A second visit to this remarkable place…. Although for me…the phrase “Late as usual” springs to mind for I wasn’t able to time my journey as I would have hoped, work commitments meant I left Geraldton around 5.30, therefore didn’t get to the Namburg National Park area until well after sunset, albeit a very uneventful sunset… so no loss there.

Being a clear night with no moon, I thought it worth a shot or two in the fading light to see what I could come up with, then maybe I could try a few star trails as we are well away from any light polution…

Now here’s the problem…. No moon means pitch black, snake infested bushes, dead scrubland to get to the dunes… hmm !!!, second issue, I’m wearing shorts.. hmm !!!, third issue, no torch…!!!, Hmm… ok… so I walk into the dunes area with the blue hour fading fast and the stars beginning to appear, I start getting all excited about star trails and sand dunes but here’s the real dilemma, as I wander into the night, I realise that basically, I have no means of bearings, nor a clue where I’m going, nor what I’m looking at. The camera can’t focus as there’s no light, I can’t compose as it’s way too dark, I’m quite literally falling down sand hills getting swamped in white powder sand… So I make the decision… STOP. take a deep breath, realise I am totally unprepared for night photography and slowly make my way out in the rough direction of the car, thinking…snakes..snakes, snakes, what If I get bitten, I’m in the middle of nowhere, an hour from any form of medical place…

So, of the couple of shots I managed with the focus set to infinity, and total guesswork with regard to the exposure…. this will have to do for now… but rest assured….I’m going back…prepared..!!!!

Nikon D90
Sigma 10-20mm lens @ 11.5mm
F/5.6
76 sec exposure
No Filters…. I couldn’t see what I was doing let alone darken the image !!!

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