Southern Night Sky

[Nighthawk237]

My first attempt at trying to photograph a true night sky:

on Flickr

Constructive comments much appreciated.

Regards

Paul

[garyscott]

As a first attempt, must say its absolutely stunning.
What were your settings?

[jem60]

Stars are amazing. If you can eliminate light pollution they are stunning. Walking back late one night in South Africa, in the
country, the small town had a power failure. It was black as hell, but the sky was absolutely amazing!!!. It is a memory that I will always count as one of my sightseeing highlights. They always say that the stars are brighter in the southern hemisphere.

[Nighthawk237]

Many thanks Garyscott. The settings I used were: ISO 6400; f2.8; & 30 second exposure using an EF24-70mm lens at 24mm. I used Photoshop a tad to enhance the brightness & contrast, otherwise the image is as taken.

I so agree with jem about a truly dark sky. It sounds like stating the obvious but when one can eliminate man-made sources of light, the night sky really is dark. However, it doesn't take long for the eye to adjust to take in the Milky Way. We have lost so much with our light pollution here in most of the UK.

Paul