Dubbo photographer Rachel Bambrick captures Aurora Australis images

So imagine the surprise and pleasure of night sky-watchers when Dubbo-based Rachel Bambrick posted images of Aurora Australis on Facebook on Monday evening.

Ms Bambrick is the head of primary at the Dubbo Christian School and got into astrophotography a couple of years ago after taking a trip to Tasmania.

"I wanted to know what I could do when I went down there for a holiday, and one idea was to watch or photograph the Southern Lights," she said.

"I've always had a passion for photography, and once I started researching photographing the Southern Lights, my passion became astrophotography."

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She has photographed the Southern Lights on two different occasions, both in Tasmania.

Ms Bambrick subscribes to three apps that "ping" her when there is an opportunity to photograph them.

She said the Glendale app is not found in regular app stores (just Google it) like those on IOS and Android operating systems and the Spaceweather app.

"I got a ping from one of these apps about 8.30pm on Monday and got my shot. I put it up on Facebook to let others know it was out there; I don't have an account; I use my husband's page.

"I kept going, and at midnight I got another good shot," she said.

Ms Bambrick uses a Sony mirrorless camera, which she describes as "the king of the low-light cameras".

"I use the camera on a manual setting, and depending on the brightness of the night, I use three, five or eight-second exposures.

"The shot I took around midnight was about 15 seconds, set on 3200 ISO and a 2.8F-stop.

"It was a good shot, but I had to be careful as the moon was up and giving quite a bit of light. I'm not a professional photographer; it's just my passion," she said.

Ms Bambrick said another practical helper is the Aurora Tasmania app, which has a lot of good technical advice from other enthusiasts describing how to take night sky images.

"I've got a lot of help from watching YouTube clips, too," she said.

Ms Bambrick has also travelled to Yellowknife in the North West Territories of Canada to photograph the Northern Lights or Aurora Borealis. She said that Yellowknife is regarded as one of Canada's coldest cities, but the weather was kind, and the nighttime temperature was only minus eight degrees.

"I went in September; it was the perfect time to do it, it wasn't icy, and lakes surround the region, so I got lots of good reflections."

She said earlier today she was filling in as the teacher for the kindergarten class at her school, and her description of the night sky caught the imagination of the youngsters.

"The photography teacher (at her school) has asked me to present to his class next week on astrophotography. I'm looking forward to it," she said.

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