Last weekend presented some great opportunities for milky way photography. The skies were clear and moonrise was not until late at night. So I packed my gear and headed to NSW. I was not sure where I'd stop to get the shots but knew I had to get as far away from city lights to increase my chances. The milky way started rising by 6:28pm and I needed to be at a location before then.
Half way through my journey my mind went to Ballina Lighthouse for some reason so I plugged in the address and headed that way. I arrived at location just after sunset, 5:09pm. I did some calculation using Photopills app and worked out that 7:30pm would be when the stars would align closer to the structure to start the shots. I drove down to the local Maccas to wait it out.
The lighthouse not only gave me a spectacular opportunity for astro shots but it was also well placed for a sunrise shoot the next day. So like always I made an impromptu decision to stay the night.
I had a good practise run shooting sunrise the next morning. I will have to revisit in summer for some better ones though.
I drove down to Shelly Beach Café for brekkie after the shoot. Their eggs benedict was one of the best I've had so far. The views of the ocean from the café were amazing too.
Here are the shots and a video summarising my very short stay at Ballina. I am definitely going back soon to checkout more of this amazing coastal town of New South Wales.
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