Star Photography at Lostock Dam

This long weekend I decided to try my hand at some star photography. The timing was good because it was a new moon, and skies would be dark. I just needed a location away from lights. Why not Lostock Dam? It’s almost 100 km from Newcastle and the landscape is pretty, too.

Here are some views just north of Gresford.

A bit further on you cross the Paterson River on this ricketty old bridge.

I wonder if there are platypuses in there….

Lostock is nestled in this valley and the dam is a bit further on.

I arrived at the dam about 30 minuted before sunset.

The star photographs each are a 25 second exposure at f2.8, ISO 2000.

This shot was taken about 60 minutes after sunset, and we are looking south. You can see the Southern Cross at the bottom, and the black smudge is known as the ‘coal sack’.

These shots were taken about 90 minutes after sunset, facing west to get a better view the Milky Way.