Jurry
6103
Nikon Middle East
Last week I had the privilege of being invited by Nikon Middle East to join a group of 15 other photographers in a “how to shoot the Milky Way” workshop.
The workshop was given by Sami Al Olabi, a top rated astrophotographer.
It was an amazing adventure. First we had to gather at 8 pm deep in the mountains in the north eastern part of the country close to the border with Oman. In itself a pleasant drive of about 1.20 hrs on highways followed by another 25 min on an ever narrower mountain road.
Finally a short hike and there we were in a location that should give us a nice view plus some trees (all 3 of them) that could assist in composition.
It started with an extended briefing on settings etc etc followed by a relatively long wait as the Milky Way didn’t raise above the horizon until approx midnight to 00.30 am.
Unfortunately it was 3/4 moon and the light of the moon was strong enough to read a newspaper but then again who cares.
Took loads of photos but for those familiar with Astro photography, the real work begins once you’re back home with post editing. (Post editing wasn’t included in the workshop and I was more or less clueless so did it by trial and error.
For the experienced photographers my picture probably s...s but to me it’s the first of many more experiments to come and thus happy to share it with you all.
A special thanks to Samy who had the difficult task of dealing with very experienced near-pro amateurs and real beginners.
It was a trip that I’ll remember forever 
For those who are interested: I used the Nikon Z 6II with the Nikon Z 20 mm f/1.8 lens. In hindsight that 1.8 lens was way too fast for the bright moonlight. Ended up using shutter speeds of only 8 seconds but it was great fun
Nikon Middle East
What a great adventure!
it must have been a wonderful experience for you!
