Amazing Sky by Alan Dyer

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Alberta & Saskatchewan Nightscapes { 921 images } Created 2 Aug 2014

A collection of images of Alberta landscapes by night, taken by Alan Dyer
(amazingsky@icloud.com) over the last few years. The most recent images are first.
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  • The rising Full Moon of January 6, 2023 over the Badlands of Horseshoe Canyon, near Drumheller, Alberta. Here the Moon is set a dark blue crepuscular ray (or more correctly, anti-crepuscular ray) converging on the point directly opposite the Sun. The ray was a shadow cast by clouds in the west, which parted enough for a few moments for the setting Sun to light the foreground, making for a colourful contrast between ground and sky. <br />
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This is a single exposure with the Canon R5 and Canon RF100-400mm lens at 236mm. Most processing in Adobe Camera Raw with ground and sky masks. A mild glow layer added to the ground in Photoshop with Luminar Neo.
    Winter Moonrise over Badlands (R5 10...jpg
  • The rising Full "Wolf" Moon of January 6, 2023 over the Badlands of Horseshoe Canyon, near Drumheller, Alberta. The sequence demonstrates the changes in colour of the rising Moon from atmospheric absorption, and changes in its shape from atmospheric refraction.<br />
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This night the Moon was full almost at the same time as it rose from my location. However, the Moon's high northerly declination — it was about 4° north of the ecliptic — meant that it rose far to the northeast and some 30 minutes before the Sun set, despite the Moon being opposite the Sun. As such, even for the last shot, with the Moon several Moon diameters in altitude, the Sun was still up and lighting the landscape. In fact, at that time the Sun broke through clouds in the southwest to light the foreground with warm light.<br />
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In this blend, the ground and majority of the sky comes from the final image with the highest Moon and warmest landscape lighting. For the earlier shots the Moon came up in a very bright sky. And so, to better represent the scene, some of the sky coloration — the magentas and cyans — comes from earlier exposures blended in with broad-brush masks. Dark anti-crepuscular rays also added subtle sky colouration and bands of darker blue. <br />
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This is a sequence of 9 images at an interval of 2.5 minutes, extracted from a set of 80 frames taken every 15 seconds with the camera on automatic exposure, as the sky and ground remained bright enough for an accurate meter reading. The first 8 Moons are masked and layered in with a Lighten blend mode. <br />
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All images were the Canon R5 at ISO 125 and Canon RF100-400mm lens at 281mm and f/8. Most processing in Adobe Camera Raw with ground and sky masks. Glow and dynamic contrast filters added with ON1 Effects plug-in.
    Winter Moonrise Sequence (R5 RF100-4...jpg
  • The rising Full Moon of January 6, 2023 over the Badlands of Horseshoe Canyon, near Drumheller, Alberta. Here the Moon is set in the pink Belt of Venus and with dark blue crepuscular rays (or more correctly, anti-crepuscular rays) converging on the point directly opposite the Sun. The rays are shadows cast by clouds in the west, which parted enough for a few moments for the setting Sun to light the foreground, making for a colourful contrast between ground and sky. <br />
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This night — and this year — the winter Full Moon (popularly called the Wolf Moon) was at a particularly high declination north of the ecliptic, about 4° above the ecliptic. So it rose more to the north than it normally would. This geometry is evident here in that the Moon lies well above (north of) the point where the shadows are converging to, which would be the position of the anti-Sun point on the ecliptic. This was the night of the Full Moon — in fact, the time of Full Moon almost exactly coincided with moonrise for me. However, the high declination of the Moon meant it rose about 30 minutes before sunset, so it rose into quite a bright sky, and was well up by the time the sky darkened enough to show these twilight colours. The next night the Moon, now a day past full, rose 30 minutes after sunset into a much darker sky. <br />
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This is a single exposure with the Canon Ra and Canon RF70-200mm lens at 94mm. The red-sensitive Ra helps bring out the Belt of Venus colours. Most processing in Adobe Camera Raw with ground and sky masks. A mild glow layer added in Photoshop with the Radiant Photo plug-in.
    Winter Moonrise in Crepuscular Rays ...jpg
  • The red planet Mars in the winter sky lit by the waxing gibbous Moon, off frame at right. Mars is at centre, and nearly at its brightest for the year with it 4 days before its December 2022 opposition. It appears in Taurus, east of the Hyades and below the Pleiades, and above Orion. Sirius is rising at bottom just above the horizon. Procyon and Canis Minor is at lower left, with Castor and Pollux in Gemini above. At upper left is Capella in Auriga. The stars of Perseus at at top. <br />
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Taken from home in Alberta, December 3, 2022, with the old rake as a foreground object.<br />
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This is a stack of 4 images for the ground to reduce noise blended with one exposure for the sky, all 13 seconds at f/4 with the Canon RF15-35mm lens at 16mm, on the Canon R5 at ISO 800. All untracked on a fixed tripod. Diffraction spikes added for artistic effect with Astronomy Tools actions.
    Mars in the Winter Sky (Dec 3, 2022).jpg
  • Galaxy and glacier! The Milky Way over glacier-fed Lake Louise and Victoria Glacier in Banff National Park, Alberta. The Scutum Starcloud is just above and setting over Victoria Glacier, accompanied by star clusters in Serpens and Ophiuchus. Some airglow tints the sky above the mountains green and magenta. <br />
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I shot this on a fine night on October 17, 2022 from the usual lakeshore promenade. Planning the timing of the shot was done with The Photographer's Ephemeris (TPE) and TPE3D. <br />
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While an iconic picture-postcard scene by day, it is a challenge to shoot at night as lights from the Chateau Lake Louise behind the camera illuminate the foreground and the distant wooded mountainsides. <br />
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This is a blend of two sets of exposures: <br />
- a stack of two untracked 2-minute exposures for the ground at ISO 800<br />
- a stack of four tracked 1-minute exposures for the sky at ISO 1600 <br />
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All with the Canon RF15-35mm lens at f/2.8 and 20mm and Canon R5, and with the camera and tripod not moving between image sets, and on the Star Adventurer Mini tracker. The reflected stars are trailed as they come from the untracked ground shots. Tracking reflected stars is very tough as it requires re-aligning the tracker to turn around the reflected celestial pole, in my case 51° below the horizon, not very practical. <br />
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Panoramas stitched in Adobe Camera Raw and blended and masked in Photoshop. A mild Orton glow effect added to the sky with Luminar Neo and a ground enhancement effect added with Radiant Photo plug-in.
    Lake Louise by Night.jpg
  • Galaxy and glacier! This is a vertical panorama of the Milky Way Galaxy over Lake Louise and Victoria Glacier in Banff National Park, Alberta. The Summer Triangle stars of Vega, Deneb and Altair are at centre. The Scutum Starcloud is just above and setting over Victoria Glacier. The dark lanes of interstellar dust — stardust! — weave among the bright star clouds of the Milky Way. <br />
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I shot this on a fine night on October 17, 2022 from the usual lakeshore promenade. While a very iconic scene, it is a challenge to shoot at night as lights from the Chateau Lake Louise illuminate the foreground and even the distant wooded mountainsides. Some green and red airglow tints the sky along the horizon. <br />
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This is a blend of three vertical panoramas: <br />
- the first is a set of three untracked 2-minute exposures for the ground at ISO 800 with the camera moved up by 15° from segment to segment; <br />
- the second shot immediately afterward is made of 7 x 1-minute tracked exposures at ISO 1600 for the sky, also moved 15° vertically from segment to segment; <br />
- elements of a third 3-section panorama taken about 90 minutes earlier during "blue hour" were blended in at a low level to provide better lighting on the distant peaks.<br />
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All with the Canon RF15-35mm lens at f/2.8 and 20mm and Canon R5, and with the camera not moving between image sets, and on the Star Adventurer Mini tracker. The reflected stars are trailed as they come from the untracked ground shots. Tracking reflected stars is very tough as it requires re-aligning the tracker to turn around the reflected celestial pole, in my case 51° below the horizon, not very practical. <br />
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Panoramas stitched in Adobe Camera Raw and blended and masked in Photoshop. A mild Orton glow effect added with Luminar Neo. Foreground and landscape enhanced with Radiant Photo plug-in.
