WELCOME TO STELLAR AUSTRALIS!


​"​Stellar Australis" is a website dedicated to the progress of photography, in particular to astrophotography in all its forms, and the sharing of knowledge, experience, and works of amateur photographer - Will Vrbasso.
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The vision for this site is to be a place for sharing photos, stories, locations, tutorials, tools, resources and general discussions as I pursue my passion - in the hope that this may inspire and aid others who are like me, still striving to be better in the most loneliest but most awe-inspiring of pursuits.

Visit the gallery section of my website to view all my works...glad to have you here.
​Want to follow me else where rather than my website? I am also active on the following social media sites:

GALLERY

Look at my images of nightscapes, nebulas, planets, galaxies, landscapes, and more. Download full-res versions for personal use for FREE!

BLOG

Read about my latest experiences, learnings, failures, suggestions, and adventures. Or alternatively, follow me on Google Plus or Facebook.

EXPEDITIONS

A grandiose name for locations I have been to, how to get there, whether its worth getting there, tips, and general photos and stories of the area.

TUTORIALS

At the beginning I had no idea what I was doing, but I've learnt a lot from those who do. This knowledge has been tailored to my workflow and now I am sharing it back to everyone (Still under construction)

RESOURCES

Contains useful tools, references, websites, and utilities that I use when planning, executing, or processing a photo session. 

ABOUT

A little summary of me, the aim of this website, my equipment and especially the "rules" that I abide by for taking photos.

NEWS, UPDATES, AND EVENTS

Website last updated 2018/04/27.

14th April 2018: I completed a distant expedition to Lake Campion / Brown, some four hours out of Perth. This lake is fantastic (apart from travel time required). A dry salt lake, it has clear dark skies and some great rocky ridges on the western shore.
My brother and I took many photos, which will take me a while to process them all. I am posting them as I get done processing.
This place should be a must for all astrophotographers in the region. Even though we spent most of the night taking photos, I doubt that we had even scratched the potential scenes and compositions possible with this lake. 
​I will be keen to try this lake out again later on in the year.
24th March 2018: Great night at the Astrofest 2018 (except for the lousy weather). I managed to pick up two commendations for my submission - one for my picture of the Horsehead nebula, and another for my widefield image of the Milkyway core.
Otherwise, life and weather has prevented my from going out and taking more photos :( 
Hopefully this month I'll get a chance...
25th January 2018: How great it is to clean off the dust from my telescope and take it out under the dark skies. I decided to target the easily recognisable Horsehead and Flame nebula, although I prefer to personally name it the "Balrog" nebula, after J.R.R.Tolkien's mythical demon, as his description seems to match this composition closely:
"The flames roared up to greet it, and wreathed about it; and a black smoke swirled in the air. Its streaming mane kindled, and blazed behind it. In its left it held a whip of many thongs" [Lord of the Rings, Book 1].​
5th January 2018: On Christmas night I travelled to the famous Lake Ballard, around 2 hours north of Kalgoorlie, Western Australia.
​The moon was at 40% and high, which did great to illuminate the foreground of the dry lake and iconic hill, but washed out the sky somewhat.
I managed to get some good images though, and will post this in my gallery shortly.
​Happy New Year!!!
21st December 2017: I had a short opportunity before going on a trip to Kalgoorlie to visit the dunes near Cervantes, Western Australia. This night was perfect, low wind and clear skies - with the moon at 4% on the western sky to just illuminate enough of the dunes perfectly. Only thing not perfect was the occassional car headlights that popped into the scenes (on the right in this image).
I'll post all the images from this night's session in my gallery once back from holidays. Hope everyone has a merry Christmas and Happy New Year!
28th October 2017: Probably my last opportunity before the milkyway season ends - I identified a gap in the clouds around Wongan Hills, and decided to chance a trip to Lake Ninan. 
In the end, only one shot turned out as light cloud rolled in and pretty much ruined my other shots - but at least I got one early on in the night. 
2nd September 2017: Here in Perth, clouds clouds and more clouds. Almost two months solid with nearly no opportunity to shoot the night sky. But finally, the skies cleared and I decided to go to Gilderton Lighthouse to do a photo session there. This lighthouse is popular with local astrophotographers, but somehow I've always put it off until now. It took four compositions in total (you can find them in the nightscape gallery). It was a great night, not too cold and not another soul around.
24th June 2017: This month is pretty much the last month where it is possible to take images of the core rising (before it gets too early in the evening). I journeyed out to Gingin just north of Perth, Western Australia where a forest reserve allows for some great shots of the sky.
Gingin isn't the most darkest spot (as can be seen by the light pollution on the horizon in this photo), but still has some great skies and landscapes.
I'll post some of these photos in my gallery once I've sorted it out, but check the column to the right from my recent images.
5th April 2017: I managed to get away and do some nightscape shots. Time is keeping me away from adding some of these images to the gallery - hope to do so shortly. In the meantime take a look at my "will ' o ' wisp" image, from a creek in Chittering.
19th March 2017: I was very fortunate to receive the award for Best Astrophoto for the 2017 Astrofest held in Perth! I also received commendations two other images I submitted. The astrofest was a fantastic event, with many activities, stalls, demos, and more. Can't wait till next year.
7th February 2017: My 2017 astrophotography gallery is now online here. It now includes images of the Carina and Orion nebula - my warm-up deep sky objects for the year. Enjoy.
26th January 2017: Shot on the 2nd Jan 2017, this was done with eyepiece projection on my Skywatcher 120ED telescope. I usually only do prime photography through my telescope when I can use my field flattener, but for the moon my 875mm focal length is a bit too short. Anyhow, excuses aside, this humble shot is a multiple-exposure image of the moon showing the dim earth-glow on the dark side with the illuminated side of the moon at roughly 15%, taken from my backyard in Perth, Western Australia.
12th January 2017: Back from holidays over, what a year 2016 has been! From lonely shorelines by the sea to silent deserts. From quiet lakes to fire ravaged forests. Wandering these wonderful landscapes alone at night in advancement of my nightscape photography has been a exhilarating experience. I've included highlights of this years efforts in the obligatory montage below.
So, what's in store for me for 2017? I hope to purchase a modified DSLR (I've been using a stock camera up until this date), and improve my skill at deep sky astrophotography. But I still hope to get out for the occasional nightscape session, as there is nothing like wondering out under the stars at night in some desolate location.
Finally, a big thanks to my wife, family, and all those supporters out there who like (or tolerate) my hobby and images!!!​
10th December 2016: Recently I went out to my spot around Ledge Point to setup my telescope for a night's session on my favourite deep sky objects. A fantastic night, clear skies, warm, with not much dew (pity about the plague of ticks that kept trying to bite me). Anyhow, managed to get some quick shots of the famous horsehead nebula in Orion, the Fornax galaxy cluster, and the easy to photography but hard to master, Small and Large Magellanic Clouds. I'll be adding these to my gallery shortly.
18th November 2016: Its almost the end of "core" season, with the Milkyway now setting early in the night. This was the last chance for me to get some shots of the galaxy low and horizontal on the horizon. Despite high winds and blowing sand, I wandered out over the dunes near Cervantes to create nice photos. I've put the best in my gallery, here.

LATEST IMAGES

Latest presentable images.

THANKS FOR VISITING

Thank you for visiting my web site - Stellar Australis!  ​Follow me on Google Plus and Facebook as I frequently post on these social media sites, as well as on my blog page.  And don't forget to come back soon as I hope to keep this website updated often.
Remember, you can download photos and use the information on this website for free with a clear conscience. However, if you do wish to provide some appreciation then great, please go to my donation page for more information. Funds will only be used to further the photography for this website.