We drove around, winding our way back and forth and up and down through several NZ forests, only to find ourselves among cows and sheep and no town. We ended up in a VERY remote "lodge" following a dark dirt path. Hospitable owners made us delicious scrambled eggs and toast for sustenance. Good news: beautiful view of the Milky Way outside our private cabin only steps from the back deck. Woke up to a beautiful setting, and would recommend this place to anyone seeking an idyllic, quiet get-away.
LR Saga of the day: I cropped slightly, closed out a tiny bit of a tree in the corner. Played with various sliders and ended up nearly exactly at where it all started. The stars seem too white to me, but I don't know how to correct it. Someone from my class had said not to make all the stars visible but should I have had less than 30 second exposure? The color of the sky is so different than in Hawaii.
Title amended with thanks to Dianne @dide who taught me the concept of a Tiki Tour.
The night sky in NZ is one of the things I am amazed at. Even though we live in the country we still have some light pollution but in NZ the stars are magnificent. I can never get a decent shot like this, really lovely Junko.
I don't know your camera but mine is 36 mg pixel and 15 sec is as long as I can go without sloppy stars. If you wanted fewer stars, decrease the clarity a bit. Looks like a fabulous spot and you did well I think
This is great .. I do take our clear skys for granted it is not until I read comments like above that I realize how lucky we are here in rural NZ. I must venture out at night and give this a go..
Don't know if you have PS, but if you do you can get rid of those branches without cropping, Use the polygon lasso tool to select the area and then use fill set to content aware. Usually does an amazing job. Amazing like your photo.
Fantastic job on this, Junko! And I think you and I were of like mind in wanting more practice. We had a totally clear night on Sunday night on Hilo, but neither Kathy nor I were comfortable driving up to the volcano on our own. Oh well...But Kona had really clear skies 2 of the 3 nights. I love the colors in this one!
