The Milky Way , from Edge of the World
This was an impromptu invitation to join a group of photographers to The Edge of the World for the evening to do some night LandScape photography along with the Milky Way.
The trip is arranged by a Ivan, who I had met when I did the very first Amnesia concept at Graffiti Rock. Ivan does all sorts of desert trips, for all purposes.
I usually don’t like “groups” LandScape photography, or groups for any genre of photography as it tends to have various people with various disciplines, and as I am easily irritated, I know that I will not get the images I want, nor will I like my time.
That said, I always like to challenge myself, and decided to go with barely minimum knowledge of the trip’s logistics! How many would be with us? Are they photographers, or camera-totters? Are they disciplined, or chaotic? Do they smoke, drink, hubly-bubbly? Are they the type that leave a campsite in disarray, or clean up when they’re about to leave? Punctual, or happy-go-lucky? All the elements that I would normally need to assess whether I’d want to be part of the group, or not, I totally disregarded and thought why not just go and see for oneself.
The small joining fee was well worth the adventure, and so I accepted the invitation.
Timings and meeting point was agreed, as so the “trip” started. Most were punctual, and on time, but a few weren’t! Which caused our first delay. Then Ivan’s SUV needed fuel top-up, so we went to the petrol station for him to fill up. And so an 8:25pm gathering turned into a 9:30pm departure.
There are three routes to the Edge of the World, and we were taking route #3, which takes us through a deer’s sanctuary. Arriving at the gate we discovered that the gates were closed for the season, and no entry was permitted!
Luckily, through a bit of negotiations, and someone’s debating skills, we managed to convince the wardens to let us through … and so it was to be, we made our way on an off-road track to our camping destination.
The total drive, from meeting point, to camp site destination, was a good 3 hours, keeping in mind the off road bit needs a much slower driving speed.
Once at the camp, Ivan took over, arranged the seatings, a small hike, while we all introduced ourselves to one another. Upon returning from the hike, fire was lit, and dinner was burgers on the BBQ, and what yummy burgers they were.
Kudos to Ivan for arranging everything so meticulously, down to the smallest details.
While dinner was being readied, a few went around taking photos … some were good images of star trails, and the Milky Way itself too.
After dinner, at around 2:30am, we sat for “around the fire” talk when I noticed the Milky Way right above us, optimal position to photograph it; and so I excused myself to go get the images I wanted / needed.
And so it was, from around 3am to 4:45am I kept shooting the stars with two concepts in mind:
A still image of the Milky Way
A amalgamation of the 100s of images, to a short video of the rotation of the Earth in respect to the Milky Way
Unfortunately there was a bit of light pollution, from the nearby village, and from the others’ roaming around with their head-lights on!
By 4:45am I was done, but those who had remained, as a few of the group had decided to leave, were now asleep!
Not wanting to sleep at this hour, I decided to head back out the sanctuary, and to do some LandScape shoots as the sun was rising.
Not a bad evening out, great company, and great food … plus some wicked images of the Milky Way.
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