View allAll Photos Tagged Moonless
On a moonless night in MacTier, Ontario, a pair of Canadian Pacific trains meet in the inky darkness of northern Ontario. Having just relieved it's Cartier crew at the crew change point in town, Winnipeg to Toronto train no. 420 hasn't made it far before their next stop. Cooling their heels at the south siding for a meet with hotshot train no. 101, CP 6644 slumbers in the stillness of the night under the close guard of an ageing searchlight signal. Eventually, rails glow to life, the forest emerges from the darkness and the unmistakable whine of GEs approaches. Then, just as quick as they approached, once again fade into the dark as no. 101 screeches into MacTier for a crew change. Meanwhile, engineer Assad pays close attention, giving 101 a roll-by inspection. It's a good inspection. Highball, MacTier! And like that, 101 presses on towards Vancouver and 420 eases through Cottage Country for the overnight run into Toronto.
This one I saw with my eyes as I was out observing in the early morning for Leonids and saw this Taurid, and so did the camera. Nikon Z7II and Nikon 20 mm S F1.8 with interval timer.
Very bright, at the horizon over the mountains. Dark Moonless sky.
This is my brightest meteor so far for 2025, and one that I happened to see and experience with my eyes in the early morning as well capturing it with a camera.
I have been told wishes do not count if the meteor is only seen by the camera, but to see the fireball, I think I get a wish !
A photo motif I've had in mind for a long time is a Northern Lights over Vestrahorn in bright moonlight, reflected in the smooth waters of Stokksnes Lagoon. So far, every time I've been to this place, something has gone wrong - usually several factors at once. It was cloudy, there were no northern lights, there was no water in the lagoon, the water was too winded, the night was moonless and dark.
Now a solar storm was announced and the night should be clear and windless in East Iceland. When I arrived I couldn't believe my luck: the lagoon actually lay there like a mirror! The spectacle also started relatively soon after my arrival, first everywhere - in the east and in the west, later even in the south and then the lights came straight down from above. An unbelievable spectacle, only above the Vestrahorn there were no northern lights. But after a few hours of taking pictures and being amazed, the lights finally danced where I wanted them to be.
I’ve had only two opportunities to photograph the night sky so far in 2023. Since some of the shots from those outings were similar, today’s post is from my “Work in Progress” album in Lightroom. Captured on May 1st, 2022, on my way home from an overnight session, my photo shows the Milky Way standing almost vertically over the road bridge at Cuttagee Beach on the south coast of New South Wales, Australia.
Apart from a gorgeous beach that’s met by the outflow of Cuttagee Lake, the location offers very dark skies during moonless nights, allowing you to see and photograph myriads of stars and the wispy dust lanes, nebulae and other features sprinkled throughout the Milky Way’s central band. Although our eyes can’t detect the colours of the night sky’s atmospheric airglow, my camera had no problem seeing and recording the green hues present on this night. The airglow was so bright it silhouetted the few clouds drifting low in the southwest sky.
To create this vertical panoramic image, I shot ten overlapping landscape-format photos that I stitched using the Autopano Pro app after editing in Adobe Lightroom Classic, Photoshop, and Topaz DeNoise. Each of the ten frames was captured with my Canon EOS 6D Mk II camera fitted with a Sigma 35mm f/1.4 Art lens @ f/2.0, using an exposure time of 13 seconds @ ISO 3200.
3 foto
Kitty è quasi completamente nera, come una notte senza luna, ma il suo cuore è luminoso come una giornata di sole!
3 photos
Kitty is almost completely black, like a moonless night, but her heart is as bright as a sunny day!
A comet you can observe easily with unaided eye while having cirrus, twilight and moonlight or even from downtown, a comet which has a tail extending more than 25 deg. and an antitail extending beyond the west horizon and rising over the sunrise hemisphere, a comet that has been photographed at daylight (even with difficulty) and reached a maximum apparent magnitude of -5, deserves to be remembered as one of the “great comets”. This is comet Tsuchinshan - ATLAS. I’ve seen and admired many magnificent photos from people all around the planet so, I will only post two here. This is the first one. The landscape is around the Gulf of Corinth near Athens, taken with a 35 mm lens (f/1.4, 5’’, iso 500) and the prominent moonlight trims a lot from the top of the comet’s tail. I can only imagine how it would be to photograph this on a moonless sky. Taken on 15.10.2024, from W.Attica, Greece.
Photography and Licensing: doudoulakis.blogspot.com/
My books concerning natural phenomena / Τα βιβλία μου σχετικά με τα φυσικά φαινόμενα: www.facebook.com/TaFisikaFainomena/
So I was all set to set off for home after shooting the Lower Antelope Canyon, but I kept looking at the sky as I left the motel, and finally decided it might be worth hanging around for the sunset. In the above shot, I kept waiting for the sun to burst out from those clouds but it never quite made it. The entire sunset was rather dull and gray, but just as blue hour was about to kick in, bits and pieces of the clouds along the horizon began to light. up.
I meant to post this shot a few days ago, but I've been fighting with the white balance. I failed to adjust for the blue hour as it began, and as a result, almost everything in the frame was either blue or purple. After about 17 versions and constant bouncing around between lightroom, CS5 and Nik Color Efex, I finally settled on the shot above as it was the closest to what I remember shooting while I was there. It certainly was worth hanging around for, but the four hour drive to St. George was murder, between the road construction, a dead cell phone and thunderstorms. I did, however, learn that a lightning bolt over your car coming out of a pitch black, moonless sky in the middle of the desert is MUCH more effective than 5 hour energy in terms of keeping you awake.
The 12 Apostles on the Great Ocean Road are difficult to approach. The only real way down to the beach is down the Gibson Steps, cut into the limestone near the Gog & Magog seastacks. It's fun descending at 3am on a moonless night when the Milky Way is the only source of light!
Above Gog & Magog are the Large Magellanic Cloud (LMC), 160,000 light years away, and to the right of the LMC is the Small Magellanic Cloud (SMC), all of 200,000 light years away.
First mentioned in 1304 and expanded to its current design in the 16th century, this Swiss castle has seen its share of history. In 1963 it was partially destroyed by a lightning strike. The remaining structures were subsequently acquired by the state and a patrons' association raised the funds to rebuild the castle to its former glory.
