I’m showcasing the west Milky Way arch over Mt Sealy. This shot brings back good memories. This mountain was my first alpine trip in the Mt Cook Park. It was a long two-day climb up mountain ridges, glaciers, steep snow slopes and rock faces. It felt like the ultimate adventure at the time, and it was the start of many missions to follow.
NZ mountains are challenging mainly due to the poor rock quality and expedition style climbs. There’s an old saying here, “if you find a good hold put it back”. Which says it all. It was nice to re-visit this mountain during my time in the park. This valley gives access to Mt Edgar Thomson another I’ve been on and where I captured my favourite landscape image.
The valley provides a bowl effect for the Milky Way with leading lines from the side mountains and the road pointing to the mountain. In my image, I kept the colours on the warm tone side to compliment the orange airglow which I feel works well. The Bortle 1 skies meant that a 60s exposure could bring out faint details of the Milky Way and Rho Ophiuchi nebula area.
