There are few things on this earth more appealing to landscape photographers than New Zealand, the Milky Way, and Auroras. So, when I came across the work of Jake and Jo featuring all three, I had to find out more. Jake and Jo are South of Home Photography, based in Queenstown, New Zealand. Last winter, they travelled the country photographing the night sky in some of New Zealand’s most beautiful locations. They captured meteors, the Aurora Australis (“Southern Lights”), zodiacal light, air glow, stars, and the milky way as backdrop to some of the most spectacular landscapes you’ve ever seen. We got in touch with them to get some insight into their work. What impressed me the most is how far they’ve come in photography in such a very short space of time.
Jake spoke with us about when they got started in photography, and what led to them discovering their passion for Astrophotography. Astrophotography has a way of doing that. When done right, it can create some of the most beautiful imagery. What stops most of us, and certainly has held me back, with astrophotography is light pollution. Jake and Jo also ran across this inconvenience. So, they moved.
I can certainly see that last part. I live near England’s Lake District, and going camping is one of my favourite things to do to get away from everything. No power outlets, no phone signals, no internet, no distractions. Just peace, quiet, beautiful landscapes, and slightly less bright skies. Getting out into the middle of nowhere by yourself or with a couple of friends enjoying the atmosphere and making some pictures is hard to beat. We just wanted to spend as much time as we could exploring the incredible landscapes of New Zealand under the stars and to capture images to share with our families and friends. We also liked the idea of being able to look back on these moments as the years went by and remember all of the good times we had just being out in nature.
But I know with my camping trips, there’s a lot of planning involved. And that’s in the relative comfort of what we laughably call the British Summer. Going out to do it in winter, especially when you’re planning to create work like this requires even more.
Not getting anything is usually how my astrophotography trips turn out. But they’re still wonderful adventures. As there are so many variables at play that are outside of your control it can take months of trying before you get what you want, but in the end it is totally worth it! Just enjoy the experience and have fun being outdoors, even if you don’t get anything!
Besides the light pollution, the other part of my problem is the gear. I simply don’t have the right gear for this kind of stuff – at least, not to be able to really do it justice. DIYP asked Jake about the type of equipment they take with them on their trips.
Well the technique certainly seems to pay off. The imagery is wonderful, and packed full of the foreground detail they love so much.
I can understand why they use an automated panoramic head to control the camera, too. Shooting stitched panoramics in the daylight can be difficult enough. You have to ensure you have enough overlap in each of the shots for the software to see and process. Miss one, and you’ve either got a tricky time manually lining them up, or you have to patch holes in Photoshop as best you can. Trying to do that manually at night when it’s pitch black would be an absolute nightmare. But on the subject of stitching, Jake went on to tell us about the post processing used for the images.
Autopano certainly has come a long way. Most of those I know who use it are doing so for video. In fact, it’s since been bought out by GoPro, and is now distributed with the GoPro 360 Omni rig. For stitching stills or video, it’s an excellent piece of software, although it’s not cheap. For those wanting to look at another free option to get them started, there’s also Hugin.
Jake left us with one final tip on the post processing, and I think this can apply to almost all photography. I know I’ve certainly woken up the next morning feeling very differently about images I’d processed the night before. “What the hell was I thinking?” is usually one of the first thoughts.
Thank you, Jake and Jo, for taking the time to talk and share your work with us. It’s amazing to see the results of your efforts. I think if I ever make it out to New Zealand, I’m going to have to invest in some fast wide glass, and a good winter sleeping bag. If you’d like to find out more about Jake and Jo’s adventures or follow their work, you can do so on Facebook or Instagram.
