Ruapuke Motor Camp

❄️ I got up at 2am for this photo... was it worth it?

🚗 After only a few hours' sleep, I drove to the other side of Mt Taranaki and set up beside the Waiaua River. After around six weeks of cloudy skies, this was my first proper opportunity to photograph Matariki rising above the summit.

🌌 By around 5am on 23 July 2023, the stars finally appeared exactly where I'd hoped they would.

📸 Yesterday I shared a close-up of this alignment. This image, a pano mosaic taken with an 85mm lens, is much closer to how the scene actually looked to the naked eye as I stood beside the river before dawn.

✨ One thing that surprised me from yesterday's post was how many people didn't realise Matariki can be seen rising above Mt Taranaki from this angle. It certainly can, although early in the Matariki season it's lower and fainter than Puanga, making it a little harder to spot.

☄️ Standing in the cold was more than worth it. As a bonus, I also spotted several meteors and two bright Starlink passes while waiting for dawn.

📍 Location: Waiaua River, Taranaki
📅 Taken: 23 July 2023, ~5:00am

📷 EXIF:
🌌 Sky: 90 sec, ISO 800, f/2.8, 85mm
🌿 Foreground: 90 sec, ISO 1600, f/2.8, 85mm
📸 Camera: Canon R (astro modified)
🔭 Lens: Samyang 85mm f/1.4
⭐ Tracker: Star Adventurer 2i

© Brendan Larsen Photography
✨ Real sky • Real place • Real moment ✨