Jason Freeman, Reach For The Stars – At Night (March Theme: At Night )

Southern stars and the glow of Melbourne light up the sky above Lake Eppalock, central Victoria. I waited a long time for these elements to come together – a new moon and clear/calm weather. I scoped the area in daylight, with a compass to find South, then returned a couple of hours later, using the Southern Cross to position the South Celestial Pole above the tree. Nikon D600, Samyang 24 mm f/1.4, 30 sec (each) at f/2.8, ISO 1600, tripod. Composite of 90 images (45 minutes). Stacked in Photoshop, followed by basic Lightroom corrections.

Images have been resized for web display, which may cause some loss of image quality. Note: Original high-resolution images are used for judging.