    Milky Way Over Lake Louise.jpg
  • The autumn constellations of Perseus and Cassiopeia above, with bright Capella in Auriga and the Pleiades star cluster in Taurus, at bottom, rising in the northeast over Lake Edith in Jasper National Park, on a clear autumn night. The Double Cluster is at centre, above the larger group of stars around Mirfak called the Perseus Association.<br />
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This is a blend of a single tracked 2-minute exposure for the sky and water with the reflected stars, with a stack of two untracked 3-minute exposure for the rest of the ground, both at f/2.8 with the Canon RF15-35mm lens at 17mm and Canon R5 at ISO 1600. I shot this October 16, 2022. The tracker was the Star Adventurer Mini. <br />
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The reflected stars are trailed not just because of the water movement but also because the tracker is following the stars in the sky, not the water. Having untrailed reflected stars would require polar aligning the tracker on the reflected celestial pole, in this case some 53° below the horizon due north. Mild Orton glows added with Radiant Photo and Luminar Neo.
    Autumn Stars Rising at Lake Edith.jpg
  • The constellation of Ursa Major, the Great Bear, and the asterism of the Big Dipper low in the north over Lake Edith in Jasper National Park, on a clear autumn night. Arcturus is at left setting over Pyramid Mountain. <br />
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Bands of airglow tint the sky, but also unfortunately, so does light pollution from the Park's service areas to the north of the townsite. <br />
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This is a blend of a single tracked 2-minute exposure for the sky and water with the reflected stars, with a single untracked 4-minute exposure for the rest of the ground, both at f/2.8 with the Canon RF15-35mm lens at 17mm and Canon R5 at ISO 800. I shot this October 16, 2022. The tracker was the Star Adventurer Mini. A mild Orton glow effect added with Luminar Neo. Diffraction spikes on stars added with Astronomy Tools actions.
    Ursa Major over Lake Edith.jpg
  • A panorama of the northern stars in autumn over and reflected in the calm waters of Lake Edith in Jasper National Park, in the deep twilight. The Big Dipper and Ursa Major are at left, with Arcturus over Pyramid Mountain at far left. Capella is rising at right, and above it are the stars of Perseus and Cassiopeia. This was on a very clear mid-October night in 2022. <br />
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This is a blend of two panoramas: a 4 x 1-minute tracked panorama for the sky at ISO 800, and a 4 x 2-minute untracked panorama taken immediately afterwards at ISO 1600, all with the Canon RF15-35mm lens at f/2.8 and 15mm, on the Canon R5. Stitched in Adobe Camera Raw. A mild Orton glow effect added with Luminar Neo. The tracker was the Star Adventurer Mini.
    Northern Sky Over Lake Edith.jpg
  • A panorama of the glacier-fed Athabasca River and peaks around Mount Fryatt in Jasper National Park, as the Milky Way is setting and the waning gibbous Moon rising, lighting the peaks of the Continental DIvide with lunar alpenglow. Mount Fryatt is at centre, while to the right is Mount Geraldine, and to the left are Brussels Peak and Mount Christie. Jasper is one of the world's largest Dark Sky Preserves. <br />
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I shot this on a fine night on October 15, 2022 from the "Goats and Glaciers" Viewpoint on the Icefields Parkway. Jupiter, large and fuzzy in some thin cloud, is at far left, while Saturn is left of centre over Mount Christie. The bright area in the Milky Way over Mount Fryatt is the Scutum Starcloud. Altair is the bright star at top. Some green airglow tints the sky at left, while some red airglow or possibly low-level aurora tints the sky at right. The location is called Goats and Glaciers because mountain goats are often here enjoying the salt lick deposits. <br />
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This is a blend of three 3-section panoramas: <br />
- the first taken with a Star Adventurer Mini for 3 x 2-minute tracked exposures for the sky at ISO 800; <br />
- the second immediately afterward with the tracker off for 3 x 3-minutes at ISO 800 for the ground; <br />
- and the third taken about an hour later as the Moon rose, lighting the peaks with warm light, for 3 x 2.5-minutes at ISO 1600. <br />
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All with the Canon RF15-35mm lens at f/2.8 and 15mm and Canon R5, and with the camera not moving between image sets . So this is a time blend, combining frames taken an hour apart, to retain the dark sky with the Milky Way before moonrise, blended with the alpenglow at moonrise. However, most of the landscape comes from the earlier panorama lit only by starlight. <br />
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Panoramas stitched in Adobe Camera Raw and blended and masked in Photoshop.
    Milky Way Over the Athabasca River P...jpg
  • The stars of the Big Dipper over the iconic peak of Pyramid Mountain from Pyramid Island, a popular location in Jasper National Park, Alberta, for nightscape and aurora photography. This was on a very clear night in mid-October, 2022, with many aspen stands still in full autumn colour. The images for this scene were shot at moonrise, with the waning gibbous Moon off frame at right lighting the sky blue and landscape with warm alpenglow moonlight. As bonus, a short bright meteor and its orange "smoke" trail appeared on the sky exposures.   I shot this during the first weekend of the 2022 Jasper Dark Sky Festival, and so there were quite a few people on the island and around Pyramid Lake this night enjoying the stars on this mild autumn night.  This is a blend of: a stack of 4 x 1-minute tracked exposures for the sky at ISO 1600 plus a stack of 6 x 3-minute untracked exposures at ISO 800 for the ground, all with the Canon RF15-35mm lens at 20mm and f/2.8 and Canon R5. The tracker was the Star Adventurer Mini. The tracked exposures were shot first, followed immediately by the untracked ground exposures timed to catch the alpenglow lighting of the mountain and trees. I enhanced the landscape slightly with the Radiant Photo plug in and added a mild Orton glow with Luminar Neo. Noise reduction was with ON1 NoNoise AI.
    Big Dipper over Pyramid Mountain.jpg
  • The summer Milky Way over and reflected in the relatively calm water of Pyramid Lake in Jasper National Park, on a mid-October night. The Jasper Sky Tram adds the lights on Whistler Peak. Bands of airglow tint the sky with red. Lights from the Jasper townsite, still mostly unshielded sodium vapour lights as of 2022, add the skyglow at left. Altair is the bright star at top. The red Lagoon Nebula is just setting behind the mountain skyline. The slight wind rippled the water enough to prevent a perfect reflection. <br />
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I shot this during the first weekend of the 2022 Jasper Dark Sky Festival, and so there were quite a few people on the island, and next to me at this spot, and around Pyramid Lake enjoying the stars on this mild autumn night.<br />
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This is a blend of: a stack of 4 x 1-minute tracked exposures for the sky at ISO 1600 plus a stack of 7 x 2-minute untracked exposures at ISO 800 for the ground, plus an additional single 1-minute tracked exposure for the reflected stars and the foreground water. All were with the Canon RF15-35mm lens at 15mm and f/2.8 and Canon R5. The tracker was the Star Adventurer Mini. The tracked exposures were shot first, followed immediately by the untracked ground exposures. I enhanced the landscape slightly with the Radiant Photo plug in and added a mild Orton glow with Luminar Neo. Noise reduction was with ON1 NoNoise AI.
