Vulture and Hunter [Explored]

This image captures Orion rising over one of Joshua Tree National Park's lesser-known rock arches. I used low-level lighting to illuminate the arch in a soft golden light that highlights the natural contours of the arch and surrounding boulders.

 

Above, the night sky displays the Winter Milky Way in breathtaking detail, revealing intricate features such as glowing red emission nebulae (including Barnard's Loop and the Orion Nebula) that contrast against the deep, dark expanse of space. The sky is also textured with faint wisps of interstellar gas and dust, adding to the celestial drama.

 

The green and yellow hues on the horizon are natural airglow, while the white light on the left edge of the frame is Zodiacal light, a result of sunlight reflecting off interplanetary dust particles.

 

With this composition, I tried to balance the terrestrial and celestial elements, emphasizing the vastness of the night sky while grounding the viewer with the rugged landscape of Joshua Tree National Park.

 

EXIF

Canon EOS-R, astro-modified by EOS 4Astro

Tamron SP 15-30mm f/2.8 @ 15mm

IDAS NBZ filter

iOptron SkyTracker Pro

Low Level Lighting

 

Sky:

3 panel panorama, each a stack of 7x 90s @ ISO1600, unfitered & 3x 180s @ ISO6400, filtered

 

Foreground:

Focus stack of 6x 4s @ ISO800 during twilight

 

Done