Milky Way Setting over Cable Beach, Broome

[iceman]

It was our first night of our Kimberley adventure, our 1 night stay in Broome before heading off into the wilderness for the 13 day tour. I set the alarm for 3am and headed down to Cable Beach to get my first taste of the beautiful dark night sky around the Kimberley region.

The Milky Way was setting in the West, so I was able to capture these nightscapes of the setting Milky Way over Cable Beach.

All were taken with the Canon 5D Mk 2 and Samyang 14mm lens.

The first shot is a 30 second exposure @ f/2.8, ISO3200.

For the second, I tried something a little bit different. I dropped the ISO to 640 and increased the f-stop, and exposed for 15 minutes in a single exposure. The Milky Way still shows up beautifully amongst the star trails.

The last one is similar to the first, just a slightly different composition.

The yellow on the sand is from some sodium lights just outside the Cable Beach Bar, shining along the beach.

- Large 1 (http://www.mikesalway.com.au/download/326)
- Large 2 (http://www.mikesalway.com.au/download/327)
- Large 3 (http://www.mikesalway.com.au/download/325)
- Blog (http://www.mikesalway.com.au/2012/11/03/the-milky-way-setting-over-cable-beach/)

Thanks for looking.

[Larryp]

Very nice! My favourite would be #3

[gregbradley]

Very good Mike. The stars curving in one direction on one side of the image and the opposite on the other side - is that because one side is rotating around South Celestial Pole and the other around North Celestial Pole and meridian in the centre or is it some lens curvature?

Greg

[Bassnut]

The milky way is pretty standard gear, but, especially the last one, the forground makes it very special, well done Mike ;-)

[Dennis]

Lovely photos Mike, number 1 does it for me as the foreground isn’t competing for my attention against the stunning vista of the setting Milky Way.

Cheers

Dennis

[iceman]

Thanks guys!

Greg, that's the stars tending towards the SCP and NCP - not curvature.

It's the 14mm Samyang on the 5D Mk 2, so the field of view is nice and wide and it was pointing West toward the ecliptic.

[Ross G]

Great photos Mike.

Like an alien landscape.


Ross.