    Milky Way over Pyramid Lake.jpg
  • Mount Cephren at Lower Waterfowl Lake, in the light of the low waning Moon lighting the peaks but not the foreground. This is from the lakeside viewpoint on the Icefields Parkway in Banff National Park, Alberta. I shot this on a very clear night October 13, 2022. There was enough wind to ripple the water and blur any stellar reflections. The Milky Way is to the left of Cephren, but is being lost in the brightening moonlit sky. <br />
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This is a blend of 5 x 20-second exposures stacked for the ground to smooth noise, and a single 20-second exposure for the sky, all with the Canon RF15-35mm lens at f/2.8 and Canon R5 at ISO 1600. All were untracked camera-on-tripod shots. ON1 NoNoise AI applied to the single sky image for noise reduction. A mild Orton glow added with Luminar AI.
    Mount Cephren by Moonlight.jpg
  • This is a panorama of Peyto Lake in Banff National Park, on the Icefields Parkway in Alberta, taken at moonrise on a very clear and mild mid-October evening. The glacier-fed lake appears its characteristic blue even when lit by starlight. It is not blended in from an earlier "blue hour" shot.<br />
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To the southwest at left is the summer Milky Way over Peyto Glacier and Peyto Peak. To the west at centre is Arcturus setting over Caldron Peak, while to the north at left of centre are the stars of the Big Dipper and Ursa Major. At far right, in the blue moonlit sky, is Perseus and the autumn Milky Way. At far left over the walkway is Saturn in Capricornus. <br />
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Magenta airglow tints the northern sky and nicely frames the peaks, which are lit by golden lunar alpenglow, warm light from the rising waning gibbous Moon behind the peaks at right to the east. This is an example of a "moonstrike" image; the timing was perfect this night to catch the mix of Milky Way and alpenglow.  <br />
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I was the only one there that night to enjoy the view, and occupy the prime spot at the end of the new viewpoint. <br />
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This is a blend of two panoramas: the first of the sky taken at or just before moonrise with the camera on a star tracker to keep the stars pinpoint, and the second taken for the ground about 20 minutes later with the tracker off, when the Moon was up high enough to light the peaks of the Continental Divide west of Peyto Lake. Both pans were with the Canon RF15-35mm lens at 15mm and f/2.8, and Canon R5 at ISO 1600, with the sky pan being 6 segments for 1 minute each, and the untracked ground panorama being the same 6 segments for 2 minutes each, but with LENR on to subtract thermal noise hot pixels from the image, something the R5 is prone to. <br />
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Stitched with Adobe Camera Raw and masked and blended in Photoshop. Noise reduction was with ON1 NoNoise AI, and foreground enhancement with the Radiant Photo plug-in, plus with a mild Orton glow added mostly to the sky with Luminar Neo.
    Peyto Lake at Night Panorama.jpg
  • The stars of Ursa Major, the Great Bear, over the waters of Peyto Lake, Banff, in deep twilight. Arcturus in Böotes, the Bear Driver, is setting over the peak at left. Ursa Major contains the seven stars that make up the Big Dipper, aka the Plough or the Wagon. This was October 13, 2022 on a very clear night in the Rocky Mountains. <br />
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This is a stack of 6 x 30-second exposures for the ground and a single untracked 30-second exposure for the sky, all at f/2.8 with the Canon RF 15-35mm lens at 15mm, and Canon R5 at ISO 800.
    Ursa Major over Peyto Lake in Twilig...jpg
  • The rising of the Full "Hunter's Moon" of October 9, 2022, with the Moon reflected in the calm waters this night at Crawling Lake Reservoir in southern Alberta. The Moon appeared very pink as it rose into the clear sky near the horizo, then turned more yellow as it rose into scattered bands of cloud. <br />
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This serves as a goo demo of the Moon illusion and how the Moon does not change size as it rises — it is the same size on the horizon as it is higher up.<br />
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This is a blend of 10 images taken 3 minutes apart with the RF70-200mm lens at 200mm and Canon R5, each frame exposed for the Moon. The frames were blended onto the first image (which contributes the lowest Moon and all the sky and foreground) in Photoshop using a Normal blend mode but with Blend If sliders and masks to isolate the later moons and reflected moons. <br />
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There is also a single-image version of this scene.
    Reflected Moonrise at Crawling Lake ...jpg
  • The rising of the Full "Hunter's Moon" of October 9, 2022, with the Moon reflected in the calm waters this night at Crawling Lake Reservoir in southern Alberta. The Moon appeared very pink as it rose into the clear sky near the horizon.<br />
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This is a single image with the RF70-200mm lens at 200mm and Canon R5. There is also a composite time-lapse version of this, as this was one frame from a set of 110 frames taken this night as the Moon rose.
    Reflected Moonrise at Crawling Lake ...jpg
  • The rising of the nearly Full Moon on October 8, 2022, the Hunter's Moon. This was the evening before the official day of Full Moon. Jupiter is just at upper right. <br />
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This is a single shot with the RF70-200mm lens at 200mm and f/4 on the Canon R5. Taken from near home in southern Alberta.
    Hunter's Moonrise (Oct 8, 2022).jpg
  • The summer Milky Way and galactic core area in Sagittarius, setting on a late summer evening in mid-September, with some of the foliage starting to turn to autumn colours. Thin cloud in the sky this night added the star glows naturally. This was from home in southern Alberta at latitude 51° N. <br />
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The Small Sagittarius Starcloud, M24, is prominent above the bushes, with the reddish nebulas M17 and M16 above and flanked by the star clusters M25 and M23 (just in the bushes). Above M24 is the Scutum Starcloud with the star cluster M11. <br />
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This is two tracked and stacked 2-mnute exposures blended with a single untracked 2-minute exposure for the ground, all with the Canon RF15-35mm lens at 28mm and f/2.8, and Canon R5 at ISO 1600, on the Star Adventurer 2i tracker. Taken on a night of lens testing as a "grab" shot. It serves to illustrate this region of sky and its configuation in late summer from mid-northern latitudes.
    Milky Way from Backyard (Sept 17, 20...jpg
  • A vertical panorama of the summer Milky Way over the observing field at the Saskatchewan Summer Star Party, held in Cypress Hills Interprovincial Park in southwest Saskatchewan, Canada, at a latitude 49° N. The Park is a Dark Sky Preserve. This was August 26, 2022 on a perfect night of stargazing under very clear skies. The Milky Way extends from Sagittarius near the horizon, to Cygnus nearly overhead at this time, so a vertical sweep of 90°. I've left the satellite trails in for this scene. <br />
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This is a panorama of 6 segments taken up the Milky Way with the camera on a tracker to prevent star trailing, blended with a set of 5 untracked exposures taken just prior with the tracker motor off for the ground, to prevent the foreground blurring. The ground segments were each 30 seconds at f/2 and ISO 3200, while the sky segments were each 1 minute at f/2.8 and ISO 1600, all with the Canon Ra and RF28-70mm lens, on the Star Adventurer Mini tracker. Each sky segment was a stack of two exposures. Stitched in PTGui, but blended in Photoshop. <br />
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The original is 6500 x 10300 pixels.