Fortunately, the heavenly attack from the recent Geminids meteor shower was no danger to the medieval building, but the rain of fiery debris streaming from their radiant near Castor was an impressive sight nonetheless. Unlike most meteor showers, the Geminids originate from an asteroid called Phaethon and not a comet. Phaethon is circling the Sun in a highly elliptical 1.4 year orbit and might be a dead comet. It does not develop a cometary tail and its spectrum looks like that of a rock asteroid and the small pieces that break off Phaeton to form the Geminids are several times denser than cometary dust flake from other meteor showers.
Special thanks to the friendly administrator to shut down the illumination of the castle for us.
EXIF
Canon EOS Ra
Canon EOS 6D
Tamron 15-30mm f/2.8 @ 15mm
Sky:
4 panel panorama, each 5 x 90s @ ISO1600 with Canon EOS 6D on a moonless night
Meteors:
50 x 15s @ ISO6400, Canon EOS Ra
Foreground:
3 panel panorama, each a stack of 3 x 25s @ ISO800 under moonlight, Canon EOS Ra
I spent the night in my car with only a couple hours of sleep, driving along the Mirror Lake Highway in Utah, enjoying a cloudless and moonless night, but my best find was at the shores of Mirror Lake, where the sun began to lick the tops of the bald peaks that look over the timberline wilderness found at over ten thousand feet. This photo is a panorama of 13 different shots allowing for maximum detail when zoomed in (and its upside down).
Jenny Lake, Wyoming. Grand Tetons NP.
I am still amazed at today's cameras ISO, this photo was taken on a Moonless night.
Explore 10 Sept 2022
The full arc of the Milky Way is punctured by the tip of this white monolith rising from the desert floor in a desolate corner of southern Utah.
I had hiked nearly 5 miles on a warm and moonless May night specifically to photograph the famous "Towers of Silence" (aka Waheap Hoodoos). But when I got there, I happened to notice an odd-shaped 'headless' hoodoo standing forlornly in the wash about 100 yards (90 meters) to the east.
Over the next couple of hours while I was shooting the 'Towers of Silence,' I felt this nagging urge to keep glancing over at it. Misshapen and 'lumpy'...it wasn't particularly attractive but something about it kept tugging at the back of my brain.
Finally, I couldn't stand it anymore and walked over to check it out.
Glad I did.
As it turns out, when I got to the northern side of it, the malformed shape transformed into this near-perfect spear-point profile. Combined with the full spread of the Milky Way arching over it, the composition was just breathtaking.
Even better was that I've never seen a Milky Way shot of this spot before...which I find amazing since it is hidden in plain sight.
This image is a 12-frame pano. Five shots of the sky were taken at ISO 6400 for 13 seconds each. Seven shots of the foreground were taken at ISO 800 for 300 seconds each. Foreground illuminated by a Lume Cube on a 7' light stand. Stitched together in Photoshop. Milky Way processing via Astro Panel 5.1. Noise reduction via Topaz DeNoise AI. The glow of lights on the horizon is from Page, Arizona about 25 miles to the southwest.
As far as the name, well, I've never seen a name attached to this particular hoodoo, perhaps because everyone (myself included) fixates on the adjacent "Towers of Silence". So for my purposes (arrogant as they might be), I thought a good name would be the 'Tower of Terror.'
Like most seasoned photographers, I’m always looking to find a unique shot, rather than take the same one captured by thousands of folks before me. This image fulfills that need superbly. I am quite tickled that I found it.
Cheers!
Jeff
My Website ¦ My Blog ¦ Facebook
You can see more of my images from the American Southwest at: www.firefallphotography.com/southwest-2021/
Featured in Explore! #48 on 15 June, 2022
Please click here to view this large!
Captured this with 336 RAW shots. Stacked all the shots in Photoshop CS6 using lighten mode. Increased the overall saturation with Hue/Saturation in Photoshop. Curve adjustment to increase the overall contrast. 1 layer mask in soft light mode at 50% gray, using brush tool to lighten and darken some areas of the image, to bring out details. Topaz DeNoise to reduce noise. Topaz Clarity Landscape filter to increase contrast and color.
Perseid Meteor Shower Party at Trillium Lake 2015. We were deciding on where to go shoot the meteor shower and ended up at Trillium Lake. It was quite a party with all the lights from the stars to the cars headlights. It took about three hours to capture all 336 shots. Although the meteor shower was not as spectacular as predicted, but it was still great with all the man-made light show.
To view my other Oregon images, click here.
For print purchases and licensing information, please visit My Website or email me at davidgnphotography@gmail.com
This was taken in the Alabama Hills located in the Eastern Sierra near the town of Lone Pine. The Milky Way was stunning on a moonless night. (thanks to Nan, Mike and Dave for sharing their camp with me!)
On Fine Art America: fineartamerica.com/featured/milky-way-in-the-alabama-hill...
Lets her go, and everyday awaits.
For the moonless ocean,
Only hope remains, when she decides to rise.
Here I am, here I am, just waiting to enfold you.
again
www.fb.com/christian.schipflinger.photography
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After month of planning a trip to this location near "passo di giau", on monday my buddys and me realized it.
To make this shot so unique the time must be selected correctly, because the lake is at ~2300 meters over sea level and the snow is hiding the small lake till May every year.
My plan was to capture the galactic center of the milkyway near the "Monte Pelmo" which is reflecting on the right side of the panorama picture, so its only possible to shoot this picture at a moonless night with clear sky's from May to July because the milkyway is moving to the right side from month to month.
the panorama picture is made with 36 singleframes and 3 rows.
there is everything real on this picture, no photoshop fake.
Equipment: Sony a7s, Tamron 15-30mm 2.8
EXIF: ISO20000, 15mm, f2.8, 10 seconds.
thanks for watching, feel free to like, comment and share
This 2-minute video combines my after-dark shooting over the last few years in the Alabama Hills. Most everything was shot in the area of the famous arch, and almost all was shot without moonlight. My good friend Patti and I did go out one moonlit evening and those images will be obvious. For the time-lapse series, of course, it's moonless, just an occasional flicker by a flashlight or vehicle passing through. The middle time-lapse is simply a reiteration of the first, using a star trail build option that creates a new file for each added frame so you can see the star trail build like in real time. If you're really astute, in the last TL you can see the light from the moon roll up the arch as the moon sets behind the camera. BTW, this sequence From 2014 i frankly didn't remember shooting. What a great find.
