The night skies
THE KEY TO CREATING INSPIRING ASTRO PHOTOS IS HAVING ENOUGH PETROL IN YOUR TANK TO HEAD FOR THE HILLS AND FAR AWAY FROM CITY LIGHTS.
Photographer Teagan Cunniffe travels to some ‘dark spots’ to shoot stars – and shows you how to do the same
It was 2am and I was wearing every item of warm clothing I had, plus a onesie loaned from Roam Game Reserveʼs general manager, Abigail de Swardt. Yet it did little to help with the frigid July temperatures in the Karoo and nothing against the clench of concern in my gut.
When itʼs dark and youʼre alone on a 5 300h reserve, every shadow looks like a predator. Especially after youʼve spent most of the day locating a displeased female cheetah. Although I was quite aware that cheetahs pose little threat to us bipeds, uMusa had just been relocated from Rietvlei Nature Reserve near Pretoria, and was not used to humans on foot. The image of her face looking down from the rocks, eyes glinting with hardened intent, was imprinted in my mind. At least sheʼd have a hard time biting through my many layers, I consoled myself mournfully, as I triggered my camera to take a long exposure of the nightʼs sky.
As a photographer, thereʼs a moment when you know youʼve found something special to work with. This was one of them. Innumerous stars swept above the game vehicle, starkly evident against the clean, deep darkness beyond. All thought of cheetahs gone, I retraced my steps to my tripod and started experimenting with exposures and torchlight.
Sweeping statements and generalisations are to be avoided in writing, yet I challenge any visitor to the wild areas of Namibia not to come away awed by the constellations they see. Flanked by the red dunes of the Namib- Rand Nature Reserve, I lay on a stretcher bed and watched the Milky Way wheel incrementally across the canvas above. One night was all it took to push my understanding of what a truly magnificent dark sky could look like, and I was enraptured. My love for star photography, however, stems from those late nights spent alone out at Roam, close to the small town of Prince Albert. Large portions of the Cederberg and the Karoo – including Sutherland – approach level 1 on the Bortle Scale. The Bortle Scale, oft mentioned as the Richter Scale for astronomers, estimates the skyʼs brightness based on visual cues. Level 9 is inner city skies with only portions of the brightest constellations visible; level 1 is referred to, in a somewhat smug way, as an excellent dark sky…
Itʼs these dark skies that lured Daria and Heine Rasmussen from Denmark in search of the setting for their next life chapter. Heine, passionate about stars and the galaxies since the age of seven, spent his days in an office job – and nights scaling the abandoned Avnoe Nature Centre, in a former air force training field 100km out of Copenhagen. Once set up, Heine would locate and track specific stars to photograph over multiple days in increasing image detail. Daria, a high-powered media director, resolutely supported his passion but understandably also valued her sleep. Between them they had a dream: to create a mindful retreat in a wilderness area that they could build and run together. Four places were considered: La Palma in the Canarian Islands, mainland Spain, the Atacama Desert in Chile, and South Africa.
PRIOR TO THIS NIGHT,
I’d always thought
IMAGES LIKE THIS
were reserved for the NASAs of the world