    Milky Way over Star Party.jpg
  • The Big Dipper and Arcturus over a treed nightscape in the Cypress Hills, Saskatchewan. Taken during the annual Saskatchewan Summer Star Party in late August 2022. The Cypress Hills Interprovincial Park is a Dark Sky Preserve.<br />
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This is a blend of a single 30-second untracked exposure for the sky and a stack of four 30-second exppsures for the ground, all with the RF15-35mm lens at 19mm and f/2.8 and Canon R5 at ISO 3200. NoiseXTerminator used to reduce noise in the sky, ON1 NoNoise AI applied to the ground. and a glow effect added with Luminar AI.
    Arcturus and Big Dipper at Cypress H...jpg
  • This captures a panorama of the northern sky over the foreground landscape of Dinosaur Provincial Park, Alberta, with the waning Moon rising, and an arc of Northern Lights above the northern horizon. A Kp6 show was forecast for this night but nothing spectacular materialized -- we had just a quiescent arc across the north. <br />
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This was on the night of August 17-18, 2022. The Moon rising at right is the last quarter Moon. Jupiter is the bright object at far right. The Big Dipper and Arcturus are at left; Polaris is at upper left of centre; Cassiopeia and Perseus are at right of centre; while Andromeda and Pegasus are at right. The Andromeda Galaxy is above the Moon. <br />
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This is a panorama of a blend of 6 tracked (for the sky) and 6 untracked (for the ground) exposures: 2 minutes at f/2.8 and ISO 1600 for the ground and shadow detail, and  1 minute at f/2.8 and ISO 800 for the sky, all with the stock Canon R5 and RF15-35mm lens set at 19mm and the camera turned in portrait orientation. Spacing of the segments was at 30° intervals. The panorama segments for the ground and sky were stitched with Adobe Camera Raw into two panoramas using the same settings, then masked and blended with Photoshop. An additional short exposure of the segment with the Moon in it was blended in to reduce the bright Moon glare. <br />
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The camera was on the Star Adventurer Mini tracker. <br />
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The AstroPanel v6 extension panel and its excellent Hot Pixel removal action was used to suppress the abundance of hot pixels in the ground image, resulting from this being a very warm night, and my need to take the image set fast before the Moon rose too high -- so I did not use in-camera Long Exposure Noise Reduction, though I should have! I added a mild Orton effect glow with Luminar AI.<br />
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The original is 18,800 by 6,500 pixels.
    Moonrise and the Northern Stars at D...jpg
  • This captures the vertical sweep of the summer Milky Way over the foreground landscape of Dinosaur Provincial Park, Alberta. The image serves as a good illustration of the richness of objects, dark dust lanes and bright starfields along the Milky Way, from Sagittarius low in the south at bottom, to Cygnus at top. In between are Aquila and Scutum, with part of Ophiuchus at right. This was from latitude 50.5° North, where Sagittarius and the galactic centre are low in sky. The Summer Triangle stars of Deneb, Vega and Altair are at top. <br />
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This is a vertical panorama (a "vertorama"), made of a blend of tracked (for the sky) and untracked (for the ground) exposures: 5 x 2-minutes at f/2.8 and ISO 1600 for the ground, and 5 segments panning up the Milky Way, each 2 x 2-minutes at f/2.8 and ISO 800, all with the stock Canon R5 and RF15-35mm lens set at 28mm. The panorama segments for the sky were stitched with Adobe Camera Raw. The ground stack was masked and blended in with Photoshop. The camera was on the Star Adventurer Mini tracker. No filters were employed. The ground images were taken at the start of the sequence when the sky was fairly dark, not earlier in the evening in "blue hour." Illumination is therefore from starlight and some moonlight in the sky.<br />
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This was on the night of August 17-18, 2022. The last quarter Moon was rising, and present in the sky off camera at left by the time I took the upper sky segments, so I have left in the slight blue tint from moonlight in the sky, to contrast with the green and earth tones of the ground. <br />
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The AstroPanel v6 extension panel and its excellent Hot Pixel removal action was used to suppress the abundance of hot pixels in the ground image, resulting from this being a very warm night, and my need to take the image set fast before the Moon rose too high -- so I did not use in-camera Long Exposure Noise Reduction, though I should have! I added a mild Orton effect glow to the scene with Luminar AI.<br />
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The original is 8,500 by
    Summer Milky Way Vertical Panorama (...jpg
  • The Full Moon rise of August 11, 2022 over the old grain elevator on Highway 10 at Dorothy, Alberta, in the Badlands of the Red Deer River valley. This was dubbed a "supermoon" and the "Sturgeon Moon" in the popular media. It just happened to rise at a location that placed it right down the south-east facing highway in the valley. <br />
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I used The Photographer's Ephemeris to locate the spot to get the shot! <br />
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This is a blend of two exposures: 6-second exposure for the ground and 1/4-second for the Moon, taken moments apart and both with the Canon R5 at ISO 800, on the William Optics 66mm f/7 apo refractor for a focal length of 460mm.  <br />
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I added a mild Orton glow effect to the ground with Luminar AI. Dodging and burning added with a neutral grey layer created with Lumenzia.
    Full Moonrise at Dorothy v2 (Aug 11,...jpg
  • The Full Moon rise of August 11, 2022 over the old grain elevator on Highway 10 at Dorothy, Alberta, in the Badlands of the Red Deer River valley. This was dubbed a "supermoon" and the "Sturgeon Moon" in the popular media. It just happened to rise at a location that placed it right down the south-east facing highway in the valley. <br />
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I used The Photographer's Ephemeris app to locate the spot to get the shot! <br />
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This is a single 1.6-second exposure with the Canon R5 at ISO 800, on the William Optics 66mm f/7 apo refractor for a focal length of 460mm. However, an unending stream of cars coming down the hill and then toward me as the Moon rose made it impossible to get a shot free of headlights. And yet, in the 20 minutes prior waiting for the Moon to rise, not a car was to be seen. <br />
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I added a mild Orton glow effect to the ground with Luminar AI. Dodging and burning added with a neutral grey layer created with Lumenzia.
    Full Moonrise at Dorothy v1 (Aug 11,...jpg
  • An arc of a Kp-5 aurora over a wheatfield from home in southern Alberta. The panorama takes in the northern stars, from the Big Dipper and Ursa Major at left, to the W of Cassiopeia at top right of centre, with Perseus below Cassiopeia, and Andromeda and Pegasus at right. Moonlight from the waxing gibbous Moon low in the southwest illuminates the scene. Jupiter is rising at far right low in the southeast. This was taken when the display was at its most active. An hour later as it was fading STEVE appeared in a fabulous show. <br />
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This is a panorama of 7 segments with the Canon R5 at ISO 800, and Canon RF15-35mm lens at 18mm and f/2.8 for 25 seconds each. Stitched with Adobe Camera Raw.