There actually are a lot of arches in the Hills, but many are quite small. Mobius happens to have a well-marked trail.
The Alabama Hills have long been a favorite location of television and moviemakers since way back in the '20s. Depending on who's counting, the numbers range from over 150 to over 400 movies. The Lone Ranger was a personal favorite. In fact, the town of Lone Pine has a movie museum and an annual film festival. So this should explain the Western theme movie music I chose rather than something more ethereal.
The opening image is actually from a winter sunrise where the Sierras had been freshly dusted. You might also note that Mt. Whitney, the highest mountain in the Lower 48, can be seen through the arch.
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click to activate the icon of slideshow: the small triangle inscribed in the small rectangle, at the top right, in the photostream;
or…. press L to enlarge;
clicca sulla piccola icona per attivare lo slideshow: sulla facciata principale del photostream, in alto a destra c'è un piccolo rettangolo (rappresenta il monitor) con dentro un piccolo triangolo nero;
oppure…. premi L per ingrandire l'immagine;
www.worldphoto.org/sony-world-photography-awards/winners-...
www.fotografidigitali.it/gallery/2726/opere-italiane-segn...
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My health company, every three months, for three days, sends me to cover a shortage of staff, in the Lipari hospital, (and so do my colleagues), in the little free time I have available, I dedicate myself to my photographic passion.
Lipari is the largest island of the Aeolian Islands (they are located north of Sicily, one hour by hydrofoil from Milazzo); Lipari, under the fascist dictatorship, was the seat of forced confinement for political opponents, it was considered "a Sicilian Alcatraz", among all the islands of confinement, Lipari was most likely the most liveable, both for its considerable size that favored the relations of the confined with the inhabitants, both because, to a greater extent than elsewhere, in Lipari, confined persons were allowed to live in private residences, together with their families or other companions. I found written: "Being on an island that belongs to another island means feeling doubly foreign, tied to the will of the gods and nature, where every certainty can be swept away by the waves of that sea that laps it in every intimate part, but it is a sensation that lasts for a few minutes, the Liparoti (the inhabitants of Lipari, ed) know it well (as all Sicilians know), the Greek concept of Xenia, hospitality, is inherent in them, a written rule, is a duty that provides sanctity and protection for the guest ".
Lipari has a long history as a place of detention. It is the island where the common criminals were initially confined, then with the law of November 6, 1926 (the twenty-year fascist period begins with the seizure of power by fascism and Mussolini, officially occurred on October 31, 1922), Lipari thus became the a place to isolate and confine opponents; the life of the confined began immediately after disembarkation, with lodging in the dormitories of the Castle, under the strict surveillance of the police and the fascist militia, every morning, the confined were subjected to the appeal and they received a daily pay of 10 lire; they could move freely in the town, without however exceeding the demarcation line that surrounded the inhabited center; walking was the main activity, the saddest and most melancholy ones pushed to the limit allowed, to see the ferries arrive from Milazzo, aware that the sea was guarded by motorboats armed with machine guns. A situation that will not prevent Nitti, Rosselli and Lussu from fleeing the island, on a moonless night, between 27 and 28 July 1929.
I made some photo-portraits of people I didn't know, I thank them very much for their sympathy and their availability; I tried to capture the essence of minimal photographic stories, collected walking along the streets of Lipari ... in search of fleeting moments ...I used a particular photographic technique for some photographs at the time of shooting, which in addition to capturing the surrounding space, also "inserted" a temporal dimension, with photos characterized by being moved because the exposure times were deliberately lengthened, they are confused -focused-imprecise-undecided ... the Anglo-Saxon term that encloses this photographic genre with a single word is "blur", these images were thus created during the shooting phase, and not as an effect created subsequently, in retrospect, in the post-production
La mia azienda sanitaria, ogni tre mesi, per tre giorni, mi manda a ricoprire una carenza di organico, nell’ospedale di Lipari, (e così anche i miei colleghi), nel poco tempo libero che mi resta a disposizione, mi dedico alla mia passione fotografica.
Lipari è l’isola più grande delle isole Eolie (si trovano a nord della Sicilia, ad un’ora di aliscafo da Milazzo); Lipari , sotto la dittatura fascista, fu sede di confino coatto per gli oppositori politici, essa era considerata “un’Alcatraz siciliana”, fra tutte le isole di confino, Lipari fu molto probabilmente quella più vivibile, sia per le sue notevoli dimensioni che favorivano i rapporti dei confinati con gli abitanti, sia perché, in misura maggiore che altrove, a Lipari veniva consentito ai confinati di abitare in residenze private, insieme ai propri familiari o ad altri compagni. Ho trovato scritto: “Trovarsi su un Isola che appartiene a un’altra Isola, vuol dire sentirsi doppiamente straniero, legato al volere degli dei e della natura, dove ogni certezza può essere spazzata via dalle onde di quel mare che la lambisce in ogni intima parte, ma è una sensazione che dura solo per qualche minuto, i Liparoti (gli abitanti di lipari, n.d.r.)lo sanno bene (come lo sanno tutti i siciliani), è connaturato in loro il concetto greco della Xenia, l'ospitalità, non è una norma scritta, è un atto dovuto che prevede sacralità e protezione per l’ospite”.
Lipari ha una lunga storia come luogo di detenzione. È l’isola dove all’inizio erano confinati i delinquenti comuni, poi con la legge del 6 novembre 1926 (il ventennio fascista inizia con la presa del potere del fascismo e di Mussolini, ufficialmente avvenuta il 31 ottobre 1922), Lipari divenne così il luogo dove isolare e confinare gli oppositori; la vita del confinato iniziava subito dopo lo sbarco, con l’alloggio nelle camerate del Castello, sotto la rigida sorveglianza della polizia e della milizia fascista, ogni mattina, i confinati erano sottoposti all’appello e alla consegna della "mazzetta", ossia la paga giornaliera di 10 lire; potevano circolare liberamente nel paese, senza però superare la linea di demarcazione che circondava il centro abitato; passeggiare era la principale attività, i più tristi e malinconici si spingevano fino al limite consentito per vedere arrivare i traghetti da Milazzo, consapevoli che il mare era sorvegliato da motoscafi armati di mitragliatrici. Situazione che non impedirà a Nitti, Rosselli e Lussu di fuggire dall’isola, in una notte senza luna, tra il 27 e il 28 luglio del 1929.
