Behind the Scenes: Capturing the Night Sky in Madagascar
As a photographer, I'm always on the hunt for that one shot that tells a story, one that captures the essence of a moment or a place. One of the latest adventure of 2023 took me to the beautiful island of Madagascar, renowned for its endemic wildlife and breathtaking landscapes. But my goal was specific: to capture the majesty of a baobab tree under the starlit sky.
Planning the night photography
Research is key in night photography. I needed to find the perfect baobab tree, one that was isolated in every sense: enough to avoid light pollution yet accessible enough for my equipment but also lonely in a huge space to create the meaning of solitude with the nightsky. something similar to what I captured in Namibia. The famous spot in the West of the Island, with a lot of baobab trees was magical but I wanted to get a lonely one, under the Milky Way.
Wandering around the island, I asked our guide to show me some more baobabs and finally we found a spot with several trees like Moringas, but also a small baobab that was towering in the loneliness of a red sand field.
Timing was crucial. While at the beginning of the journey I had to deal with the very short time between the full Moon Rise and the beginning of the darkness after the twilight, the following nights I had more time and “less Moon”. The weather was very clear so everything was perfect for a dark Southern Sky!
Setting Up for the perfect baobab under the Milky Way
On the chosen night, I arrived at the location a half an hour after the end of the twilight. I had visited the location in the afternoon and made sure that the Milky Way was actually over the baobab with the Sky Guide app for iOS. Setting up my gear – my Sony alpha 7r5 camera with a 12-24 mm f/2.8 GM wide-angle lens, a sturdy tripod, and a remote shutter release – I took test shots during twilight to fine-tune my composition. The baobab's silhouette against the fading light was already breathtaking and the sky so impressive.
The Challenges and the magic Milky Way
Night photography comes with its unique set of challenges. The most important thing is to get a double exposure: one for the sky, with a slow shutterspeed but not too much, to avoid the star trail, and a very long one for the foreground. The camera sensor considers much darker the foreground than the night sky. To help accentuating the contrasts of the tree bark, I used my head lamp, illuminating it for the first two seconds of the exposure for the foreground.
The final result: “Malagasy Night”
Post-Processing of the Milky Way and the baobab
Back at home, I carefully processed the images. My goal was to enhance the natural beauty of the scene without overdoing it. I adjusted the contrast to make the stars pop, fine-tuned the white balance to bring out the natural colors of the night sky, and sharpened the image to highlight the details of the baobab's bark. I also reduced the noise a little bit.
Conclusion
The final image was more than a photograph; it was a story of nature's majesty and timelessness. The baobab, standing tall and majestic under the starlit sky, was a reminder of the beauty and mystery that the night holds. This shot from Madagascar was not just a highlight of my photography career but also a personal reminder of the wonders our planet holds, waiting to be captured.
