I’m back.
Actually I got back a couple of days ago, but I’ve been working heaps to get through the 4000 photos I took over 3 days. So over those days I did 15 time lapses. Not an easy thing to do, but thankfully I was able to sit in my car a lot while waiting for the camera to do its thing.
Woomelang
I’ve been taking photos around Woomelang for almost 30 years now. While my mum is there and I love visiting her I always take my photography gear with me in the hope that I can get out and take photos. I nearly always do.
When my step father was alive he would take me out. He knew so many people and if I saw a place I wanted to photograph he nearly always knew whose place it was. It was so good, I really miss that I don’t have that resource anymore. My mum does her best, but she doesn’t know the community like he did. He grew up there, my mum didn’t. I manage what I can.
The town has changed a lot in that time. The main shop is no longer there and another one has taken its place. The silos, as far as I know, are no longer used for grain. They have gotten too old. I guess it is to be expected, things always change over time.
Woomelang is a small town, actually maybe I should describe it as tiny. With around 200 people it is very small. Actually I just looked it up and the number has gone down again, it is now 195. Over the years that number keeps going down. The farms have gone from around 500 acres, to that being not big enough to survive on. It is interesting up there. Though not just Woomelang, but many towns around it.
The locals have to go to the other towns for doctors and hospitals. If you have an emergency, you will have to wait a long time for emergency services like ambulances. It is probably quicker to get in a car and have someone drive you there.
It is sad for the people. Though, having said that it is a photographers delight. If you love the old and run down, then you are going to find heaps up there. I love it.
Time lapse of Woomelang
The original plan for the trip was to get another time lapse of the milky way. The weather wasn’t looking good for it. My first attempt didn’t work, more on that later. The second night there it was so overcast you couldn’t see the stars at all. Thankfully the last night was all clear and everything worked well. You can see it at the end of the following video.
With so many clouds moving so quickly through the sky during the day I had to get out and do some time lapses. I spent two days going from spot to spot. I also tried using my Syrp Genie Mini on my 3 Legged Thing tripod to do some panning. I’m learning that I don’t have to move it too far and I shouldn’t use it for every time lapse.
I was pretty happy, but it has been hard moving these images around on my laptop so it would work. I have made all the time lapses and put them altogether in one video. I hope you enjoy it.
Making mistakes
Oh boy, it was a beauty. I can’t believe I did this.
For the first time out to do the milky way I took my fisheye lens because it is a 2.8 lens. I knew it would give me a faster time so instead of doing 30 second exposures I could do 20 second ones instead. That meant I could get a longer time lapse in the 2 hours because it would take more photos.
The camera was all set up and my mum and I sat in the car. We waited for 2 hours for the time lapse to finish in the dark. It was a bit creepy. lol. We were both happy when it was finished. It is daylight savings here so it meant going out later to start and staying late. I think I might have to start waiting for winter more.
When we got back I had to put the photos on the laptop and see what I got.
I was horrified. I forgot to focus the lens. So I have a time lapse of the milky way with some clouds, but everything is slightly fuzzy. I couldn’t believe I had made such a massive mistake. Nothing you can do to fix unfortunately. What a waste of 2 hours.
Instead of throwing the photos away straight away I decided to put them together in a time lapse so you can see why I was annoyed. It would have been a great time lapse if it was in focus.
Things will get back to normal now. It was a lovely trip and I loved catching up with my mum. It is so good to spend time with her.
Great trip all round and really enjoyed taking all the time lapses. Have to work out what my next subject will be. Got any ideas?
Beautiful post
Thank you.
Nice time lapse. Now I’m excited to try doing it too.
Thank you, that is great to hear, they are fun to do.
Great work Leanne.
Thank you Mike.
Dear Leane
We love both movies, thanks a lot.
Although we have to admit the nicest of Woomelang is the night-sky (well, for us).
Wishing you a happy weekend
The Fab Four of Cley
🙂 🙂 🙂 🙂
I went up there to get the night sky, thought I wasn’t going to with the weather. I was meant to get home on Monday, but decided to stay an extra day, so it turned out to be a good move. Thank you, glad you like them.
Both movies are very beautiful, Leanne! I hope that Woomlang will continue on and begin to prosper. 🥰🇦🇺
Thank you John, I hope it does too, but sadly I’m not sure it will.
wow leanne! I loved the floating clouds, the peeks of blue, the genuine tribute, and the Milky Way. Fantastic.
I love how the clouds look too Donna, they look so cool. I think the time lapse really shows you how they move and develop. Thank you.
Yes. And the music you placed to it brought another dimension as well.
Thank you Donna, I think the music is very important and spend a lot of time making sure I find the right one.
OK you made a mistake, but that does not mean you don’t know how to make the time-lapse. The result is not so bad, now the stars look even a bit bigger 😉 The effect of the clouds adds some extra dynamic. Don’t mind, everybody makes mistakes… last I was so excited I focussed on something but forgot to controle the apperture and the pictures were much to light. Everything went into the trashcan, that’s not the case with your time-lapse.
I liked the clouds actually, how they were moving so fast. You are right Rudi everyone does make mistakes, and I get that, but I was still annoyed. Mistakes are so annoying, I don’t know about my time lapse, I think the photos will into the trash as well, but lesson learned I know I will double check the focusing in the future. Thank you Rudi.
The time lapses are lovely. They really give me a sense of the changing skies and light in that particular landscape. While it is a pity that the night sky time lapse isn’t sharply focused, it still looks aesthetically pleasing. I think your position in that space creates a strong composition. You’ll get it perfect next time.
Thank you Laura, though there are two different time lapses of the milky way, the one that worked is with the others. It is a great place to do the milky way up, hard to believe I was actually in the town albeit on the outskirts.
Two good videos Leanne.
Thank you Anne.
Starkly beautiful and poignant. And I appreciate you sharing your “mistakes,” which for me lent a certain authenticity to the first Milky Way time lapse. Stunning images, either way.
Thank you Tyran, it was good to show it, it would have been so much better if it was in focus, but oh well, mistakes happen.
The time lapses looked great and the Milky Way was awesome to see.
Thank you, I was happy to get the milky way.