Ho realizzato dei foto-ritratti di persone che non conoscevo, le ringrazio veramente tanto per la loro simpatia e la loro disponibilità; ho cercato di cogliere al volo l’essenza di storie fotografiche minime, raccolte camminando per le strade di Lipari... alla ricerca di attimi fugaci s-fuggenti ...
Ho utilizzato per alcune fotografie una tecnica fotografica particolare al momento dello scatto, che oltre a catturare lo spazio circostante, ha "inserito" anche una dimensione temporale, con foto caratterizzate dall’essere mosse poiché volutamente sono stati allungati i tempi di esposizione, sono confuse-sfocate-imprecise-indecise...il termine anglosassone che racchiude con una sola parola questo genere fotografico è "blur", queste immagini sono state così realizzate in fase di scatto, e non come un effetto creato successivamente, a posteriori, in fase di post-produzione.
FR :
Météore, Voie lactée et airglow au-dessus d’une église romane au bord de la Gironde. 💫
Je m’étais fixé pour objectif de fin d’année, de réaliser une image d’un monument français, sous la Voie lactée, et avec (un peu de chance) un météore des Géminides. C’est chose faite. Pour cela, j’ai dû prendre en compte plusieurs paramètres : choisir un lieu orienté vers le sud, dépourvu de pollution lumineuse. Et choisir un créneau sans Lune et un ciel dégagé.
L’église médiévale Sainte-Radegonde, visible au premier plan, est située à flanc de falaise sur un promontoire rocheux surplombant l’estuaire de la Gironde. Elle domine le village fortifié de Talmont-sur-Gironde.
Les Géminides sont un essaim d'étoiles filantes visibles chaque année en décembre, lorsque la Terre croise sa trajectoire. Cette année, le pic a eu lieu autour du 10-12 décembre… Mais à cette date, la pleine lune a eu lieu. La Voie lactée n'était donc pas visible, en raison de la forte luminosité émise par la Lune. J'ai donc réalisé cette image le 16 décembre, dès que les conditions furent optimales. Une seule étoile filante est passée dans mon champ, à côté des Pléiades vers 23h.
Le ciel semble être couvert de « nuages multicolores »… Il ne s’agit pas de couleurs parasites ou de traitement particulier. Il s’agit d’un phénomène naturel rare causé par une réaction chimique dans la haute atmosphère, où les rayons du soleil excitent des molécules, qui émettent alors une très faible lumière (chimiluminescence) de couleur verte et/ou orange. On le nomme le « airglow ». Ce soir là, il était très très intense…
Dans le ciel, on peut distinguer une partie de la Voie lactée, centrée sur la constellation d’Orion. Cette constellation est facilement reconnaissable aux trois étoiles alignées qui représentent sa ceinture. Elle est composée de la nébuleuse de la tête de cheval et la très célèbre nébuleuse d'Orion.
Le tout est entouré par une gigantesque nébuleuse, la Boucle de Barnard (demi arc de cercle rouge). À gauche d’Orion, se trouve la constellation de la Licorne. Elle est également composée de nébuleuses rouges, dont la nébuleuse de la Rosette et la nébuleuse du Sapin de Noël. Plus haut encore, Mars, les Pléiades et la nébuleuse Californie.
Voici l'image finale : panorama de 6 photos prises avec le Sigma 28mm f/1.4 - Canon 6d Astrodon. 15 minutes de pose (stacking, 13s unitaire).
EN :
Meteor, Milky Way and airglow above a Romanesque church in France. 💫
Category : Panorama / stacking
Story : I had set myself an end of year goal, to make an image of a French monument, under the Milky Way, and with (a bit of luck) a Geminid meteor. It is done. For this, I had to take into account several parameters: choose a place facing south, free of light pollution. And choose a moonless window and a clear sky.
The medieval church of Sainte-Radegonde, visible in the foreground, is situated on a rocky promontory overlooking the Gironde estuary. It overlooks the fortified village of Talmont-sur-Gironde.
The Geminids are a swarm of shooting stars visible every year in December, when the Earth crosses its path. This year, the peak took place around 10-12 December... But on that date, the full moon took place. The Milky Way was therefore not visible, because of the strong luminosity emitted by the Moon. So I made this image on December 16, as soon as the conditions were optimal. A single shooting star passed by my field of view, next to the Pleiades, around 11pm.
The sky seems to be covered with "multicoloured clouds"... This is not a question of spurious colours or special processing. It is a rare natural phenomenon caused by a chemical reaction in the upper atmosphere, where the sun's rays excite molecules, which then emit a very weak light (chemiluminescence) of green and/or orange colour. It is called airglow. This evening, it was very, very intense...
In the sky, we can distinguish a part of the Milky Way, centred on the constellation of Orion. This constellation is easily recognisable by the three stars aligned in its belt. It consists of the Horsehead Nebula and the famous Orion Nebula.
The whole is surrounded by a gigantic nebula, Barnard's Loop (a red half-arc). To the left of Orion is the constellation of the Unicorn. It is also composed of red nebulae, including the Rosette Nebula and the Christmas Tree Nebula. Higher still, Mars, the Pleiades and the California Nebula.
Exif : Here is the final image: panorama of 6 photos taken with the Sigma 28mm f/1.4 - Canon 6d Astrodon. 15 minutes exposure (stacking, 13s each). 2000 iso - F/2. No tracking.
To beat the heat, we hiked in after sunset and reached the campsite at 1030pm. Along the way the owls were singing in the darkness of the moonless night. With our headlamps off the only light was from the countless stars drifting in the inky black sky. We stayed awake until 130am enjoying the pleasant night air and a chorus of nocturnal insects.
Just before dawn four planets arced overhead and a small sliver of a moon peaked out from behind the distant ridgeline.
This area is in a years long drought and the creek is mostly dry. All the creek crossings we walked through, a month ago were flowing but are now just dust and dried algae. Only this oasis remained, still deep enough to hide the bottom and to be a haven for small fish.
We packed up and headed back to the trailhead early, but the temperature was already rising. When we reached the cars around 9am it was already too hot. Doing a night hike in was the right choice.
