This last weekend I had the opportunity to go to Soetdoring Game Reserve just outside of Bloemfontein. I finally had the chance to capture the evening sky without to much light pollution from the city lights. The only thing that bothered me is that the lens that I have is not that great so what to do?

I decided it was time to call a friend, Gerhard Steenkamp. He offers lenses for hire right here on this site. So I rented the 17 – 55 mm  F2.8 Nikkor Lens from him and off I went.

The night started out slow but soon I realized what a gem of a lens I had rented. The 17mm – 55mm F2.8 Nikkor lens just made all the difference and captured all the light that I previously struggled to capture with other lenses. With a couple of manual setting like: ISO 640, Shutter at 15sec and F 2.8 & F5  captured the night sky in all it’s detail.

Here are a couple of shots I took, I cant wait to rent the lens again!

Water Towers by Pierre Steenkamp

Cabin at Night by Pierre Steenkamp

The Bush by Pierre Steenkamp

Little Stars by Pierre Steenkamp

Lonely Night by Pierre Steenkamp

Cabins by Pierre Steenkamp

Afterwards I saw that if I had increased my ISO a bit I would have captured more of the milky way, but I will definitely do that next time when I hire the lens again!

Also see: Hiring of Photographic Equipment