Opera Trails

Several hours worth of star trails over the Sydney Opera House

Happy birthday to the Sydney Opera House!

I spent a recent Friday night on the foreshore of Kirribilli taking this photo of it.

I'd like to say I planned this shot to post on it’s 47th birthday (today), but honestly I had no idea it even had a birthday. So this is a purely serendipitous moment!

This image is a blend of 242 images layered in Adobe Photoshop to create the final product. Each image was 30 seconds long, so this is the result of roughly 2 hours worth of shooting.

You'd think waiting around for 2 hours would be pretty boring, but it really wasn't. I loved sitting by the water and just observing the world going by: ferries tootling along, smaller boats zipping back and forth, people passing by behind me, birds and bats flying above me, and of course admiring the incredible building that is our Opera House.

This is my second attempt at Star Trails over the Opera House, and I can really see how much I've improved. See if you can find my original version on my profile!

I look forward to seeing what the third attempt brings.

In the spirit of reconciliation, I acknowledge the Traditional Custodians and the lands of the Gadigal people of the Eora nation on which I took this photo. I also acknowledge Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander people, Elders past and present, and celebrate the diversity of Aboriginal peoples and their ongoing cultures and connections to country.

The details for this image are:

• Nikon D750 with Tamron 24-70mm f/2.8 G2

• NiSi Graduated Neutral Density Filter – ND16 reversed to cut down the glare from the city lights

• Sirui W-1204 tripod with K-20x Ball Head⁣

• 30s

• f/6.3

• ISO400