Thoughts and Experiments
Like many photographers who capture the night sky, this means waking up at odd hours, interrupting one’s deep sleep to capture the milky way especially in the southern hemisphere where I am based. The Galactic Core (GC) becomes visible close to 1.00am till just after 5.00am currently. When the moon is waxing, especially close to a full moon, then the hours available are even shorter or not possible at all due to moon light making the visibility of the GC challenging.
As a photographer many times I make the conscious decision to leave the comforts of my bed to explore the vast night sky at odd hours to learn, to experiment and engage with the environment around me in a different way. Not only is it gratifying but also it gives me a sense of connection to my surroundings in a way I do not experience during daylight hours which are dominated by work commitments.
I will confess, I do get nervous and unsettled when I step outside the comforts of home to go for a night shoot, as most of my life’s recollection is based on the activities I have pursued during the daylight period. So for me it takes a lot to actually make this conscious change and enjoy the darkness, explore its beauty as much as the daylight. Many times I chant while driving, during the shoot and on my way back home so my mind does not wander down a completely negative mindset which is neither helpful or constructive when I am making this change in my life. The chanting helps me break that negative mindset of all the horrible things that can go wrong but it is something I need to keep doing, or else the beauty of the mind is that it can take that quick exit path of saying you can never be good at this, the Impostor Syndrome many times I have felt.
I have been coming to this very location, i.e. Princess Bay for the 3rd time within a week having found a spot on the south coast of Te Whanganui-a-Tara (Wellington) which works just about right to capture the timeless milky way. To do these shoots, I have been waking up around 2:30am breaking my deep sleep to check the Ventusky App for cloud cover and also popping my head by the window to look outside. This is alongside using apps like PhotoPills to understanding what time and location of the GC will be visible, when the moon will rise and set, and also Stellarium which I use during the shoot to understand what am I looking at.
Why is it then I need the Ventusky App? It is because nature has its own sweet plans, and the predication covered in the app at times does not match up to what you actually are seeing. A fine example was just a around a week back when my friend and I checked everything out around 3.00am on the app and then cross referencing by looking outside and proceeding to leave to do a shoot. We turn up at the very same spot (Princess Bay) 30 mins later, and it had gone cloudy. We thought let’s just wait to see if it is a freak cloud movement as the app was still showing clear sky, and we waited for around an hour to see if it would clear but it just kept getting cloudier.
Why am I sharing all this? It is for the reason I have now been working close to two decades in the corporate sector and to pursue creative avenues like photography, it is a total mind shift and also a lifestyle change. So everything I have been doing over the last 18 months is totally new to me and something I never thought I could ever do or pursue. Aotearoa has in that sense made me realise to give time to myself beyond work. I for some reason lacked that maturity and foresight when I was working in my home country Bharat (India) not because there were no opportunities but because I did not give myself the time to think and engage beyond work in creative pursuits. As I still settle into a new home here in Aotearoa, I have begun to realise what I have been missing. So, I am now on a learning journey which will forever continue as I tap into and engage with the creative nature that exists within me so I can nurture it and pursue my creative callings.
For so long I have been fascinated by images of the night sky but also with time-lapse videos made by various photographers since my photographic journey began. So in no way when I did my very first time-lapse was it planned to the same extent as those I initially watched with clear creative aspects. I had to take my first steps into the realm of Time-lapse.
This first step was a spur of the moment decision and thought experiment post my early morning Milk Way shoot. I could have driven back home and rested given how tired I was from the week but the itch to do something more got the better of me with that voice which said what about taking a series of photos for a time-laspe. With that thought and excitement I pushed myself just a little more, saying to myself its a learning no matter what the outcome unless I shoot, I will never know. But hey, easier said than accepted as self expectations are always high for me.
None the less I spent the next appx. 45 mins during Nautical twilight hour taking shots to create my first time-lapse experiment. Not even sure if it was going to work out, but unless I make an effort to experiment and try out what I watch on youtube, I will never know. As the camera clicked away and my weary eyes, feet and body wanting a break, the sound of the waves, seeing the slowly rising Venus and Mars with the subtle changing light in the landscape made the entire spur in the moment decision so satisfying. Even drawing up enough courage to go and check how cold the water was, but to my pleasant surprise the water was warmer than I had expected! I muster up courage to shut the camera down and make my walk back to the car.
As I drive home with a sense of satisfaction of having made that effort to put into practice what I could remember from what I had watched. But there was also the other chatter in my mind a big IF of have I remembered enough to do what is required to shoot a time-lapse? The self critical conscious is the toughest to face up to as I have more expectations of myself.
So having reached home, I make a quick dash to upload the photos onto my laptop and check how many photographs did I manage to take, it was close to 230 photographs! Impressed as I was, I had to delete a few due to the blown out highlight from the rising Sun which is to be expected as the light had changed quite a bit from my very first shot.
Over the next few days I spend time browsing videos on youtube, getting frustrated as not able to get my time-lapse processed. I thought I needed new software until I came across the video on youtube by David Johnston. Thank you @DavidJohnstonPhoto for creating this simple easy to follow video. Everything just clicked, I figured out how to create a time-lapse using LRC and PS. I wonder as I look back, how is it I never came across his tutorial video in my initial search? As the saying goes everything comes when the time is right! Finally I render my video which you can view under Time-Lapse with the same title as this blog ‘Thoughts and Experiments!’
Am I then looking forward to creating more time-lapse? Was it worth the effort I put in? As I ponder these next set of thoughts and questions, my immediate response is YES absolutely I am going to be investing more time in developing a different creative aspect as I foray into my photography journey. I am going to be experimenting with many different areas as possible. So when I look back I can say to my-self, I experimented, I learnt and I know how to do it better in a way that works for me.
So I am now looking forward to my next night/early morning adventure not just to create as I have unlocked something new for myself to further delve into…but also to explore time-lapse videos beyond the Milk Way!
It is worth every bit of my effort having made a commitment to myself about ‘Setting the tone!’ for 2024 from 1st January 2024 sunset shot.
