Above the Fog

Orion is setting earlier every day now. Time to post another image of my favorite winter constellation, before the "Orion Season" draws to an end.

 

I captured this 'deep' exposure in early January, when it was still possible see Orion rising.

The night before, I was partially fogged out and even though it cleared again later in the night, I missed the rise if Orion.

 

I therefore decided to hike to a slightly higher spot the next night and face the cold one more time. Shortly after sunset, the fog started to form again, but thanks to my higher vantage point, the fog top stayed some 200m below my position, enabling my to successfully capture my planned composition.

 

The low fog not only added a special mood to the foreground, it also blocked a good part of the light pollution and thus enabled me to capture one of my most detailed Orion widefields to date, with a popping Barnard's Loop and an almost 3 dimensional Witchhead Nebula.

 

Sometimes, landscape astrophotograohers are walking a thin line. A few meters of hight difference or a slight difference in temperature or air pressure can be all that separates a successful shooting from a total failure.

 

Prints available: ralf-rohner.pixels.com

 

EXIF

Canon EOS 6D, astro-modified

Canon EF 24-70mm f/2.8 @ 70mm; f/4

iOptron SkyTracker Pro

Sky:

30 x 60s + 10 x 15s + 10 x 5s @ ISO1600

Foreground:

5 x 120s @ ISO1600

Done