Moonlighting at the Pinnacles
Having been to the Pinnacles a few times now, I’ve been keen to improve on my previous efforts. However, with the Pinnacles getting more popular with night photographers and this night having a bright moon that was setting late – I didn’t plan on having too much success. But one musn’t shy away from the opportunity to head out, and so I decided to use this opportunity to invite a good friend of mine (Michael) who had been interested in joining me on one of my nocturnal adventures.
We headed off late in the day and without incident arrived in Nambung National Park two and a half hours later. We used what little remained of the fading light to do a couple of laps around the Pinnacles loop in search of good vantage points with views to the south and to the west. The galaxy would be falling towards the western horizon by the time the moon set, so I was particularly keen on looking for a spot with views of the western horizon but also expansive views of the monoliths. To tell you the truth, I couldn’t find a great spot that had sweeping and uninterrupted views of the Pinnacles in the foreground – only more close in scenes. Close in scenes tend to suit wider angle lenses and not so much my longer focal lengths. However, I did find a moderately good location along the western portion of the Pinnacles loop on the road looking west. With some quick focus stacking I could make this work.
With the moon still high and bright in the sky I decided on a “warm-up” shot with me on a small hill looking south whilst Michael walked out into the field of monoliths with the camera flash. A quick panorama pretty much confirmed that the moon was too bright for decent shots, although with a bit of processing I did manage to reveal the Milkyway through the bright night sky.
Having done this, we settled in our car at a parking bay not too far away and tried to get some rest to wait for the moon to set. At this point there came car after car, and even a small bus – parking nearby. Out came a number of groups of people, camera and tripods in hand. No silent and awe-filled night was this going to be – rather it felt like being at a tourist site seeing location. They quickly scouted out the area we had been looking at and planted their seats and tripods there! Double drat and all.
Well, no peace for the wicked. As the moon approached the western horizon and the skies got darker, Michael and I left the warm confines of my 4wd and planted ourselves at a nearby location where I thought I might do a wide panorama capturing the setting moon underneath the arc of the Milkyway. I risked using my 50mm rather than going wider – but this did not end up working out. The light from the setting moon changed fast and as I was part way through my foreground panels I could tell the light was changing in between exposures. Stitching was going to be impossible so I abandoned this attempt with a lesson learned for next time.
The night was getting very cold, and even our warm jackets could not keep us comfortable. Determined to get something from this night, we moved locations to the small hill near the northern part of the loop. With the moon set I asked Michael to go stand on the hill whilst I used my 85mm to try and capture the Antares nebula low on the horizon with Michael on the hill forming the foreground. The image wasn’t quite what I was after, I probably should’ve moved closer to the subject.
Back to the car to warm up. We drove on a little way to roughly the south-eastern part of the loop. Here was a mostly clear area with some small Pinnacles dotting the boundaries of the area. Not a great location but the clear area would allow me to use my 50mm lens to better advantage. The galaxy was getting low on the horizon so here was the chance to get another “lone figure under a horizontal galaxy” shot. Not messing around, we took the panorama and fled back to the car to warm-up again.
And that was that. Not the greatest of nights, but we came away with something at least. Reflecting over the various times I’ve been to the Pinnacles, I am starting to come to the conclusion that it is a place where you can create good nightscapes – just not great nightscapes. Of course, that is a matter of one’s own opinion.
