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This shot has been on my dream list for quite some time. Nugget Point Lighthouse sits on the far southeastern tip of New Zealand's South Island—a location that’s both iconic and challenging to reach. Given that the lighthouse faces almost directly east, there aren’t many opportunities to align it with the Milky Way core. Timing and alignment have to be just right, and weather is always a gamble.
Luckily, I finally got the chance to make it happen. With a few friends, a solid weather window, and a ton of gear in tow, we embarked on a road trip to capture this scene. I’ve always had a soft spot for lighthouses—they represent guidance, solitude, and resilience. To photograph one with the glowing Milky Way arched above felt like a personal milestone.
In the distance, the Tokata Lighthouse perches on a dramatic bluff, silhouetted against a sky bursting with the vibrant detail of the Milky Way core. The image was taken from a steep hillside, using an astro-modified camera paired with a hydrogen-alpha narrowband filter to bring out rich reds and structure in the galactic core.
Nugget Point is one of the South Island’s most scenic coastal spots, offering a panoramic view where the sky, sea, and land converge in a spectacular way.
It gets its name from the cluster of rocky islets just offshore—“nuggets” so named by Captain Cook because they resembled pieces of gold.
It’s also a haven for wildlife. From fur seals playing in the surf, to rare yellow-eyed penguins, sea lions, gannets, and even Hector’s dolphins, it’s a truly magical place for nature lovers. And for astro-landscape photographers, it offers one of the most dramatic east-facing coastal views in the country.
This wasn’t a last-minute trip. I scouted the location months earlier on a daytime visit with my wife and used the PhotoPills app to plan the exact Milky Way alignment. Having physically seen the terrain in advance made all the difference—I knew the angles, the challenges, and the possibilities.
Reaching the lighthouse, though, was a mission in itself. I flew from Wellington to Christchurch to meet up with my friends, where we loaded up our gear—including Matt's tent, food, sleeping bags, and all our cameras—and hit the road for a six-hour drive along the stunning east coast.
Our accommodation was still about 30 minutes away from Nugget Point, so logistics were tight but manageable.
We spent four days and three nights focusing entirely on a few key locations. Out of all that time, we were lucky with just one cloudless night—but sometimes, one night is all you need.
We maximized every moment, running time-lapses on two cameras, capturing light frames with our astro-modified Sony A7III bodies, and shooting narrowband data as well. It helped tremendously that my friends had almost identical gear setups.
I arrived with a few compositions in mind, including the classic viewpoint used by many photographers. But as I stood there, it didn’t quite capture the scale or mood I wanted. I wanted to show the "epicness" of the scene—the raw power of the coastline, the solitude of the lighthouse, the grandeur of the night sky.
So, I took a bit of a risk and climbed a steep hillside to find a more dramatic vantage point. Fortunately, the wind was calm that night, making it safe enough to shoot from this precarious spot. I captured different perspectives using both my 24mm and 50mm lenses. To keep in touch with my friends scattered across the area, I had brought along walkie-talkies—a small but useful addition that also ensured everyone stayed safe in the dark.
We experimented with various techniques, including wide panoramas at 50mm and some light painting to bring out foreground details. One unexpected factor was the presence of fishing boats nearby. Their lights illuminated the landscape, and at first, I thought they were ruining my foreground. But after reviewing my shots and experimenting in post-processing, I came to appreciate the added contrast and detail those lights revealed. It ended up enhancing the image in a way I hadn’t anticipated.
I used PixInsight for stacking and calibrating the images—standard workflow for my astro work, especially when combining RGB and narrowband data. The HA frames helped bring out incredible structure in the Milky Way core, and after layering the hydrogen-alpha into the red channel in Photoshop, I produced a vivid HARGB composite.
Color grading was about balancing realism with drama—preserving the natural look of the night while emphasizing the rich tones that make narrowband captures so special. I also used selective sharpening, contrast work, and some careful cropping to guide the viewer’s eye through the scene. Despite the complexity of the data, the final image came together organically.
At the end I used 60 of these to stack them together.
At the end I used 80 of these to stack them together.
This is, without a doubt, one of my most detailed and vibrant Milky Way images to date.
It’s not just another lighthouse photo—it’s a memory of good friends, late-night laughter, technical challenges, possums, and creative breakthroughs. The story behind the image is just as meaningful as the pixels themselves.
Beyond Nugget Point, we explored other nearby locations, including the southernmost tip of New Zealand’s South Island, and we tried the best burger of 2025. We even tried light painting sessions and, in a first for me, captured a deep space object: the Gum Nebula. This image marks a transition in my work—still grounded in landscapes, but now venturing into deeper space.
Here is my first attempt of a Deep Space Object - The Gum Nebula
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