About the event
Join me for an Astro Meet in the Blue Mountains! This night-time adventure, set against the stunning backdrop of Cahills Lookout in Katoomba, promises to capture the magic of the stars. With breathtaking views across the Megalong Valley, you'll have the perfect setting for capturing the Milky Way, star trails, and much more.
As we are in the heart of the winter astro season, we'll witness the Milky Way rising majestically from the east and setting into the western skies. This timing provides an unparalleled opportunity to photograph the night sky over the Megalong Valley, Narrowneck, and the expansive western view of the Blue Mountains.
These Astro meets are the perfect opportunity to work with our community, to learn new techniques or refine your Astro skills, capture some stunning imagery, and enjoy a social atmosphere with lots of fun and help on hand.
During our meetup, we'll refine our astro photography skills, covering essential topics such as safety, etiquette, and how to locate and photograph the Milky Way. You'll learn to find unique compositions and master advanced capture techniques. Additionally, we'll explore basic astroscape lighting using mobile phone screens and Low Level LED Lights.
This workshop also offers a fantastic opportunity to experiment with lengthy star trails, timelapses, and astro panoramas.
Our session will begin just after sunset and continue through to approximately 3 AM, providing ample time to immerse yourself in the celestial wonders and enhance your astro photography skills.
This is a weather dependent event. If heavy rain or storms are forecast we will cancel or postpone the event to a later date. We will still run the event if it is cloudy, as we will have some light painting fun around Cahills Lookout if the skies fail to clear for us.
Techniques covered
- Night shooting safety
- Locating the Milky Way
- Quick Milky Way settings
- Quick Star Trail Settings
- Focusing in the dark
- Night shooting etiquette
- Looking for the unique
- Managing lens fog
What to bring
- MOST IMPORTANT - Working headlamp or torch (no mobile phone torches please!)
- A camera with manual controls and interchangeable lenses
- Lenses suitable for astrophotography (between 12mm & 24mm preferably with f/2.8 or faster)
- Remote shutter for camera
- Sturdy tripod
- A small towel to cover your camera
- Warm layered clothing, beanie or other warm headwear, and warm socks/shoes or boots
- Firm and grippy footwear is strongly recommended as there are a number of trip hazards around the site at night
Event FAQs (For general FAQs, please visit the Frequently Asked Questions page)
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