Starry, starry night captured perfectly

For Marcus Graff, 26, engineer and aviation enthusiast it’s an idea he has been wanting to test but he needed all the stars to align so he could capture the perfect starry night. Passionate aviation photographer, Mr. Graff has specialized in night photography of aircraft but taking a picture of the night sky from an aircraft is about as hard as it gets. Read: Spectacular night photos fuel passion “I've been wanting to try this for few years but didn't really fly enough to get anywhere with it, said Mr. Graff. “Once I started flying up north for work I picked up a small Sony mirror-less body that I could fit in with my site gear without too much trouble.” “And finally all the stars were really aligned,” said Mr. Graff. The platform was flight QF2653 from Newman to Perth in a Fokker 100. “Winter is statistically the best time for this as the core of the Milky Way rises in the east just after sunset and sets to the west just before sunrise so you've got two windows each day to try and get something.” “After a few near misses, courtesy of turbulence, high altitude cloud, the moon, schedule changes things came together nicely on Wednesday evening.” “Conditions were pretty unsettled, with turbulence persisting through much of the flight before everything flattened out as we were approaching to our decent point into Perth which provided a chance to get get some shots.” “With a 3 or 4 second shutter speed and shooting handheld turbulence can quickly put a stop to any chance of a stable shot!” The red color of the wing is the reflection of the aircraft’s beacon.