from Red Crater by Moonlight
a 360 degree panorama taken from the top of the Tongariro Crossing in the Central Plateau of NZ - Mordor from LOTR if you will!
Above the Blue Lake mid ce...
Read more
a 360 degree panorama taken from the top of the Tongariro Crossing in the Central Plateau of NZ - Mordor from LOTR if you will!
Above the Blue Lake mid centre left are the lights of Great Lake Taupo, and centre right is the faint line of lights of Waiouru.
This is 6000 feet up & three hours hike to the nearest road-vehicle .... and it was night time!
Read less
Above the Blue Lake mid centre left are the lights of Great Lake Taupo, and centre right is the faint line of lights of Waiouru.
This is 6000 feet up & three hours hike to the nearest road-vehicle .... and it was night time!
Read less
ISO 1600 
Jul, 2015Views
2630
Likes
Awards
Featured
Contest Finalist in Clash Of The Pros Photo Contest
Peer Award
Superb Composition
Absolute Masterpiece
Top Choice
Outstanding Creativity
All Star
Magnificent Capture
Superior Skill
Genius
Top Ranks
Top 10 rankTop 10 rank week 2Top 10 rank week 1
Top 10 rankTop 10 rank week 1
Categories
Same photographer See allBehind The Lens
Discover more photos See all
Behind The Lens
Location
This image was taken from the highest point of the Tongariro Crossing, an epic New Zealand track that takes 6 hours with 6000 feet of ascent. I often see this as a 'top ten day hikes of the world' so as a new photographer a shot from here was a priority.Time
I arrived at the start of this alpine hike just after midday on 31st May 2015 where I met my guide, a manager of a local skifield. He himself took no chances & brought along his mate, who is a local Dept of Conservation ranger & Search & Rescue. He was well armed with everything from GPS to Army Rations! I timed it so we would be on site in some daylight so could set up for this astro shot. my 2 friends who were with me were telling folk along the way they were "just with the photographer". From this viewpoint as photographed, as the army rations were cooking (geothermal hangi style after ice-axing into the steaming side of the path 50 metres below the summit!) & as the the sunset was fading & the stars were coming out ...... one of them turned to the other & said "actually mate ... this is orrr-sum!" It felt great having brought someone else up to see it, and reminded me of why we go to these remote locations with all that heavy camera gear.Lighting
There was a narrow window for this shot before the winter snow set in. I stayed at my daughter's six hours drive from home, and then drove two hours from her place to get to the start of the hike. So, I took this opportunity, realising a small moon was coming up, and as I was after a 360 degree view, there was no avoiding it. (Moonlight diminishes star brightness). Being so new to all this, I did not realise that the moonlight would work quite so well in my favour: at the light sensativities that you need for astrophotography, even the slightest of moonlight lit the foreground spectacularly as you can see in my shot.Equipment
I used my go to night setup: my trusty Canon 6D & Samyang 24mm prime combo. To avoid parallax I sit this on an RRS nodal slider, which attaches onto a sturdy Sirui K-40 head. At the time I had an extremely heavy but rock solid Sirui tripodInspiration
I wanted to take something no-one else had taken before. With recent advances in camera technology & software, I've been fortunate to join in on astrophotography at just the right time - the possibilities are now open for work that was not previously possible. I emigrated 20 years ago to NZ, family now grown up & can now start to get my hiking books on & explore, which is just what I did here too!Editing
This image is 2 rows of 12 images to form a 360 degree panorama, so for a start off the post processing involved stitching (in PTGui Pro). All up I think I was on about 20 hours as a relatively new Photoshop user. There was much work to balence the brightnesses of moon & stars, as well as particularly spot areas of contrast & shadow boost in the foreground. I took many bracketed panos, but ended up working with just one set.In my camera bag
My kit bag has evolved since I took this image. I'm now fortunate to have two Canon 6D (one for startrails) a Sigma 35mm Art lens, & a Samyang 14mm lens. Sometimes I'll carry the Canon L 70-200mm f/4 also. I now use a Sirui W-2204 with Novoflex Slim Pano kit & Magic Balance. I'm an astrophotographer, so I always carry two torches - one to get there, & dim red LED for night work! A 'Dew Not' heating collar & battery is essential on cold nights to stop fogging. I have metal spikes for my tripod, but I haven't got round to fitting them permanently ... just in case I forget when I'm going through customs before getting on a plane to another adventure! Lens cleaning tissues are essential too, & a cloth to wipe the camera/lens if needed. A cellphone so you can use the many apps that are a boon for night photography. Remote shutter to avoid judder. Spare SD cards, spare batteries - so I don't get all the way to the site only to fail here. Hmmmm, I normally have a heavy bag then, but invariably it all gets used in the process of getting the job done.Feedback
bottom line right now, you will only achieve top astrophotography shots if you have great gear. But don't let that stop you getting out & having fun if you don't have that: I think having fun is actually the most important thing, I aim to do that always :o) and hope it shows in the results. Shoot with the moon either not in the sky, or behind you, but it can be useful as here to light the foreground: consider 2 shots & blend them in post processing. Always use a sturdy tripod for night work. Be prepared to post process astro images. Again, make having fun your priority!
