Great Ocean Road Adventure #4/6 Shooting the Milky Way Galaxy

Ever since I was a kid, I have always seen pictures of the galaxies and the stars. Notice how the stars are in front of the clouds. Thats because this is no ordinary cloud. This cloud is 450 light years across.

Tonight, I managed to see with my own eyes, with the help of my 450D, a glimpse of the Spiral Arms of our Milky Way Galaxy. The Great Ocean Road offers clear skies without all that city light pollution, allowing the avid photographer to get a snapshot of the beginning of space.

These shots would not have been possible without Kwok Liang's F2.8 and his remote timer! Thanks a lot dude! Welcome to the sights of Camp Otway.

Anyway, after dinner, the Photoholics organised a light painting session. As you can tell, my light painting skills could use some refining after I painted a retarded looking sun! Yet, my main purpose of night photography was not light painting. One could do that any night and anywhere. The real lure for me lies in the heavens. The clouds were rolling and we were not certain if a star shoot would be a good idea. However, the clouds parted to reveal the unobstructed view of the shining stars. During the light painting, I pointed my camera upwards to get the above picture.

Not satisfied, a motley crew of 10 people jammed into two cars and headed off to a more secluded location. The winds were blazing and the temperature dipped as the surface heat left the atmosphere. Without artificial light, I managed the above. If you look clearly, there is one really bright spot there. That happens to be one of the planets, either Mars or Venus.

Like mice in the dark, it was a band of tripods all pointed up in the air and two cars surrounding us. It was a carpark that was next to the beach. We became witness to every crashing wave and the billowing wind. We shot there for at least an hour, some of our team members, succumbing to the chilling winds. It all paid off when I managed this shot:Click to enlarge. Just brilliant. The vast expanse of space and the sheer number of stars. The specks close to the clouds are all stars, while the specks outside are all distant galaxies. If you can see properly, you will notice the diverse colours of the starts themselves.

Beautiful.