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Night Sky Photography
Comet Tsuchinshan ATLAS Eaglehawk Neck Tasmania

Comet Tsuchinshan-ATLAS (C/2023 A3)

Comet Tsuchinshan-ATLAS (C/2023 A3) is making a buzz (figuratively not literally!) as it appears in the pre-dawn skies these past few weeks, and I was able to capture it at Eaglehawk Neck on October 3. This image was captured with the Astro Tracer, which allowed me to shoot for 30 seconds without the comet/stars trailing....Read More
Comet ZTF and Mars in the skies above Hobart, Feb 11 2023

Comet ZTF and Mars

On February 11, 2023 Comet ZTF made a very close encounter with the red planet Mars. Luckily enough, it was a clear night here in Hobart so I popped out onto the deck with my 150-450mm and took a look. Mars was easy to spot so I pointed the camera in that general direction and...Read More

Winter at Freycinet – the Milky Way

Next month I will be running a special winter light and astro photography workshop at Freycinet and to whet your appetite, here are some shots from a couple of years ago. Don’t let the cold weather put you off – winter is a stunning time to explore Tasmania! Especially for photographers – the days are...Read More
Comet Leonard from kunanyi/Mt Wellington Tasmania

Comet Leonard

Last night I took advantage of the clear skies and lack of moonlight to get out and see if I could capture Comet Leonard. I decided on kunanyi/Mt Wellington as I hadn’t been up there in ages, and given the comets location in the western sky I thought the other side of Hobart’s city lights...Read More
astor photography tasmania milky way pentax astrotracer

Under the Milky Way

Under the Milky Way tonight… Well not tonight, as tonight hasn’t happened yet obviously. Unless you are reading this at midnight or thereabouts. And if you are indeed reading this after midnight I hope my ramblings are either keeping you entertained or perhaps even helping you fall sleep. I do what I can. But I...Read More

The Off Season

Looking for something unique to do in Tasmania during The Off Season? My private three day photography workshops can be booked during “new moon” for an extra special photographic experience. During winter and spring 2021, the first two weeks of the month are new moon and therefore best in terms of long, dark nights. In...Read More
cradle mountain night photography

Cradle Mountain and Dove Lake at night

There is nothing quite like Cradle Mountain and Dove Lake on a clear night. It doesn’t happen too often but sometimes “the stars align” (pardon the pun) and you have a night like this one… These shots are from August 2019. The image above shows the Milky Way in the western sky. The biggest white...Read More

Pentax Astrotracer Post-processing Technique

The Pentax Astrotracer is a great feature that allows some star tracking which means no star trails, instead you can capture fainter light more clearly by extending shutter speed, and not bumping ISO right up high. The tricky bit is when you incorporate landscape elements in the image, as the Astrotracer will hold the stars...Read More

Airglow – the other night lights

Often when out chasing the aurora I notice a weakish glow on the back of the camera which at first glance kind of sort of looks a little aurora-ey, but at the same time sort of kind of doesn’t. It is completely invisible to the naked eye, but can be a reasonably strong orange in...Read More
Jupiter Scorpio Milky Way

Jupiter Rising

There has been a stunning sight of Jupiter rising in the east these past few weeks. Just on dark, and rising right along with the core of the Milky Way, has been an incredibly bright “star” just below the scorpion, and beside Sagittarius. Just below Sagittarius is the ringed planet, Saturn. These shots were taken...Read More

Aurora at Freycinet National Park

On the evening of March 27 I headed up to Freycinet, lured by clear skies and a small possibility of an aurora – which has been quite elusive for me lately, it has been ages since I shot a good aurora! The skies stayed clear – mostly – although there was an unfortunately positioned line...Read More
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