Last weekend the signs were looking promising for a show of the Aurora Australis so I was able to get out for a spot of stargazing. Arriving at the Red Rocks Reserve I was quickly out onto the beach and then as usual I walked up the hill to get an elevated viewpoint. It was a less than clear view to the south with clouds scudding across the sky. There was also a distinct lack of aurora. I took a few photos of what stars were visible and then moved around the hill looking for a different angle.
I decided to try a timelapse, something I’ve been meaning to have a go at for a while. It was fairly simple, I close a viewpoint and started taking photos with the assistance of a remote timer set to continuously take photos. Over nearly an hour and half the camera was taking photos with the shutter open for 15 seconds a time. Two hundred and sixty three shots later I was done. There were a couple of moments where I was previewing shots and that led to jumps in the resultant video so I won’t be doing that again. This particular aurora was only visible to the eye as a pale glow between the clouds but still came out quite well in the photos. So here it is, 11 seconds of video and the probable start of another obsession.
I took a few final photos as the remains of the show were hidden by increased cloud and then it was home to bed. Next time I’ll need to take a seat, there is only so much you can do when waiting in the dark on a damp hillside.