Although in this period everything is going badly... not because of a virus but because of man, his mix of greed and sloth, and the eternal return of the usual techniques of mental manipulation of the masses, well tested along the history (which we should all know), let us try to shift our attention to what is truly "eternal" or, more precisely, best represents and symbolizes it: a beautiful starry sky.
Since his origins, man has raised his gaze to the night sky with wonder and, above all, with so many questions, most of the time without accessing a real answer. Good thing!
The craving for excessive control or the illusion of “being able to control everything” always leads only to dead ends.
This photo portrays the stylish Dents d'Ambin (3,372 meters), Savoie, France, that I’ve taken during an alpine trek on a moonless night.
YouTube channel “Organo Santuario della Consolata”
YouTube channel “ALPS pictures & tales”
Instagram @roberto.bertero
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©Roberto Bertero, All Rights Reserved. This image is not available for use on websites, blogs or other media without the explicit written permission of the photographer.
This was not the direction I was originally going in for this image but this hobby tends to throw many curveballs and I had no idea there was another one heading my way.
I started this target back at the beginning of January and was able to get all my h-alpha data then. After that I didn't get another clear night until mid February. I was lucky enough to quickly get two moonless nights to gather my RGB data. Finally, I was able to sit down at the computer and put it all together... or so I thought.
I own two astro cameras and when I chose this target I decided to use the ASI1600MM for the wider field of view. Well apparently this cameras sensor suffers from a little thing called "micro-lensing reflection" and it is a pain in the ass. It pretty much ruined my blue and green data and two nights of shooting. Alnitak, the brightest star in the frame is a definite killer for this problem.
So the only filter that didn't seem to be effected much was my h-alpha. I would have loved the end result to be in color but the h-alpha definitely makes for very nice b&w result. So, lesson learned and I will get my redemption next year!
Telescope: William Optics GT71
Mount: Sky Watcher HEQ5
Camera: ZWO ASI1600MM Pro
Filters: Astrodon 5nm Ha
Frames
H-alpha: 81x300"
Total Integration: 6h 45'
Oceano Nox (Victor Hugo)
Oh ! combien de marins, combien de capitaines
Qui sont partis joyeux pour des courses lointaines,
Dans ce morne horizon se sont évanouis ?
Combien ont disparu, dure et triste fortune ?
Dans une mer sans fond, par une nuit sans lune,
Sous l’aveugle océan à jamais enfoui ?
(Free english translation)
Oceano Nox (Victor Hugo)
Oh ! how many sailors, how many captains
Who left joyfully for distant races,
In this bleak horizon have passed out?
How many have disappeared, hard and sad fortune?
In a bottomless sea, on a moonless night,
Under the blind ocean forever buried?
n a cool moonless night, with the starry sky above - this was one of my favorite spots for astrophotography in New Zealand.
KP index 6 was announced and KP index 6 came too. For hours the northern lights danced all over the sky, also visible to me in violet color for the first time. Months before I had booked accommodation for two nights near Kirkjufell and of course I wanted to photograph the northern lights there as well. As the moon stayed below the horizon that night, I ruled out the location at Kirkjufellsfoss – without the moonlight the foreground would have been too dark. Since there was fortunately no wind, a location on the adjacent lagoon was ideal for photographing the mountain and lights with reflections. In retrospect, it was definitely a good decision, because I was only standing on the bank with a few others while the photographers jostled each other at Kirkjufellsfoss and blinded each other with their headlamps.
I have to admit, there are moments when I head out to take photos that absolutely make me feel small and insignificant in the presence of our natural world. This was one of those nights.
I have been dreaming of creating an image like this for a long time, and this was the first time that the "stars aligned" to let me get a reasonable chance at it. Bruce Peninsula National Park, a dark sky preserve, has some great opportunities for seeing the night sky in all its glory. It's one of the many reasons I frequent the park!
I chose this night for the photo because I was confidant that the sky would be moonless and clear, but I did not expect the northern lights to come out, and I completely missed the fact that this was the peak of the lyrid meteor shower! I feel truly lucky to have witnessed the sky that night. If you look close, you'll find a number of shooting stars, and a lot of iridium flares.
This image was captured using a Canon 6D and a Rokanon 14mm f/2.8. The image is a composite of 26 photos (two rows of 13) covering over 180 degrees of view. The image was stitched together in PTGui Pro, edited in Camera Raw and Photoshop.
I loved taking this image. Not only because of the process involved in capturing every single one of the 136 frames that ultimately made this star trail... but also because of the company I had. My sister and brother in law packed a thermo with coffee and blankets and we sat on a little bench overlooking this view for all of the two to three hours which it took to capture this image. For that reason, this image has a special place in my heart.
Rishabh and I love hiking and have hiked several ‘interesting’ trails. More than once, we returned well after the sunset to find our car to be the last one at the trailhead parking lot. We are used to hiking on most terrains and under every lighting conditions.
But this hike was different.
This particular hike was only 4.4 miles round-trip and involved a slender 1050 feet elevation change. The destination was a beautiful alpine lake, which by most accounts on the internet, was picture perfect. That and the promise of lovely wild-flowers on trail-side meadows convinced us to go for it. This was going to be a beautiful hike, we thought.
However, some thoughts have a tendency to garner hope more than reality.
This particular day of ours began at 3am in California and involved flying to Seattle, driving up to the beautiful North Cascades National Park, stopping by the mesmerizing and windy lake Diablo for hours, and then deciding to do this hike on a moment's spur at around 6pm. “The sun doesn’t set till 8:50, we have time”, I thought. We had some dinner with us, which we planned to devour after quickly wrapping up the hike in about three hours.
But the hike turned out more than a ‘quick hike’. 15 hours on the road, high elevation of the trail (starts at 5200 feet), and a bit of rain during the hike asked for a greater toll from Rishabh than I had anticipated. After a bit of an effort, we made it to the pristine destination and enjoyed a lovely snack by the alpine lake. Somewhat unwillingly, rain clouds dissolved away to let the sun peek warmly from behind an inverted curtain of towering granite peaks to our west. As the sky poured buckets of pantone, bittersweet, and cinnabar on itself, the Cutthroat Peak (pictured above), the Whistler Mountain, and the Liberty Bell stood there bathing shamelessly in that beautiful light. It felt peaceful.
