Benz World Blog » Night

Remote Spot

Jason Benz — Sun, 04 Jul 2021 10:27:51 +0000

I have waited two years to visit this remote spot on Weilwan land. Each night I watch the majestic galactic emu rise in the Australian sky. I planned to explore this area last year until I heard there was a mountain of blueberries about to be wasted due to a shortage of backpackers. By the time the harvest finished, it was summer and too hot to visit. Winter is the perfect time of year to go bush. I arrived on the day a 2-week partial stay at home order was called in the populated parts of New South Wales. I have not been near the covid outbreak area for 5 months but my driving licence address is in lockdown. I decided to stay isolated in the Outback, and hope I don’t run into any officious cops.

Edinburgh Millennium

Jason Benz — Sun, 30 May 2021 17:53:37 +0000

I rendered this for my 1000th Shutterstock image. The background is the Scottish capital Edinburgh, and the first photo I took with a DSLR. The text is created in Photoshop. This is my first 3D experiment as I have been using a non-3D version of Ps for the last 12 years. It is unlikely I will use 3D too often as it is at the limit of what my new laptop can do. While rendering it uses more power than it can draw from USB-C, so it drains the internal battery too. After a few renders, you risk running out of power during a render, even though it is plugged in. I just read USB-C plans to upgrade its max power output from 100w to 240w. This would fix this issue. After waiting 12 years to upgrade my laptop, it would be my luck that it is outdated 3 months after getting it. I am still pleased with the XPS-17. The screen is amazing. When you work somewhere with 360-degree windows it pays to have an extra bright non-reflective screen.

This image has been accepted by Shutterstock for Stock Photography and is available for download here.

Hobart Skyline

Jason Benz — Fri, 05 Apr 2019 20:00:51 +0000

This night shot is Hobart in Tasmania, Australia. This photograph adds to the set of Australian Skylines I have been collecting since starting this blog almost 10 years ago. I always position the camera to get the city lights reflected in the water. A very small aperture was used to create a starburst effect. This reduces the amount of light so you need to use a tripod and a long exposure. Using this method you can avoid increasing ISO and therefore minimise noise.

Now I only need a shot of Darwin to complete the set and produce a calendar for 2020.

Today I arrived in the Blue Mountains and am looking forward to seeing my brother and his family who are visiting from the UK.

This image has been accepted by Shutterstock for Stock Photography and is available for download here.

Galactic Emu

Jason Benz — Thu, 05 Jul 2018 05:10:45 +0000

This shows the centre of the Milky Way as seen from Australia. The Southern hemisphere has a great view as it faces the bright heart of our galaxy. On a clear night, you can read your watch with nothing but starlight. With this overabundance of reference points, the ancient aboriginal astronomers mapped the sky by creating shapes from the gaps between the stars instead of joining the dots into constellations. The body of a giant emu is formed from the dark clouds of dust in front of the luminous galactic centre and the head of the emu is the coal sack next to the Southern Cross. Seasonal events such as collecting emu eggs were measured by its movement throughout the year.

I have been travelling through Queensland’s coal country since leaving the coast. I did some research in a local pub and was told by two mine subcontractors it is easier to get into prison than a mine. This was proved earlier today when I had to call a dozen people just to get approval to drive past a mine. Fortunately, I have arranged a tour of two Blackwater mines on the 10th-11th of July. After that, I will visit a number of mine viewing platforms in surrounding area where I hope to recreate the success of this shot before returning to Mackay for QME on 24th-26th July where I plan to make some more contacts.

This image has been accepted by Shutterstock for Stock Photography and is available for download here.

Festival Centre

Jason Benz — Mon, 12 Sep 2016 08:30:27 +0000

This is the Adelaide Festival Centre in South Australia reflected in the waters of the River Torrens at night.

This image has been accepted by Shutterstock for Stock Photography and is available for download here.

Burleigh Heads

Jason Benz — Thu, 09 Jun 2016 13:08:00 +0000

This is the view of the Gold Coast from Burleigh Heads in Queensland, Australia. Today was the first time I have seen the skyscrapers from this side at night so I decided to get a shot of the lights. I was here to have dinner with some friends from Sydney. Great tapas was enjoyed by all.

This image has been accepted by Shutterstock for Stock Photography and is available for download here.

Moon Rise

Jason Benz — Fri, 27 Nov 2015 11:19:35 +0000

I saw this moon rise walking home tonight. Although it was not a Super Moon I thought it would be a good chance to compare my new(2nd hand) 100-400mm lens to my old 28-300mm. Both moon shots are were taken with my 5D mark II and are 1:1 pixel crops so the 400mm shot is a little larger. Can you see any more detail?

300mm 5d Mark II

150mm crop sensor E-510

I finally submitted my Australian citizen application today. I just have the interview and test to do at some point and every box will be ticked.

Coast Lights

Jason Benz — Fri, 25 Sep 2015 09:06:31 +0000

This night shot was taken from Q1 in Surfers Paradise. It is the tallest building on the Gold Coast and has a 360 degree viewing platform. This angle is towards Southport and The Spit.

This image has been accepted by Shutterstock for Stock Photography and is available for download here.

Gold Coast

Jason Benz — Sat, 16 May 2015 23:02:35 +0000

This is the Gold Coast in Queensland, Australia. It is one of a set of Australian Skylines which I have used long exposures to photograph cities at night over water.

This image has been accepted by Shutterstock for Stock Photography and is be available for download here.

Orion Nebula

Jason Benz — Mon, 02 Feb 2015 03:18:56 +0000

This is the Orion Nebula also known as Messier 42. To the naked eye it appears to be the middle star in Orion’s sword. We were lucky enough to see it at the Warrumbungle Observatory where you could attach your DSLR to the telescope. I say lucky because this is the second time we have visited this area and the clouds seem to follow us each time. Our host Peter Starr did his best to point the telescopes at various features between the clouds. We are on our way to visit the Barrick Gold Mine in New South Wales and hope to be in Sydney by Friday in time for Karen to fly back to UK.