Fire in the Sky

The Rhododendron ferrugineum or alpenrose were in full bloom when I visited the beautiful lake in the French Pyrenees with @benjaminbarakat

 

While scouting the area in the afternoon, I found this patch of flowers along the lakeshore. A quick check of the @photopills app showed that the Milky Way would line up perfectly at around 1 a.m. with the core nicely framed between two mountain peaks.

 

Unfortunately, the weather forecast was less precise and we found pretty dense clouds instead of the predicted clear skies. The strongly clouds reflected the light pollution from the Zaragoza region, which almost made me stop shooting.

 

After processing the image however, I like the mood of the cloudy sky with the Milky Way peeking through.

 

Lessons learned: Sometimes it is a real advantage that we cannot plan the weather as exactly as the astronomical clockwork and it is always good practice to keep shooting, even if you think the results may not be worth the effort.

 

Prints available: ralf-rohner.pixels.com

 

EXIF

Canon EOS 6D astro modified

Tamron 15-30mm f2.8 @ 15mm

iOptron SkyTracker Pro

Sky:

5 x 90s @ ISO1600, tracked

Foreground:

Stacked focus stack of 12 x 90s @ ISO6400

 

Done