K Chay Photography

27/10/2026

|| Down To the Wire : Earth ||

A poorly planned hike left me hiking far further and longer than intended, through far more snow than I'd have liked, and with the moonlight giving a lot more grief than expected.

I didn't really want to have the whole effort of the trip go to waste, so sat my camera outside for the night- before crawling another 8 hours back down again (painfully).

You can't beat a good solid effort hauling gear up somewhere isolated like this, but sometimes I wonder what I'm up to... Maybe it was worth the battle with a shot like this, though.

20/10/2026

Been a while since I posted, but thought I'd break the silence as I've found out that my piece "Ring of Fire" was awarded in The Epson International Pano Awards within both the Open and Amateur Nature/Landscape categories.

Gaining a Gold award in both categories (top 2%), it placed 5th(!) overall in the Amateur Nature/Landscape category, and 8th(!) in the Open Nature/Landscape category.

This is THE competition for panoramic photography, so the quality of work included is incredible.

So, as always- really grateful to the organisers and judges of this competition, and a big congrats to the winners for the respective categories. I'll put the links to the collections down in the comments so you can see the amazing work for yourselves.

And with that all said- I should have some work out soon 😇

21/09/2026

|| Ebb and Flow : Earth ||

This shot's been one that I've wanted for years at this point, with the alignment just right for this western view.

Unfortunately, I've always found it tricky to make it here at the right time, with this part of NZ being one of the wettest in the country (and often inaccessible during winter due to snow closing the roads).

So, when a weather window popped up very briefly in a weekend, I decided that was the time. It's not often that you can get skies this dark in such a beautiful landscape- the opportunities are endless.

I totally forgot to look at the tide forecast (and then seemed to have found one that was totally inaccurate). I ended up wading through water at various points through the night due to this mishap, and I spent a lot more time hunting around for foregrounds than I should have... So I'll have to revisit this one at some point.

But for now- here's my first attempt at this iconic spot!

10/08/2026

|| A Frame of Solitude : Earth ||

I've been planning this shot for months after seeing it online a while back, and I'm glad I finally put the effort in to get there, especially after the decent snow dump.

I started the track totally unaware, thinking I'd be fine without my gaiters... I found out what a silly move this was later, as I hit ankle deep snow the moment I got over the saddle.

Unfortunately, I thought I'd take a "shortcut" and ended up punching through ice into the nearby stream multiple times, with my shoes freezing as a reward for my lack of common sense. I couldn't be more relieved to arrive at the hut.

Despite my battles getting to the hut, it ended up feeling well worth it after curling up in my sleeping bag and eating dinner. The hut was surprisingly cosy, and the night ended up being one of the clearest and stillest that I've had the pleasure of shooting under.

I think it's times like these that remind me why I enjoy astrophotography and hiking so much- an easy night shooting, a fun place to be, and a peaceful environment to enjoy it all. Hard to beat.

08/08/2026

Been a minute, but have been trying to quietly work on some stuff.

In the mean time, managed to snag a 3rd and 4th in the Landscape category of the New Zealand Amateur Photography Awards competition this year. Big congrats to the other winners and a thanks to the judges for the kind comments- always interesting seeing what non astrophotographers might comment on an image.

CONGRATULATIONS to our 3rd Place entry in the 2026 NZAPA Landscape Category ... KAVAN CHAY

14/07/2026

|| Breath of the Wind : Earth ||

Been a bit quiet lately as I've been fighting with how I've felt about my work of late. I finally had enough of not doing anything and went out to the local spot, trying to work out some processing that I've been thinking about for a minute.

The clear skies and silence were beautiful- I'd really missed it, yet somehow hadn't really tried to change that.

Anyway... Matariki seemed like the right time to be creative again. Got a few things planned so let's see what I get up to 🙂

05/05/2026

|| Milky Way Photographer of the Year 2026 ||

Dropping in again to announce that I've been included in this year's edition of the Milky Way Photographer of the Year collection by Capture the Atlas, with this shot from the West Coast being selected.