Sadly, that peace came at the price of having to hike down to our car in tar dark. Letting our eyes adapt to the moonless darkness, we hiked at half our pace with all the caution. At one point, the trail entered a thick forest where we could hardly see or hear anything, except occasional animal vocalizations that gave our nerves some jitters. We kept talking to each other loudly to keep apprehensions and bears at bay. After hiking an hour in such darkness, we made it back to our car alright at around 10pm.
Somewhat unexpectedly, this hike turned out to be – to put it mildly – quite a memory-maker, but beautiful nonetheless.
I was out capturing the night sky with some Action Photogs early this morning. I can't help but be reminded of this poem Evelyn shared with me on a similar night.
Distant from the polluting city lights,
I stand atop of the mountain heights,
And stare beyond my line of sight,
Into the darkness of a moonless night,
Past all the celestials shining bright,
To find much to my great delight,
That staring back from the empty void,
Stands the primordial pillar of starlight,
The galactic center in fiery white,
That rotates and roars in the silent might,
With stunning colors that suddenly ignite,
My imagination that begins to take flight,
To reach the stars beyond the night.
--Darth Gaaru
Press L & F11 for best Lightbox View
The Alabama Hills outside of Lone Pine, California are a unique landscape filled with granite rock formations and natural stone arches. On a moonless night, the stars were plentiful, and I framed the north star, Polaris in one of the arch's openings. Close to two and a half hours of star trails comprised this landscape photo.
On my way to Death Valley to teach a workshop with fellow photog, Josh Cripps, I made a pit stop in the Alabama Hills to try my hand again at some star trails.
Nikon D800 + grip
Nikkor 14-24mm @ 16mm
277 exposures for stars @ f2.8, 30 seconds, ISO 1600
1 exposure for arch @ f11, 2 minutes, ISO 800 light painted with orange gel over LED flashlight.
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Entry for Astronomy Photographer of the Year:
Single exposure. Tent lit by lantern.
Larch Mountain, Oregon, USA
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*sigh of relief*
I was getting some serious star-starved antsy-ness the last few weeks. It was getting too long since I'd been out under the stars with a camera. Got me all grumpy and agitated. Lately it's seemed bad weather on weekends, but clear nights on weekdays. When I wake up early for work, I notice the stars out above me on my walk to the car. It's a moving sight, but usually it just gets me more annoyed that the stars are giving me a teasing kiss goodbye as they go to bed and I go to work.
Oregon weather has changed. Sadly, for the worse. Summer is for sure over, and Winter clouds and weather has moved in and will be our neighbor till about June. So, clear nights like these are going to become a rare and valued commodity. I thought this night was going to be a bust because of passing clouds, but finally, a few hours into the evening, the sky opened up and the stars came out to stay.
It has been an emotionally heavy weekend here for the home team. Lots going on our side of the computer screen. But, last night, there were a few moments that the magic of the evening really sunk in. It was chilly, but I came dressed in layers, so it felt comfortable. A slight breeze would lift up and then settle down. The mountain top was silent. The only noise an occasional train blowing it's warning horn far away, or Miles Morgan flying his airplanes occasionally above. But even those sources took on a soothing note, and as I looked out over the forested landscape- illuminated by the Moon behind me- a sleep-deprived peace blew in and out with the breeze. It was special. Taking pictures was less and less a priority as I completely zoned out away from my camera, continually waking up from a trance of just staring out into the Moonlit night.
Ironically, shooting this scene took on less of an epic, mountain top adventure feeling; but instead it had a seemed more like a treasured visit to the Wise Man on the mountain. After many Summer months chasing the Milky Way in completely dark, Moonless night skies- this evening was truly a needed treat.
So, thank you Stars. I may see you tomorrow morning twinkling goodbye to me while I walk to my car, but sipping my coffee, I'll give you a sincere happy wave, thinking about the weekend we had together.
**Edit- Great! This made it to Flickrblog. Thanks all for coming to take a look.
If you are interested in doing shots of stars, but don't know where to begin- find my website listed on my profile- then on the website click on the "Tutorial" link
Thanks everyone for the great response :-)
Me trying to iron out the last of the issues with the latest astro imaging setup. Guiding, collimation, focus, PA, dew etcetc - believe I am now "close" just need some clear (moonless) nights!
When I first started planning for the Super Flower Blood Moon eclipse that occurred last Wednesday morning, I noticed that the eclipsed moon would be very close to the Rho Ophiuchi cloud complex. Typically, you need a moonless night to be able to image the yellow and blue clouds around Antares and the other stars and clusters, but I had hoped that a fully eclipsed moon would allow us to image both at the same time. Luckily, it did
We lugged a ton of equipment up to Lake Alpine, CA to get away from city lights and get some clear, cold, sparse air which is good for imaging.
There is a ton of processing here, but it's not a fake. 20 images were stacked in Siril to bring out the details in the cloud complex. 4 other images were combined using HDR to bring out the eclipsed moon details. They were then blended in Photoshop preserving their positions. All images taken on a Sony A7S3, Canon 70-200mm, f/2.8 at f/3.2 and 150mm on a Star Adventurer Tracker
Photo taken in 2017. Re-edited 2022 using updated LR and ON1. Star blur apparent from 45 second exposure on a moonless dark night.
Ya got yer STARS, ya got yer GATE...
Beyond Mono Lake, almost to the Nevada border, there is a lovely and curious old stone corral near a place called River Spring.
We made our way here after the Lake Crowley hike, and still had a couple hours before the milky way got into position.
I used several light painting passes with my LED panel, to create this composite image of the gate, a stone wall, and the distant corral. In truth, it was completely dark on a moonless night, and rather windy.
The milky way was captured in a stack of 44, 13 sec images at ISO8000, processed using Sequator.
Because there were no cities to the immediate east nor south of us, there was a distinct lack of light pollution on the horizon, a real treat from this location. It is classified Bortle-1.
Lens is the DFA 35mm on the 645Z.
