Mack Photography: Bruce Bay

You know how sometimes you get these silly ideas that actually work out in the end? This night was one of those nights. Exploring with a group of Photography mates, we decided to walk from the Bruce Bay township to the Jacobs Rivermouth. Trudging soft West Coast sand made it slow going, plus the weight of all our camera gear, sleeping bags, food, wine... 3.5kms later we made it for sunset.

Now we don't just make these decisions without some kind of plan, right? Weather looked perfect for Astrophotography, so that's what the mission entailed. As the sun went down, we were treated to a gorgeous moonlit evening. Moon was to set around 23:50, so was going to be a long night.

We got comfy with a campfire, had some food and wine or two, then went about exploring the area under moonlight. Being the middle of Winter, was a balmy -3ºC. After a while we hung out at the campfire to keep warm until the moon got lower.

For this shot, I timed it so the Moon was to set near the headland to the South. I'd already found the spot to shoot from earlier, using the driftwood to slightly mirror the curve of the Milky Way and also keep the campfire in the shot. Starting with the Moon setting as shot #1, I got to work shooting the rest of the frames, around 45 in total. I only had one chance to capture this.

So here you have Bruce Bay under the Milky Way. With the Moon setting dead center of the frame, our cozy campfire illuminating the foreground and let's not forget our Satellite Galaxy neighbors, the LMC and SMC on the top left of the frame.