    Auroral Arc Panorama (Aug 7, 2022).jpg
  • A panorama of an arc of noctilucent clouds over a ripening field of yellow canola, on July 14, 2022 from southern Alberta near Hussar. This was about 11:35 pm MDT with the NLCs beginning to diminish in height. The top edge is showing a red rim from red light from the setting sun illuminating the edge of the clouds at their great height, some 80 km up. <br />
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The waxing gibbous Moon was rising in the southeast opposite this view but was providing only slight warm illumination. The ground is illuminated mostly by twilight, and I have brightened it to bring out the canola colours and the colour contrast between earth and sky, and to compress the naturally high dynamic range in the scene. <br />
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There is a panorama version of this scene taken 15 minutes earlier showing the NLCs with a greater vertical height set into a brighter sky. <br />
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Capella is the bright star at right of centre. <br />
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This is a panorama cropped from 9 segments, each 25 second at f/5.6 with the Canon RF24-105mm lens at 56mm, and Canon R5 at ISO 400. Stitched with Adobe Camera Raw.
    NLCs over Canola Field - Later Panor...jpg
  • A panorama of an arc of noctilucent clouds over a ripening field of yellow canola, on July 14, 2022 from southern Alberta near Hussar. This was about 11:20 pm MDT with the NLCs near their peak. They reached a little higher when they first appeared a few minutes earlier in the brighter sky, but capturing them is always a balance between getting them at their maximum height vs. the darkness of the sky background to make the fainter structures stand out. The foreground is illuminated mostly by twilight, and I have brightened it to bring out the canola colours and the colour contrast between earth and sky, and to compress the naturally high dynamic range in the scene.<br />
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Capella is the bright star at right of centre. <br />
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This is a panorama cropped from 10 segments, each 10 second at f/4 with the Canon RF24-105mm lens at 56mm, and Canon R5 at ISO 200. Stitched with Adobe Camera Raw.
    NLCs over Canola Field - Early Panor...jpg
  • Badlands formations in Dinosaur Provincial Park lit by the light from the July 2022 "supermoon" Full Moon off frame at right and behind the hill, on a very clear night. The stars of the northern sky are set in a deep blue sky. Arcturus is at far left; the Big Dipper is at left (distorted somewhat by the panorama projection); Polaris is left of centre at top; Cassiopeia is right of center; Andromeda and Pegasus are below the W of Cassiopeia, and at far right is the star Altair. <br />
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The Full Moon was low in the sky to the south and so its light was "warm" in tone and subdued somewhat, allowing the stars to show up better than had it been a high Full Moon, as in winter. And it tints the sky blue, providing a nice contrast with the warm earth tones of the ground. <br />
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This is a panorama cropped from 9 segments, each 20 seconds untracked, with the Canon RF15-35mm lens at 16mm and f/4, and Canon Ra at ISO 400, in landscape orientation. Stitched n Adobe Camera Raw. A mild Pro Contrast effect added to the ground with Nik Collection Color EFX and a mild Orton glow added to the sky with Luminar AI. The original is 14,000 pixels wide.
    Badlands by Super Moonlight (July 12...jpg
  • The northern autumn constellations rising on a moonlit summer night over the badlands formations at Dinosaur Provincial Park, Alberta, on July 12, 2022, just before local midnight. The image frames the stars of Cassiopeia (upper left), Perseus (at left), Andromeda (centre) and Pegasus (partly cut off at right). Light from the almost Full Moon, a supermoon this night and low in the south, illuminates the sky blue and foreground a warm colour. The Andromeda Galaxy is just visible in the bright sky at centre. <br />
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This is a blend of a single 20-second untracked exposure for the sky with a stack of 4 x 20-second exposures for the ground, all with the Canon RF15-35mm lens at 23mm and f/4 and Canon Ra at ISO 400. A mild Pro Contrast filter applied to the ground with Nik Collection Color EFX.
    Autumn Constellations over Moonlit B...jpg
  • The International Space Station (ISS) flying away to the east over the moonlit badlands formations at Dinosaur Provincial Park, Alberta, on July 12, 2022, just before local midnight. The image frames the stars of Cassiopeia (upper left), Perseus (at left), Andromeda (centre) and Pegasus (at right). A couple of other fainter satellites are also in the image. Light from the almost Full Moon illuminates the sky blue and foreground a warm colour. <br />
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This is a single 20-second exposure with the Canon RF15-35mm lens at 23mm and f/4 and Canon Ra at ISO 400.
    ISS over Hoodoos at Dino Park.jpg
  • The rising "supermoon" of July 12, 2022 embedded in the blue arc of Earth's shadow, rimmed by the pink Belt of Venus band of twilight colours, all over the badlands formations of Dinosaur Provincial Park on the Red Deer River in Alberta, Canada. The blue arc is the shadow of the Earth cast onto the atmosphere opposite the sunset point. The pink Belt of Venus is from red sunlight still illuminating the upper atmosphere, an effect that lasts only a few minutes at sunset or sunrise, and requires a very clear sky to show up, as it was this night. <br />
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I shot this from the upper viewpoint at the Park entrance. <br />
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You might think the Moon is rising over an Earthly "moonscape," but not so, as there is nothing like this landscape on the Moon. The Badlands here were formed by sedimentary rocks laid down in oceans and eroded by glacial runoff of water. None of that happened on the waterless Moon, where the landscape was formed by the flow of lava and the impact of asteroids. <br />
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This was the evening before the official date of Full Moon, but the timing of the moonrise and placement of the Moon well below the ecliptic meant it rose on July 12 almost at sunset with the sky still well-tinted with twilight, rather than the Moon rising into a dark sky with too great a contrast to shoot, as it did the next night, July 13 when it was the official date of the Full Moon. <br />
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This is a panorama of 11 segments, with the Canon RF70-200mm lens at 87mm and f/4, and Canon R5 at ISO 100. The original is a massive 48,900 pixels wide, so there is a lot of detail! Stitched with Adobe Camera Raw.
    Super Moonrise in Earth's Shadow Arc.jpg
  • The rising "supermoon" of July 12, 2022 embedded in the blue arc of Earth's shadow, rimmed by the pink Belt of Venus band of twilight colours, all over the badlands formations of Dinosaur Provincial Park on the Red Deer River in Alberta, Canada. The blue band on the horizon is the shadow of the Earth cast onto the atmosphere opposite the sunset point. The pink Belt of Venus above the shadow is from red sunlight still illuminating the upper atmosphere, an effect that lasts only a few minutes at sunset or sunrise, and requires a very clear sky to show up, as it was this night. <br />
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I shot this from the upper viewpoint at the Park entrance. <br />
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You might think the Moon is rising over an Earthly "moonscape," but not so, as there is nothing like this landscape on the Moon. The Badlands here were formed by sedimentary rocks laid down in oceans and eroded by glacial runoff of water. None of that happened on the waterless Moon, where the landscape was formed by the flow of lava and the impact of asteroids. <br />
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This was the evening before the official date of Full Moon, but the timing of the moonrise and placement of the Moon well below the ecliptic meant it rose on July 12 almost at sunset with the sky still well-tinted with twilight, rather than the Moon rising into a dark sky with too great a contrast to shoot, as it did the next night, July 13, when it was the official date of the Full Moon. <br />
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This is a single image, with the Canon RF70-200mm lens at 200mm and f/4, and Canon R5 at ISO 100.  There are also panorama versions of this scene.
