Startrails and Human Journeys #2

Geoff  Coleman - Landscapes

Startrails and Human Journeys #2

Looking south from Caves Beach Jervis Bay. One of these “I don’t believe this” moments. One of the problems with Royal NP (where I shoot most of my photos) is that it’s under the flight path for Sydney airport which is a problem at night because I end up getting lots of distracting light trails from the planes (there is often no more than 90 seconds between one plane flying out of a frame and another flying in). Given it takes 10 minutes to start getting decent star trails you end up with 10 plane trails in the shot.
So me and my partner headed south to the almost equally gorgeous national park at Jervis Bay 2.5 hours south of Sydney. Whoopee I thought – no planes. And then, just as I pressed the shutter this tiny light plane flew into frame. My first reaction was #$Q #%$## what do you have to do to get away from aircraft and I nearly closed the shutter. But then I thought just leave it and take another shot after this one. So I left it and it turned out to be my favourite shot of the start trails I took that night. The white glow is the Milky Way and the orange glow is from a village on the other side of the bay.
Tv: 619secs
Av: f/3.5
ISO: 200
FL: 17MM
Canon 30D

Startrails and Human Journeys #2 belongs to the following groups:

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Startrails and Human Journeys #2 by Geoff  Coleman - Landscapes
Startrails and Human Journeys #2 by Geoff  Coleman - Landscapes
  • ~ Selle

    ~ Selle

    Lucky the Navy weren’t doing night flights LOL
    I really like the reddish/pink – I think it adds in the same way the orange glow does.

  • Geoff  Coleman - Landscapes

    Geoff Coleman...

    Thanks Ally – lol at the time I wished they’d have shot the bloody thing down but I ended up liking its trajectory.

  • Trace Lowe

    Trace Lowe

    Nice job!

  • Gregory Ewanowich

    Gregory Ewanowich

    Nice capture Geoff! With the silhouetted foreground and the glow in the distance it makes for a really interesting view.

  • Jeremy Harrington

    Jeremy Harrington

    amazing image.. i really need to get my hands on a shutter cord with lock so i can give this ago one time..

  • John Segon-Fisher,  RPA

    John Segon-Fis...

    Brilliant Geoff.

  • Douzy

    Douzy

    Hehe I know you didn’t want the planes there but I like them! Like I said on your previous pic I like the man-nature bond it creates. The trajectory has quite a nice angle too, and the red adds interest. I also like the orange glow from the town.

  • dinghysailor1

    dinghysailor1

    Beautiful – I’m feeling giddy…!

  • Antanas

    Antanas

    Great composition

  • Mary Lake

    Mary Lake

    This is awesome. I’ve been dying to try shots like this, now that it’s getting cold here, I may have to wait till the spring. Who know’s maybe I’ll bundle up one night and try it for some fun and excitement. Love this, thanks for sharing…. :-)

  • Monster

    Monster

    Great shot! It inspires me to get out and do more now the long and cold nights of winter are here!

  • PigleT

    PigleT

    Interesting how the flashing red lights spread out – says a lot about the angle of incidence (bit like the Doppler effect, I guess).

  • Kasey Lilly

    Kasey Lilly

    hehehe man that’s a great story. great shot too. i love trying to get star trails. the only ones i’ve taken have been on film tho. i don’t have a scanner either.
    you could say it’s a UFO! heh.

  • Matt White

    Matt White

    This is fantastic, Iooking forward to more of your shots

  • vonne

    vonne

    This is cool. Sometimes you just gotta go with the flow eh… Worked GREAT!

  • Jacqueline  Rojo

    Jacqueline Rojo

    Geoff this is just incredible, what a surreal image, the star trails look unreal!!!! It reminds me of Star Wars LOL…oh master of the park, how the stars shine bright for you!

  • PablosVista

    PablosVista

    Brilliant.

  • Geoff Coleman... replied

    Thankyou Pablo.

  • Mel Brackstone

    Mel Brackstone

    I really like the combination of the two lots of trails here Geoff, they work so well together, imho!

  • JohnThunderbird

    JohnThunderbird

    you could always slip you hand in front while the plane passes and then remove your hand, great shot.

  • Andrew Murrell

    Andrew Murrell

    I really like this one Geoff. The trail of the plane doesn’t detract from the image at all. I like the way you have managed to collect the emu on his head.
    Great shot.

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