From earlier this week, it was a clear moonless night which doesn't happen every day in the UK so I wanted to make the most of it. I decided for this location as I thought it wouldn't be busy in the middle of the night like Durdle Door or some other famous locations. I took loads of photos, this one is one of the last ones, when it was getting brighter and the Milky Way was a bit faded but I'll post some more next time. And btw, that's Jupiter and Saturn just to the left of the chapel
I'd have never bore witness to this astounding vision without my little £7.99 head torch. Not for the obvious reason either:
If I'd SEEN the mammoth task ahead, a 600 metre ascent through snow drifts where you measure your progress in mph (metres per hour), there's just no way I'd have embarked on such lunacy. The darkest moonless night, however, necessitated the use of my cheap little head-torch. With only short distances ahead visible to me under the beam, I was able to just concentrate on bite-sized chunks of misery at a time. A realisation that even gaining the ridge would be a gigantic undertaking focused the mind, also. I plugged away at a snail's pace, heaving my tiring limbs forward as best I could, once in a while plunging though unseen gullies up to my chest.
That 2000-odd feet took roughly 5 hours. The original goal of Spidean Mialach was discarded upon reaching the ridge, with ample opportunities around me where I was & no willingness to proceed with yet more torture!
Part 8
I counted the many switchbacks into Laurel Canyon and lost count after 99. Just before the trail leveled out I saw a very nice campsite on the downhill side, with a fantastic view of mono canyon and the recesses on the other side all lined up for one grand view. Next time I would love to camp here. Now the path turned into the canyon and paralleled a roaring creek through thicker forest than what mono creek did far, far below. Soon the landscape opened into meadows surrounded by high ridges on 2 sides and 3 pointed peaks at the far end. The roaring creek became calm and lazy as the trail turned to cross it, once on the other side the trail disappeared. The meadows in places were marshy as my feet sunk into the saturated soil, then a small rise would dry it out completely and sandy, rocky earth replaced the sogginess. Soon I crossed the creek again and entered mosquito infested forest. The trail reappeared again but remained spotty. From here it climbed up an exposed hill to the next level of meadows. By now the sun began to blaze hotter and the temperature rose more than it did the day before despite the higher elevation. For the next mile there was no shade and the temperature crept higher and higher.
Soon I reached a good place to leave the trail. My goal for today was to reach a lake called Rosy Finch, that I had been to while on the Sierra High Route back in 2016. I wanted to photograph it in the alpine glow of sunset which I had not done the that time since I was just passing through. There are no trails from here to Rossy Finch, so my only choice is to take an unnamed pass above a small unnamed lake.
By now the heat was almost too much but I at least wanted to reach the no name lake. The trailess mountainside I now climbed was sparsely treed, so in the heat I would “tree hop”, take a break in the shade of a small tree, hurriedly hike to the next and take a break, again and again until I reached the top. At the top the trees stopped and I left them behind and made my way over rolling ravines and rocky outcrops, hoping that the small lake was just over the next one. But it wasn't and I started growing impatient. Finally I topped a rise and laid eyes on the lake. It was about 175 feet below me. I had climbed too high, and now had to go back and go down.
When I at last reached the lake I refilled my nearly empty water bottles, washed my hands and face, and dunked my head in the refreshing water. Then I headed over to a small stand of crooked pines that grew now far from the outflow creek. Here I undressed and sat in the shade on a large rock for several hours while a light breeze and the shade kept me cool. While here I decided to unofficially name this no name lake, “Lake of the Wilderness Wanderer”.
Several hours passed and the heat subsided slightly. I got dressed and continued, now following the same route I had taken in 2016. Easily follow-able meadow corridors led the way to the last gravelly climb to the top of the pass (11200). When I reached the top I let out a shout of relief. It was now about 3 pm, I had began climbing uphill at 630 am at an elevation of 8700 ft and I was now at 11200 ft. Just over the other side was a trail cam that I waved too.
Now I began to climb downhill at last. Then came the contouring of the mountainside and navigation of steeply sloping talus fields that swiftly fell away from me. Off in the distance was a ridge that became my target because around it on the other side was my goal of Rossy Finch Lake. At one spot on the talus a large block shifted under the weight of my step and I tweaked my knee. The pinch in my knee slowed me down and made traversing the steep talus more challenging, but I kept pushing forward. Soon I reached the ridge and rounded the corner. Here I got my first glimpse of the lake in many years, now all that was left was to figure out how to climb down to it. I searched for a way down and found the best possible route. I carefully worked my way down the steep chute to the bottom of a ravine, then the final short climb up that and I reached the lake. Patches of late season snow still blanketed the ground even though this was July. Jagged spires rose sharply and crowned this lake on it's northeastern shore. I made camp right where I was, too tired to look for another spot, but this was perfect.
That evening the spires glowed pink and I got the photo I had planed this trip for. I even set up the GoPro to get a real time sunset video. youtu.be/XVJQfgryF9A That night I had the whole lake to myself, and it was completely silent, not a sound was heard in the cirque of the lake. The sky was moonless and crystal clear, and both the lake and sky glistened with countless stars.
From last year's beautiful display which took place on very clear moonless night. It's a composite image made from the brightest meteors captured that night.
Part 2
That night I awoke at 2 am. (Back in 2016 during my 40 day journey on the Sierra High Route I came across a little tarn that I thought was really beautiful flic.kr/p/XJvwTq that I wanted to photograph at sunrise but I was there during the wrong time of day, so I added it to my return to list. Today I planned on returning to it, so like I said I wanted it at sunrise so I woke up at 2 am, because it was 3 miles away over a cross country pass that was 820 ft higher than where I was camping.) I put my camera gear and breakfast into my backpack and left everything else in my tent. The sky was moonless and scattered with stars. The air was alive and restless as a strong wind blew through the lake basin. I began to follow the trail that circumnavigated the lake, but in the devouring darkness I soon lost it. I continued on into the starry night guided only by the small circle of light cast by my headlamp.
The formless landscape twisted into strange shapes and dark trees walked beside me swaying in the cold relentless wind. To my left lay the lake, it's waters stretching into an endless black void glittering with reflected starlight. Soon I began to hear, between gusts of wind, the distant sound of water cascading over rocks. As I got closer it got louder and amongst the babbling of the creek the water also sounded like faint drum beats. “Drums, drums in the deep”. I crossed the creek and continued around the far end of Garnet Lake heading to the sloping meadow lands.
