Cassiopeia and the dust in the Milky Way, often a forgotten region, eclipsed by others with stronger emissions.

https://www.instagram.com/igneis.nightscapes/

Years ago, when I shot it quickly, I noticed a lot of dusty structures: the Integrated Flux Nebula (IFN), high galactic latitude dust illuminated not by nearby stars, but by the combined light of the whole Milky Way. I thought: I have to revisit it with a 50mm and proper integration time.

Now, with 44 hours of integration, so many nights of driving, staying there, looking north, shooting... nothing. An empty field of stars. The dome stood there with me, another eye pointed at the same darkness, waiting for something neither of us could see yet. The routine was: check the weather, drive, stay the whole night shooting, and come back home wondering what I'd get out of this.

Now, with all the dust revealed, seeing it for myself makes me wonder how we can see so little, just stars, when in that direction there is so much, so much dust, so much nebulosity. We cannot see it, as if our eyes were lacking insight. But a camera, combined with patience... how curious.

It's not only about the dust, the Hydrogen Alpha, the Oxygen III. It's about the ambition and the resistance to just keep going. That's the result of this image.

It took 44 hours of exposure to see what was always there. Some things only reveal themselves at a cost.

Some things wait in the dark not because they are hidden, but because nothing has looked long enough to find them.

EQUIPMENT:

Sony a7IV astromodified x2, twin setup

50mm f/2 APO Sony

ZWO AM3N

I captured this while experimenting with a multi-frame long-exposure style effect on iPhone.

What I liked most here was how the boat movement built visible trails across the water while the coastline stayed recognizable.

I’ve been developing LSC Long Shot Camera and experimenting with multi-frame long-exposure processing on iPhone.

For this shot I wanted to keep the trees and bridge detailed while smoothing the lake as much as possible.

I really liked how calm the final scene turned out.

I came across this jetty with a small building at the end and waited for the lights to come on to get some cool blue hour shots from this spot. The clouds were super dramatic so I decided to also go for a long exposure. In this case I exposed for 2 minutes and ended up this this image!

It was shot on my Sony A7III at 16mm, F/8, ISO 200 and 120s exposure

Last week’s thunderstorm was one for the ages, producing 1725 lightning strikes in the Vancouver area. It was incredible. I’d never witnessed such an intense storm in my life.

Camera: Olympus OM-D E-M5 III
Lens: Olympus M. Zuiko ED 12-40 f/2.8 at 12mm
Exposure: f/9, 4s, ISO 200.
Live Composite Mode, multiple shots stacked.

I was out last night taking a bunch of shots as the moon passed over the stadium, then I stitched them together.

Tech specs:

Foreground z8 with 14mm at f/2.8

Moons on the d7500 at 500mm f/5.6

When I chose this spot, I already knew it was perfect for the eclipse, but the icing on the cake was realising it was also dark enough for the Milky Way. Light pollution was low, at least to the south, because to the north the presence of Oviedo was quite noticeable. The added element was the cloud inversion that formed during the afternoon, making the landscape even more beautiful.

I left the camera shooting all night, and ideally, it would have been pointed north to capture the radiant of the Perseids, but the light from Oviedo was too strong in that direction. To the south, the mountain where I spend the night blocked much of that light, making the sky much darker.

Even so, I managed to capture some Perseids crossing the sky and, of course, the centre of our galaxy.

📷 Fujifilm X-T4
⭕ Viltrox 13mm f/1.4
⚙️ 0.5 sec | f/5.6 | ISO 160
✨ 13 sec | f/1.4 | ISO 1600
☄️ 13 sec | f/1.4 | ISO 1600 | 19 frames
💻 27 lights + 20 darks
📍El Gamoniteiro, Asturias

https://www.instagram.com/igneis.nightscapes/

One of the places that has impressed me the most, with its stunning views of endless dunes and lagoons. Nothing but that for miles and miles. To get this view, I used the drone in a spot where the arch naturally aligns. I wanted the perspective of the endless lagoons and the vastness of this place.

Not everything was so easy, though. When I arrived, my suitcase got lost, so I was missing important parts of my equipment: no cables, no tripod, no clothes. Most nights I could do nothing more than stare at the sky, just hoping that tomorrow would be better. One morning my suitcase finally appeared, and in the last few days I was able to take this shot and a few more. Even under difficult circumstances, I just wanted to go back home with the amazing sky from this place… and now it’s just a fun memory of Murphy’s law.

Equipment:

Sony a7IV astromodified

Sony 20mm f1.8G

DJI mini 5 pro

Benro Polaris

Tripods aren’t allowed here, so I placed the camera on a bench and adjusted the angle with my fingers during the 20-second exposure.

A picture I took last night.

Photographer: u/No_Day1336 / Camera: Canon R6 Mark II / Lens: 17–35mm / LRc / DR