and if they were filming how could they do it below LSALT at night without a gyro cam anyway
On previous flights the camera was fitted with a wide angle lens, so wide vistas were the forte of the camera rig (twice as wide as a typical news gimbal).
It was probably too dark to register the glow of the set sun to the East, it would have been a great shot had they taken off at sunset as the lamps from the camp would have been a good balance to the glow on the horizon.
Something must have been keeping them there not to take advantage of shooting in the golden hour?
They were probably too far away to land and set up a ground shot looking back at the camp. Flying very low at night using a landing light to illuminate the ground is a great shot.
It is of course possible to shoot a piece to camera inside the cockpit, in which case a camera light can cause potentially disorienting reflections.
Mickjoebill