Mike_MacKinven
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'The Lone Star'
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Awards
Top Shot Award 22
Featured
Contest Finalist in Playing With Darkness Photo Contest
Contest Finalist in Fall 2014 Photo Contest
People's Choice in Fairytale Landscapes Photo Contest
Contest Finalist in Fairytale Landscapes Photo Contest
Contest Finalist in Photographer Of The Month Photo Contest Vol 6
People's Choice in Tripod Required Photo Contest
Contest Finalist in Tripod Required Photo Contest
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Superb Composition
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Outstanding Creativity
Magnificent Capture
Superior Skill
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AlanJakarta
December 01, 2014
Fabulous time exposure. Congratulations on being the People's Choice Winner.
johankoch
December 26, 2014
Join the conversation. Add a comment or even better, a critique. Let's get better together!
johankoch
December 26, 2014
i follow your postings on nz face book--some great photos-this one and wannabe tree-
LucyLoo
January 08, 2015
Congratulations :-D What a marvellous photo, great light, colours and perspective :-D Love the reflections too :-D
AlanJakarta
January 27, 2015
My previous comment refers. Congratulations on being a People's Choice Winner again.
Jocmif
February 04, 2015
Congratulations Mikey for winning the Fairytale Landscape people's choice. Very well done on a great capture.
Same photographer See allBehind The Lens
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Behind The Lens
Location
I took this shot at one of my favourite places to visit, Lake Wanaka. Situated in the South Island of New Zealand.Time
I hadn't planned on shooting this shot, but after a bit of encouragement from a few people to shoot an astro shot at this location, I though 'Ok, let's do this'. However just going out and shooting this wasn't going to work, a fair amount of planning was required. So I ended up wading out into the chilly lake to get the optimum composition, waste deep in leaky waders from midnight until 01:40am.Lighting
Most of my astro shots I strive to get away from light pollution, however to shoot this tree you cannot get away from it, so why not embrace it? Most of the lighting is pretty antique, well, a few billion years old but still shining bright. Other than natural star light and light pollution from nearby towns, no other lighting was used.Equipment
My go to camera is my Canon 6D, and my favourite lens is the Samyang 24mm ƒ1.4 lens and my trusty Manfrotto 190PROBX tripod with a ball head. No fancy panoramic heads used, this setup seems to create magic on clear nights.Inspiration
I was halfway through a 3 week trip around the South Island of New Zealand in a motorhome (best trip ever!) and we were VERY fortunate to have clear skies, 19 days out of 21! So I guess you can call it an Astro Trip, every night we were out under the stars shooting the Milky Way. My goal was to shoot the Milky Way in as many locations - but without rushing it. The previous day I shot this tree at sunset, and after posting it online the feedback was good, but an astro shot would be better, so thanks to my friends and followers for inspiring me to shoot this.Editing
I process all of my Astro shots, this one was processed in Lightroom and Photoshop, but stitched in Hugin, 32 images went in to creating this shot. Most of the editing is contrast/brightness adjustments, a bit of noise reduction and clarity added.In my camera bag
I used to be a hard core Canon only guy, until someone lent me a Samyang 14mm ƒ2.8 to try out. I was amazed at the sharpness and ease of use – let alone the price of this lenses! So sure enough, I had invested in a Samyang 14mm ƒ2.8, and then a Samyang 24mm ƒ1.4. The SY 24mm is now my go to lens of choice for night scenes, but is also a lot of fun shooting ƒ1.4 portraits. I also have a Canon 600D, EF 24-105mm lens, EF 40mm ƒ2.8 lens (very fun lens!), 50mm ƒ1.8, 85mm ƒ1.8, 55-250mm nifty two fifty, JOBY GorillaPod SLR-Zoom, 12v Dew Heater, Yongnuo flash and a few filters. Today I received a new toy, an iOptron Skytracker, so now I can take longer exposures of the night sky.Feedback
Just get out there and give it a go! But beware, as soon as you see those stars appear on your camera screen, you will get addicted to this art form. Don't be afraid to step out of your comfort zone and try to capture something original! Look for that new angle, but always be aware of your surroundings. I was fortunate not to trip over in this lake and ruin all my gear, but that's the risk I took to capture this shot.