Given how special some of the work is in these collections (with this year's selection being no exception), it's incredible to be part of the increased Kiwi presence this year.

As always- thanks to Dan, Ascen and their team for their efforts in image selection and organisation of this as a whole. It's become a really strong statement for the closeness of the astrophotography community, and I'm proud to be a part of it. Thank you to everyone for being so supportive over the years, and I hope to meet more of you soon.

With all that said, check out the other photographers here (note they're all Instagram usernames):





looten


padron
ph

phimagery






larsen.photography

And here's a link for a full set of images with information/stories on each image: https://capturetheatlas.com/milky-way-photographer-of-the-year/

03/05/2026

|| Pickets : Earth ||

I ended up planning a night of astrophotography during this particular display of the Aurora Australis, but didn't expect there to be such a unique display.

The original plan got rewritten, with a longer drive south than expected. I ended up missing the initial burst of activity, but we managed to set up and shoot here for a few hours, with the pickets making an appearance in a row.

The plan to shoot a Milky Way image was still covered, though, with the pickets lasting long enough to stay around in the panorama. I've been intending to go back and try another shot here for ages, but never really felt the urge to get back here (admittedly, weather was also a bit of a factor), so this was a nice bonus.

Anyway- here's my take. Enjoy!

07/03/2026

|| Lunar Dance : Earth ||

A heavily hyped lunar eclipse and clear weather window had me planning to shoot both the Milky Way core and the eclipse in the same night- entirely doable due to the drop in lunar light during totality.

I unfortunately couldn't run out anywhere too far from home due to a first aid course the next morning- so had to spend a bit of time planning this out relative to local spots. After a bit of procrastination that evening, a rushed dinner and working out how the Milky Way would sit with this abandoned building, I settled on this and set off for a night of shooting.

Setting up the cameras to shoot, I had one camera taking a shot every 10 minutes to use as reference for the positions of the moon phases in the image. The other camera was taking a picture of the moon at the same time, so I could line up the timestamps and make this as accurate as possible.

Upon hitting totality, the drop in light gave way to a beautiful dark sky (albeit with a dropping temperature). That gave me the right conditions to shoot the panorama of the sky needed- but then I realised that I'd been using the wrong cameras with the wrong lenses (after the panorama was shot).

After a quick lens swap, I tried shooting the pano again on the Z7a, but clouds had started to become a bit of a problem- I ended up not using those shots in the end (didn't make much difference to the image, thankfully).

I spent a bit more time shooting until about 2:30am, before spending the night in the car for a few hours of sleep (and thankfully making it back home in time for the course).

This is the first time I've been able to shoot a lunar timelapse image like this and I think it's been great learning. After fighting with the balance between the night sky, foreground and different moon phases (without it looking too "pasted in"), I've settled on this interpretation of the 2026 lunar eclipse.

01/03/2026

|| Divergent Path : Reimagined ||

I've posted this one a few times, but I never quite got it to the point where I was fully happy with it. The last revised edit was just a quick light handed edit for the 2025 NZ Geographic competition- this version's a bit more processed, utilizing the available data better.

This spot was one that I had planned for a while, with it being a popular spot for aurora chasers- I just had never been able to find my way up. My previous trip here years prior resulted in me taking a wrong turn, and somehow ending up stuck on the way up- luckily, it didn't result in anything nasty.

The main issue was figuring out how to get there, although I figured that out pretty quickly once arriving- turns out I'd entirely missed a clear path up somehow. It's a relatively straightforward little walk, although I wouldn't do this if there's been any rain.

Since the forecast was indicating clear skies, it seemed a good time to try it- so up I went with a 20kg backpack for the evening.

Hanging out under the stars is always a healing experience, with that particular trip being one of many that I took last year for the sake of being healthy in body and mind. It definitely helped- although, it's hard to imagine it not doing so with views like these.