditions - time of year and relatively cloud free. The luck part as you say are the conditions on the night....and the primary emotion driver (good and bad).

My main planning tools are Photographer's Emphemeris, Google Earth, Stellarium and the cloud prediction maps from BOM (courtesy Phil Hart's fantastic blog - http://philhart.com/content/cloud-forecasts-australian-astronomers). It amazes me how accurate those predictions are at times - both amount and location.

As for why I do it? I've had a love of nightscape/planetscape art from an early age. Sadly, I can't paint for the life of me, so photography is my only way of exploring that passion. :)

[White Rabbit]

Lovely shot, well done.

[multiweb]

That would explain why your composition are always structured. I used to read a lot of sci-fi / fantasy arts comics as a kid and have similar landscape visions in my head too. You seem to travel a fair bit too. Have you done photography for long?

[colinmlegg]

For 3 and bit years with DSLR. I'd had the Bungle Bungle nightscapes in my head since first visiting in 1992 but didn't get around to doing any shots till 2009. Before that I did 3D SLR slides (day stuff) and dabbled in film astro tracking shots before that. Nothing more than hobby level.

Yeah, lucky to be able to travel with work. I'm in geological data management (Geology/IT background) and service a few clients here and there. Was stuck in Perth for a few years doing product management, but now freeer to move around.

Hopefully I'll have a website up soon with some of my 'planetscapes'. Feel free to drop by for a fix ;)