    Super Moonrise Over Badlands.jpg
  • Jupiter rising due east down a rural road on a moonlit July night. This was July 11-12, 2022, after midnight. Illumination is from the waxing gibbous Moon low in the south.<br />
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This is a blend of a single 4-second untracked exposure for the sky with a stack of 5 x 4-second exposures for the ground, all with the Canon RF28-70mm lens at 70mm and f/2.8 and Canon R5 at ISO 1250. The moons of Jupiter are resolved! ON1 NoNoise AI applied to the sky.
    Jupiter Rising Down the Road.jpg
  • A subtle and pastel aurora borealis (Northern Lights) in the northeast, above a prairie meadow at "Lone Tree Hill". The foreground and sky are lit by a bright waxing gibbous Moon, a day before Full, shining in the south.   This was just after midnight on July 11/12, 2022. The auroral curtains exhibit the usual green band and rays, though with shades of green visible, perhaps from hydrogen-beta proton emission as well as oxygen electron emission, but also upper altitude reds and purples and a faint blue tint at the very tops where the aurora is lit by the Sun. The aurora was never bright this night (Kp Index was 3 or 4 at best) and even this level of intensity lasted only a couple of minutes.   The stars of Perseus and Andromeda are framed here in the northeast.   This is a single untracked exposure of 20 seconds, with the RF28-70mm lens at 35mm and f/4, and with the Canon R5 at ISO 800. Taken from near home in southern Alberta, Canada, latitude 51° N. Wind this night kept the mosquitoes off but did blur the foreground flowers. A mild Orton effect added selectively to the scene with Luminar AI.
    Aurora in Moonlight at Lone Tree Hil...jpg
  • An arc of modest aurora borealis (Northern Lights) across the northern horizon, above a prairie meadow in the light of a bright waxing gibbous Moon, a day before Full.   This was just after midnight on July 11/12, 2022 when the sky was also still lit by summer twilight colours, and with a weak display of noctilucent clouds also visible low in the northwest at left. The auroral curtains exhibit the usual green band and rays, but also upper altitude reds and purples and a faint blue tint at the very tops where the aurora is lit by the Sun. The aurora was never bright this night (Kp Index was 3 or 4 at best) and even this level of intensity lasted only a couple of minutes, just enough time to shoot the panorama segments.   The stars of Perseus and Andromeda are at right rising in the northeast; some stars of Ursa Major are at left in the northwest. Capella in Auriga shines at centre almost due north.   This is a panorama of 6 segments, each 20 seconds, with the RF28-70mm lens at 35mm and f/4, and with the Canon R5 at ISO 800. Stitched with Adobe Camera Raw. Taken from near home in southern Alberta, Canada, latitude 51° N. Wind this night kept the mosquitoes off but did blur the foreground flowers. A mild Orton effect added to the entire scene with Luminar AI.
    Auroral Arc in Moonlight and Twiligh...jpg
  • A panorama of noctilucent clouds to the northwest near midnight on the evening of July 10-11, 2022, over a ripening field of yellow canola in southern Alberta, Canada. <br />
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This was later in the display when the NLCs had faded somewhat, but the sky colours were still prominent. Foreground illumination is from the bright waxing gibbous Moon to the south, making for a nice contrast of colours between earth and sky. Capella is the bright star at far right to the north. The bright blue-white NLCs at high altitude in our atmosphere near the edge of space also contrast with the dark and low tropospheric weather clouds seen in silhouette. <br />
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As a bonus — can you spot the deer? It posed for a while during one of the long exposures. <br />
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This is a crop from 9 segments with the RF24-105mm lens at 105mm and f/4, and Canon R5 at ISO 800, and all 10 seconds. The original cropped panorama is 32,500 pixels wide. Stitched with Adobe Camera Raw. Shot from near home in Alberta.
    NLCs over Canola Field (July 10, 202...jpg
  • A panorama of noctilucent clouds to the northwest just before midnight on the evening of July 10-11, 2022, over a hill and red farm road in southern Alberta, Canada. <br />
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Foreground illumination is from the bright waxing gibbous Moon to the south, making for a nice contrast of colours between earth and sky. Capella is the bright star at right to the north down the farm road. At far right are the stars of Perseus in the northeast. <br />
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This is an uncropped panorama from 9 segments with the RF24-105mm lens at 105mm and f/4, and Canon R5 at ISO 400, and all 10 seconds. The original panorama is 24,200 pixels wide. Stitched with Adobe Camera Raw. Shot from near home in Alberta.
    NLCs over Hill and Road (July 10, 20...jpg
  • The northern autumn constellations of Pegasus (partially seen at right), Andromeda (across the centre), Perseus (at lower left) and Cassiopeia (at upper left) rising over moonlit formations at Dinosaur Provincial Park, Alberta. Illumination is from the waxing gibbous Moon, setting in the southwest so it is providing a warm "bronze-hour" light. The Andromeda Galaxy, M31, is at centre. The star clusters NGC 752, M34 and the Double Cluster are at left, as well as the Perseus OB Association of stars. Some of the small star clusters in Cassiopeia are resolved as well. <br />
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Some green bands of airglow also tint the sky, otherwise lit blue by the moonlight. <br />
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The scene provides a nice contrast of warm earth and cool sky tones. <br />
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Taken July 8, 2022, this is a blend of tracked (for the sky) and untracked (for the ground) exposures — a stack of 2 for the ground but only one for the sky: 2 minutes at f/5.6 and ISO 800 for the ground and 1 minute at f/2.8 and ISO 400 for the sky, all with the RF28-70mm lens at 28mm and Canon R5. A mild Pro Contrast effect filter added to the ground with Nik Collection 5 and a mild Orton glow added to the sky with Luminar AI. The tracker was the Star Adventurer Mini. <br />
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Noise reduction applied to the single sky image using RC-Astro Noise XTerminator. I didn't take any more sky shots as the Moon was fast setting and disappearing into clouds, so the light for the ground shots taken after the sky shot would be going away soon. Plus clouds were moving into the frame. <br />
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The mosquitoes enjoyed my presence here this warm July night!
    Autumn Constellations over Moonlit H...jpg
  • The Big Dipper and Ursa Major over moonlit formations at Dinosaur Provincial Park, Alberta. Illumination is from the waxing gibbous Moon, setting in the southwest so it is providing a warm "bronze-hour" light. <br />
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The scene provides a nice contrast of warm earth and cool sky tones. <br />
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Taken July 8, 2022, this is a blend of tracked (for the sky) and untracked (for the ground) exposures — a stack of 2 for the ground and 2 for the sky: 2 minutes at f/5.6 and ISO 800 for the ground and 1 minute at f/2.8 and ISO 400 for the sky, all with the RF28-70mm lens at 28mm and Canon R5. A mild Pro Contrast effect filter added to the ground with Nik Collection 5 and a mild Orton glow added to the sky with Luminar AI. The tracker was the Star Adventurer Mini. The mosquitoes enjoyed my presence here this warm July night!
