Focused Diffractions

"Everything will all be alright in the end so if it is not alright, it is not the end"

On the last morning of our trip to India we got up at 0500 to get to the front of the queue for the Taj Mahal. The gates and security checks open just before sunrise and then it is a c.500m run to get to the reflection pool before the crowds to get "the shot". The stunning symmetry of the Taj reflected in the water and the early morning light......however, as we waited for the gates to open the mist started to thicken and swirl around the monument and by the time we got to the spot the Taj was nowhere to be seen! It was actually a laugh-out-loud moment (for me) and the conditions made for some epic photos of this magnificent tomb as the morning developed. I think some people were disappointed that they didn't get "the shot" but that is the reality of travel photography; shoot what you get not what you anticipate. The main photo is from the previous evening across the Yamuna river in Mehtab Bagh. The water feature is just a small puddle provided by one of the hose pipes that they were watering the garden with.
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• Canon EOS 5D Mark IV
• Sigma 85mm ART
• f/5.6
• 1/60 sec
• ISO 640
• Post using Affinity Photo 2 software / Benq calibrated screen.

I'm finally very happy to announce that this photo, "Dancing in the Moonlight" has been selected as a finalist in the 2023 South Australian Museum Nature Photographer of the Year (Astrophotography section). There are some excellent entries across all of the categories and I'd encourage you to take a look at their website https://www.samuseum.sa.gov.au/c/npoty/gallery or better still visit the exhibition in Adelaide when it opens later this year.
This photo was taken on the last night of my Kimberley trip with Dream Photography Workshops .The ambient light is from a setting, waxing crescent moon (25.9%). It is a stack of 7 images plus one dark frame. Stacking was done in Sequator and the rest of the post processing was done in Affinity Photo 2.
· Canon EOS 5D Mark IV
· Tamron SP 15-30mm F/2.8 Di VC USD at 15mm
· f/2.8 20 secs x7
· ISO 5000
· Post using Affinity Photo software