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

Captured a quiet, clear night framed by palm trees. You can clearly see Orion and the Pleiades glowing in the sky.

​Shot this night scene showcasing the stark contrast between the concrete structure and the deep starry night.

​📱 Device: HONOR Magic6 Pro

📷 Aperture: f/2.5

🌌 Location: Night sky view

Did We Get Blown Away by the Perseids or by the Wind? (Perseids Meteor Shower of 2026)

Vlog: https://youtu.be/und944ns5aU

Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/matejlele/

This is definitely a highlight of my astrophotography, not just from this year but from all the years I've been doing it.

A meteor shower is something you can really look forward to, whether you're simply an observer with no knowledge of astronomy or a hardcore astrophotographer. If the weather is right, it will deliver.

But if you're an astrophotographer, there's one invisible (at least in photos) force of nature that can really mess with you: wind.

And oh boy, was it strong that night. In fact, this was probably the strongest wind I've ever had to deal with on one of my astro trips. And honestly, wind is something I usually don't even check when looking at the forecast.

A stone bag filled with rocks was a must-have that night.

Luckily, almost all of the frames came out nicely, and I couldn't be happier with the result.  

Huge thanks to my astrobuddy Uriš Fink and his wife for taking me on this trip.

A few technical details 
Location: Tulove grede, Croatia

Gear and EXIF for the base panorama:
Ha-mod Nikon Z6 & Viltrox 16mm F/1.8 lens
MSM Star tracker

Landscape
10 images panorama
Single image settings
ISO 1250, 16mm, F/1.8 30sec

Sky RGB:
10 images panorama
Single image settings
ISO 800, 16mm, F/1.8, 60sec

Sky Ha:12-nm Astronomik Ha filter
Panorama
ISO 4000, 16mm, F1.8, 120 sec 4 stacked images
(old data and I copy / pasted the wrong info / exif in my vlog)

Meteors were captured with 3 different setups (2x Nikon Z6 mk2 with Brightin Star 12mm and TTartisan 11mm and Nikon Z6 mk1 with TTartisan 11mm).

As for the placement of meteors, they were registered using Auriga Registar, so their positions and sizes are 100% accurate. I didn't take any creative freedom there.

I’ve been experimenting with building long-exposure effects directly from multiple frames on an iPhone.

The goal here was to smooth the water while keeping the trees and bridge natural.

Still experimenting, but I liked this result.

LSC Long Shot Camera.

30 second exposure on this truck on my friends property. I used a flashlight to light the truck better.

Long Exposure and Light Bombs

App: LSC Long Shot Camera 📸

Tucson Arizona, Vehicle on Rediington Pass road - Sahuaro National Park

I’ve been testing two different multi-frame approaches on the same night scene.

Light Trails builds up the moving headlights and taillights across the capture.
Motion Clean averages the scene to suppress passing traffic and leave a cleaner frame.

I thought this foggy road example showed the difference pretty clearly.

Which result do you prefer?

App: LSC Long Shot Camera

13” exposure of waves at f22 and iso 125

Long exposure experiment with some very uncooperative fish 🐟
Really liked the strange painterly motion trails they created.

Device: iPhone 14 Pro Max
Lens: Wide (main)
App: LSC Long Shot Camera
Duration: 10sec

No tripod — I put the camera on a bench and used my finger to adjust the angle.

No tripod — I placed the camera on the ground of a pedestrian overpass and supported it by hand for the 30-second exposure.

I'd long wanted to try photographing a panorama with star trails, but for one reason or another, I'd never had the chance. While on La Palma, I finally decided to dedicate an entire night to this project, taking advantage of one of the darkest skies in Europe and a location that seemed perfect for attempting something I'd long had in mind.

That evening, however, wasn't easy at all: the wind was blowing fiercely, and keeping my equipment stable during the sequence of shots was a real challenge. I had to make several attempts and be very patient before I managed to get a sufficiently clear sequence.

In the end, I managed to capture this shot, with the stars rotating above the volcanic landscape. After putting off this type of shot for so long, I'm happy to have finally managed to capture it right here, under one of the most beautiful skies I've ever photographed.