    Big Dipper over Moonlit Hoodoos.jpg
  • The Andromeda Galaxy (aka Messier 31) and the stars of Andromeda rising over moonlit formations at Dinosaur Provincial Park, Alberta. Illumination is from the waxing gibbous Moon, low in the southwest so it is providing a warm light. This is an example of a "deepscape" - a nightcape with a telephoto lens to also record a deep-sky object in the frame above the horizon. However, moonlight prevents the galaxy from showing up as well as it would in a dark sky. <br />
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The sedimentary formations here are from the late Cretaceous, about 70 million years old, while the light from the Andromeda Galaxy is about 2.5 million years old, though the galaxy itself is much older — billions of years old, older than the Earth and Sun. <br />
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The scene provides a nice contrast of warm earth and cool sky tones. <br />
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Taken July 8, 2022, this is a blend of tracked (for the sky) and untracked (for the ground) exposures — a stack of 2 for the ground and 5 for the sky, all 1 minute at f/4 and ISO 400 with the RF28-70mm lens at 70mm and Canon R5. The blend of sky exposures blurred the moving clouds framing the galaxy. I added a mild Pro Contrast effect filter to the ground with Nik Collection 5, and added sharpening to the ground with Topaz Sharpen AI. The tracker was the Star Adventurer Mini.
    Andromeda Galaxy over Moonlit Hoodoo...jpg
  • The constellation of Andromeda, with Cassiopeia at upper left, and Pegasus at right, rising over moonlit formations at Dinosaur Provincial Park, Alberta. Illumination is from the waxing gibbous Moon, low in the southwest so it is providing a warm light. The faint (in the moonlit sky) fuzzy patch of the Andromeda Galaxy, Messier 31, is visible at centre. <br />
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The scene provides a nice contrast of warm earth and cool sky tones. <br />
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Taken July 8, 2022, this is a blend of tracked (for the sky) and untracked (for the ground) exposures — a stack of 3 for the ground and 2 for the sky, all 1 minute at f/4 and ISO 400 with the RF28-70mm lens at 28mm and Canon R5. A mild Pro Contrast effect filter added to the ground with Nik Collection 5 and a mild Orton glow added to the sky with Luminar AI. The tracker was the Star Adventurer Mini. The mosquitoes enjoyed my presence here this warm July night!
    Andromeda Rising over Moonlit Hoodoo...jpg
  • The constellation of Andromeda with the famous Andromeda Galaxy (Messier 31) rising on an early summer night at Dinosaur Provincial Park, Alberta. This was June 30, 2022. <br />
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The Square of Pegasus is at right. Several star clusters are at left: the Double Cluster at upper left, M34 below it, and NGC 752 to the right of M34. To the right of NGC 752 is the fuzzy patch of Messier 33, the Triangulum Galaxy. The main three stars of Triangulum are just rising above the hill at left. <br />
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Green airglow tints the sky, as well as blue from the perpetual twilight at this time of year and latitude of 50° N.<br />
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This is a blend of tracked exposures for the sky and untracked for the ground: all 2 minutes at f/2 with the RF28-70mm lens at 28mm and Canon R5 at ISO 800. The tracker was the Star Adventurer Mini. As the camera was aimed east to the rising sky, I took the static untracked shots first, followed by the tracked shots, so the ground would better cover the blurry horizon in the tracked shots -- i.e. the static horizon would be higher in the frame requiring less manual moving to cover the blurry horizon. LENR employed on all shots on this mild night. NoiseXTerminator applied to the sky.
    Andromeda Rising at Dinosaur Park.jpg
  • The galactic centre area in Sagittarius (at left) and Scorpius (at right) low in the south on a summer night at Dinosaur Provincial Park, Alberta. This was June 30/July 1, 2022. Being just 10 days after summer solstice and at latitude +50° North, the sky even to the south still has a blue tint from all-night twilight. I made no attempt to neutralize the sky colouration. In addition, some haze from smoke discoloured the sky and reduced transparency and contrast low in the sky. <br />
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Many of the nebulas and star clusters in this part of the Milky Way are visible, many of them showpiece Messier objects for binoculars and telescopes. The colourful area around the star Rho Ophiuchi above Antares is at right, though muted here by the smoke and haze.<br />
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This is a blend of a single tracked 1-minute exposure at f/2 with the RF28-70mm lens and ISO 1600 for the sky, with a stack of two 6-minute untracked exposures at f/3.5 and ISO 800 for the ground, all with the Canon R5 on the Star Adventurer Mini tracker.  A mild Orton glow effect added to the sky with Luminar AI and a mild dynamic Pro Contrast effect added to the ground with Nik Collection 5 Color EFX Pro. LENR in-camera dark frame subtraction employed on all frames on this mild night. Taken between 12:30 am and 1 am.
    Scorpius and Sagittarius at Dinosaur...jpg
  • The waxing crescent Moon two days after New low in a smoky sky setting over the Badlands of Dinosaur Provincial Park, Alberta, Canada. This was June 30, 2022. Despite the hazy skies, the twilight colours show up well in the sky. The glow of Earthshine shows up slightly on the night side of the Moon. <br />
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This is a blend of a single 3.2-second shot with the RF24-105mm lens at f/4 and 105mm for the sky, with a stack of four longer 13-second exposures for the darker ground at the same lens settings, and with Canon R5 at ISO 200.
    Crescent Moon Setting at Dinosaur Pa...jpg
  • The waxing crescent Moon two days after New low in a smoky sky and over the Red Deer River in Dinosaur Provincial Park, Alberta, Canada. This was June 30, 2022, Despite the hazy skies, the twilight colours show up well in the sky and reflected in the water. The glow of Earthshine shows up slightly on the night side of the Moon. Castor and Pollux in Gemini show up faintly at right. <br />
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This is a single 2.5-second shot with the RF24-105mm lens at f/5.6 and Canon R5 at ISO 125. Processed almost entirely in Adobe Camera Raw with masks for sky, trees, and water.
    Crescent Moon over Red Deer River.jpg
  • A panorama of the Kp5-level aurora on May 27, 2022, from home, with the aurora displaying prominent magenta rays, created by the red oxygen emission blending with illumination from blue scattered sunlight at high altitudes, common around the summer solstice when the high atmosphere is lit all night long. As a bonus, a dim STEVE arc is forming at far right, to the south of the main auroral oval where STEVE normally appears. STEVE faded, then returned to become more strong and visible across the sky from east to west as the main aurora to the north faded.<br />
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Orange Antares in Scorpius is rising at far right low in the southeast. The Summer Triangle stars are right of centre. <br />
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This is a panorama of 9 segments, each 10 seconds with the 21mm TTArtisan lens at f/2 and the Canon R5 at ISO 1600. Stitched with Photoshop's Photomerge. The original is 28,400 pixels wide.
    Aurora & STEVE Panorama (May 27,...jpg
  • The summer Milky Way in Cygnus, with the Summer Triangle stars rising over the Hoodoos formations on Highway 10 near Drumheller, Alberta. A low-level aurora display tints the sky magenta and blue at left, making for an unusually colourful sky. The bright stars are: Vega is at top, Deneb at centre and Altair at bottom right. <br />
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This is a blend of a tracked 2-minute exposure for the sky at f/2.8 and ISO 1600, with a stack of 3 untracked 8-minute exposures for the ground at f/5.6 and ISO 800, all with the Canon RF28-70mm lens at 28mm and the red-sensitive Canon Ra. Some of the foreground illumination comes from a single distant sodium vapour light, thus the blue shadows. No light painting was used here. The tracker was the Star Adventurer Mini.
    Milky Way over the Hoodoos.jpg
  • A panorama of the Badlands and evening twilight sky over the curve of the Red Deer River, Alberta, from the Orkney Viewpoint on the west side of the river, overlooking the formations of the Horsethief Canyon area to the east. This was May 21, 2022. <br />
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The pink Belt of Venus is obvious at right above the dark blue band at the horizon of Earth's shadow rising, making for some wonderful colours in the sky contrasting with the earth tones below. <br />
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This is a panorama of 9 segments, with the RF28-70mm lens at f/5.6 and Canon R5 at ISO 100, for 1/10-second exposures for each segment. Stitched with Photoshop Photomerge as ACR did not want to stitch these segments at all. The original is 21,400 pixels wide.
