I went out for my first Astrophotography session on the night of Friday, 12 May 2023. The moon was not rising until 11:30 pm with clear skies so I had a chance to get out try some photos.
In the transition and using a new reduced setup, I forgot to include my head torch in my bag so had to repeatedly turn on the flashlight in my iPhone to check camera settings, lens focus and my general footing etc.
I kept it local and within 30km of Lake Wanaka. Pity some of the best and local views are to the West but the centre of the Milky Way is rising to the SE and moving Eastwards. So that is where I had find places for and to shoot.
The first stop, furtherest from town, was a write-off with no view back towards the township. I came back in and stopped at Glendhu Bay (1st photo below) and got a few photos there. Moving closer in to the township I got near the waters edge and took another lot (2nd photo below). And since I was going past, it instagrammed to death, I decided to stop and try my hand with the Wanaka Tree (last pic).
All in all a good intro, but it was pretty cold (close to 0 deg C) and with some reminders along the way – take your head torch Dumbo!
