[matt34 (Matt)]

Having recent moved to Ballarat, I thought it would be nice to try and use the local "famous" lake for some night shots, it has some difficulties as its pretty much in the middle of the town so light pollution can be a big issue. Here are some of the shots from at least 5 visits over a 3 month period, trying to catch the right shots from the location with clear skies and the milky way in the right spot in the sky. I learnt from my last visit that the trees behind the shooting locations finally have enough foliage to block out the street lights behind me, so even though the milky way is lower in the sky it the leaves helped even out the exposure

I have a few more panos to stitch & edit from the various trips there but have only had a chance to process one so far no 2.

I found the location quiet tough to shoot and get a balance of the foreground and try and get some detail out of the sky, happy if anyone has any other suggestions. I tried all I could thing of (bracketing exposures, ND grad filters, various exposure settings to try and bring out the detail)

Below are 5 different shots I'm quiet happy with, at least until I get another shot at the location next year.

1 - Canon 6D, 24mm lens @ f2.8 for 15 seconds ISO 1600 (I liked the B&W it allowed me to push the contrast/curves a little further as it was tough to do it and maintain a natural looking colour with the light pollution)
2 - Canon 6D, 24mm lens @ f2.8 for 13 seconds ISO 1600 (6 shots taken in portrait mode stitched)
3 - Canon 6D, 14mm lens @ f2.8 for 20 seconds ISO 800 (A different shot with one of the many boat sheds, tried to get crux and the pointers in frame here)
4 - Canon 6D, 24mm lens @ f2.8 for 15 seconds ISO 1600
5 - Canon 6D, 24mm lens @ f2.8 for 15 seconds ISO 800

Let me know what you think all comments/criticism welcome.

Matt