All this time the wind blew strong, pulling on my beard and tugging at my clothes. When I reached the meadow lands the landscaped opened and the trees followed me no more. On the other side of the meadows the grass became talus and now I had to climb White Bark Pass, a cross country pass that I did back in 2016 going the the other way during the day. Before trying to navigate my way up the steep pass I took a break and turned my headlamp off. The darkness thickened without the light to hold it back and the stars glimmered overhead, the milky way arcing high reaching from horizon to horizon. Turning my light back on I began to look for the route up the pass. I soon realized I had gone too far west because tall cliffs rose to my south so I retraced my steps until a faint trail appeared in front of me. The pass was easy but finding a safe route up with just my headlamp was challenging. At times the trail vanished only to reappear on top of a ledge that required hands and feet to climb.
There was no relief from the cold wind while I climbed the talus covered mountainside. As soon as I reached the top of the pass the largest gust yet was already there to greet me, trying to push me back down to the meadow from where I had come. I quickly made my way down the other side seeking shelter from the relentless wind. Then appearing as apparitions out of the inky darkness a few crooked pine trees stood against the wind. I quickly made my way over to the closest one and huddled beneath it’s sheltering branches and for the few moments I lied there I was protected and warm while the wind still howled through it's boughs. After a few minutes I ventured back out into the cold wind.
As I made my way by the small circle of light cast by my headlamp the ground ahead of me fell away into a deep, dark abyss, as though a chasm had opened leading deep down into the roots of the mountains to where the drums had sounded. “Drums, drums in the deep.” The landscape on this side of the pass was formed by rolling hills, each hill falling away further and deeper then the last and as I descended down and down the black formless void fell before me keeping it's distance as though it was afraid of my light. Soon I heard distant, rushing water competing with the sound of the wind, and I knew I was close to my destination.
After one final descent I reached a sheltered cirque free from the wind that had been chasing me. After a few more steps I reached a still pond reflecting my light back into my eyes. I followed it's rocky shore downstream and found a spot to stop, here I waited for the dawn. Soon the sky began to lighten and I could see a haze clinging to the high peaks of Banner and Ritter that towered over this small pond. I hoped it wasn't smoke. As the sky grew lighter and lighter and the stars began to fade I could see more and more of my surroundings and I saw that the highest reaches of the two peaks were shroud in thick clouds, not smoke. Soon I was able to see enough that I was now able to start looking for good compositions.
Once all the stars faded and the pale sky was all aglow a bright pink light cast itself upon the high peaks, and a photo that I have wanted to take for the last 5 years finally happened.
Not many better experiences than venturing out under a clear canopy of stars on a dark moonless night. I scouted this location on Google Maps while planning on trying out the Eagle Lake Narrows near South River Ontario for some nightscape photography. Ended up being even better than I imagined. Once the clouds cleared out, the wind calmed and the sky cleared to reveal what seemed like the whole universe. If you’ve never experienced a starry night far away from the cities you’re truly missing out !
Shot on my Nikon Z5 and Irix 15mm.
Settings 15mm / ISO-6400 / 20” / 11 images stacked for noise reduction.
Comète Neowise au-dessus du château de Comper, avec l'aimable autorisation des propriétaires
I chose this picture as my personnal "pic of the year", Here is the story behind it :
The choice was an obvious one here, even though this is not my most popular photo of the year.
I work at the Centre de l'Imaginaire Arthurien, which is located in Brittany, France, in the castle of Comper. I happen to be an astro enthousiast as well, so I was thrilled when the third comet of the year decided to shine through the summer. One day, a colleague asked me if I could place the comet above the castle. I wasn't sure it was possible, so I lost litteraly 2 weeks of sleep trying both during the evenings and very, very early morning. Finally, one moonless night, I could place it precisely where I wanted it, and asked another colleague to hold a light to the castle while I took the picture.
It may not be the most popular picture I took, nor even really the best, but for the work and dedication it took, and the result, this picture is clearly special to me.
My dear Fanni and I are going to watch the beautiful meteor shower called Perseids tonight at Fanni's home. Her small village is quite far from any towns, so there is minimal light pollution there - so I hope we will see such a beautiful and clear sky like in this picture...
One more thing is that today it is 12th August and we are going to watch the show tonight until dawn... AND the maximum (when the most meteors approach us) will be in the morning* of 13th August.
(*it can be after sunrise and I mean European time)
This is NOT my photo, the owner is Nick Venton and I do not want to do anything with this photo (except share it here). I hope it will never be any problem with my current uploading (including copy&paste the text of the original pic on Facebook)...
"Perseid Meteor Shower
In the Northern Hemisphere, the annual August Perseid meteor shower probably ranks as the all-time favorite meteor shower of the year.No matter where you live worldwide, the 2015 Perseid meteor shower will probably be fine on the mornings of August 11, 12, 13 and 14, with the nod going to August 13. On a dark, moonless night, you can often see 50 or more meteors per hour from northerly latitudes, and from southerly latitudes in the Southern Hemisphere, perhaps about one-third that many meteors. Fortunately, in 2015, the waning crescent moon comes up shortly before sunrise, so you’re guaranteed of dark skies for this year’s Perseid meteor shower. Thus, on the Perseids’ peak mornings, moonlight will not obscure this year’s Perseid meteors. Keep your fingers crossed for a clear sky!"
Source: ---> www.facebook.com/NickVentonPhotography/photos/a.562772490... <--- :)
I got the idea of this photo (Milky Way above St. Helens) a back in March when I first bought my 14mm lens. I noticed that I would be in WA in peak Milky Way season during a few moonless nights. I kept my eyes on the weather, and jumped in the car when a "cloudless" night was forecasted during this relatively rare window of opportunity. My good friend Eric made the 4 hour trip with me (and drove). When we got there, we hiked out and scouted out a few locations, then hiked back in, got an hour of sleep in the car, then woke up at 1:00 AM to hike back out. Since there was no moon, it was a dark hike, but we had our flashlights to get us there. Once we got to our designated spot, it was an amazing view and a great time hanging out! We did not sleep much, but it was still well worth it. I wish I could go back and do it again a few more times to refine my technique. Also, a funny little tidbit here is that I did not even take this photo with my 14mm lens - I used my 24mm haha.
About the photo: The foreground is a stack of 17 photos to reduce image noise, whereas the sky is a single exposure. I was lucky in that I was able to get a satellite flare that just so happened to frame well. The light behind the mountain is the light pollution from the greater Portland area, Overall, I am very happy with how it image turned out! :)
Enjoy the photo!