    Twilight Panorama over Red Deer Rive...jpg
  • The eclipsed Full Moon rising over Reesor Lake in Cypress Hills Interprovincial Park, Alberta, on May 15, 2022. This was just before totality, with just a thin sliver of the Moon stlll illuminated by direct sunlight. <br />
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From my location and longitude, the Moon rose in the late stages of the initial partial eclipse, but with the portion of the Moon's disk in the umbra glowing a dim red and just visible in the blue twilight sky. Shortly after this image, as totality began with the Moon entirely in the umbra, the Moon had moved up into the increasing clouds at top that were moving eastward, and obscured the Moon for the rest of totality. But for a while at moonrise the band of sky with the Moon low in the southeast was clear. It was a narrow band of photo opportunity, but at the right time for foreground lighting in the still bright twilight. <br />
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This was from the west end of Reesor Lake near the Saskatchewan border. The lake is home in spring and summer to lots of white American pelicans seen dotting the lake here. It is named for the Reesor family who now in their fifth generation still ranch just up the road from here north of the Park. <br />
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This is a single image with the Canon RF70-200mm lens at 124mm and f/4 and 0.3 seconds at ISO 200 with the red-sensitive Canon Ra camera. <br />
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Location planning done with the aid of The Photographer's Ephemeris and TPE3D. However, this was a favourite spot that I had shot from several times before, but never a lunar eclipse! I chased here to avoid the worst of the clouds incoming from the west. Cloud cover matched predictions precisely this night.
    Lunar Eclipse #3 - Near Totality (Ma...jpg
  • The eclipsed Full Moon rising over Reesor Lake in Cypress Hills Interprovincial Park, Alberta, on May 15, 2022. This was in the last stages of the partial eclipse, with a portion of the Moon's disk stlll illuminated by direct sunlight, but the rest in the red umbral shadow.<br />
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From my location and longitude, the Moon rose in the late stages of the initial partial eclipse, but with the portion of the Moon's disk in the umbra glowing a dim red and just visible in the blue twilight sky. Later, as totality began with the Moon entirely in the umbra, the Moon had moved up into the increasing clouds at top that were moving eastward, and obscured the Moon for the rest of totality. But for a while at moonrise the band of sky with the Moon low in the southeast was clear. It was a narrow band of photo opportunity, but at the right time for foreground lighting in the still bright twilight. <br />
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This was from the west end of Reesor Lake near the Saskatchewan border. The lake is home in spring and summer to lots of white American pelicans seen dotting the lake here. It is named for the Reesor family who now in their fifth generation still ranch just up the road from here north of the Park. <br />
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This is a single image with the Canon RF70-200mm lens at 135mm and f/4 and 0.6 seconds at ISO 100 with the red-sensitive Canon Ra camera. <br />
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Location planning done with the aid of The Photographer's Ephemeris and TPE3D. However, this was a favourite spot that I had shot from several times before, but never a lunar eclipse! I chased here to avoid the worst of the clouds incoming from the west. Cloud cover matched predictions precisely this night.
    Lunar Eclipse #2 - Deep Partial (May...jpg
  • A panorama of the eclipsed Full Moon rising over Reesor Lake in Cypress Hills Interprovincial Park, Alberta, on May 15, 2022. This was the much-publicized "Super Flower Blood Moon" eclipse. <br />
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From my location and longitude, the Moon rose in the late stages of the initial partial eclipse shown here, but with the portion of the Moon's disk in the umbra glowing a dim red and just visible in the blue twilight sky. Shortly after this, as totality began with the Moon entirely in the umbra, the Moon had moved up into the increasing clouds at top that were moving eastward, and obscured the Moon for the rest of totality. But for a while at moonrise the band of sky with the Moon low in the southeast was clear. It was a narrow band of photo opportunity, but at the right time for foreground lighting in the still bright twilight. <br />
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This was from the west end of Reesor Lake near the Saskatchewan border. The lake is home in spring and summer to lots of white American pelicans seen dotting the lake here. It is named for the Reesor family who now in their fifth generation still ranch just up the road from here north of the Park. <br />
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This is a stitch of three segments with the Canon RF70-200mm lens at 86mm and f/5 and 0.8 seconds at ISO 100 with the red-sensitive Canon Ra camera. Stitched with Adobe Camera Raw with most processing in ACR with sky and ground masks. <br />
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Location planning done with the aid of The Photographer's Ephemeris and TPE3D. However, this was a favourite spot that I had shot from several times before, but never a lunar eclipse! I chased here to avoid the worst of the clouds incoming from the west. Cloud cover matched predictions precisely this night.
    Lunar Eclipse Panorama (May 15, 2022...jpg
  • The eclipsed Full Moon rising over Reesor Lake in Cypress Hills Interprovincial Park, Alberta, on May 15, 2022. This was in the last stages of the partial eclipse, with a portion of the Moon's disk stlll illuminated by direct sunlight, but the rest in the red umbral shadow.<br />
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From my location and longitude, the Moon rose in the late stages of the initial partial eclipse, but with the portion of the Moon's disk in the umbra glowing a dim red and just visible in the blue twilight sky. Later, as totality began with the Moon entirely in the umbra, the Moon had moved up into the increasing clouds at top that were moving eastward, and obscured the Moon for the rest of totality. But for a while at moonrise the band of sky with the Moon low in the southeast was clear. It was a narrow band of photo opportunity, but at the right time for foreground lighting in the still bright twilight. <br />
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This was from the west end of Reesor Lake near the Saskatchewan border. The lake is home in spring and summer to lots of white American pelicans seen dotting the lake here. It is named for the Reesor family who now in their fifth generation still ranch just up the road from here north of the Park. <br />
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This is a single image with the Canon RF70-200mm lens at 141mm and f/5 and 0.6 seconds at ISO 100 with the red-sensitive Canon Ra camera. <br />
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Location planning done with the aid of The Photographer's Ephemeris and TPE3D. However, this was a favourite spot that I had shot from several times before, but never a lunar eclipse! I chased here to avoid the worst of the clouds incoming from the west. Cloud cover matched predictions precisely this night.
    Lunar Eclipse #1 - Moonrise in Parti...jpg
  • The nearly Full Moon rising on March 18 near the date of the March equinox (March 20 this year) , so it rose nearly due east this night. This March Moon is also popularly called the Worm Moon.<br />
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The Moon was a day past Full this night, and clouds hid the Moon at moonrise. By the time it appeared from behind the cloud bank it was a little south of due east and the east-west prairie road. <br />
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This is a 7-exposure blend to retain detail in the lunar disk while bringing out the ground. Exposures ranged from 1/10 second to 25 seconds, all with the RF70-200mm lens at f/8 and Canon Ra at ISO 400. Blended with ADP Pro luminosity masking panel. Taken from near home in southern Alberta.
    Rising Moon at Equinox (March 18, 20...jpg
  • The rising nearly Full Moon of December 19, 2021, above a snowy prairie scene with a lone tree, and with the cold blue twilight lighting the snow, contrasting with the pink of the Belt of Venus above. <br />
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This is a two-exposure blend: a 0.5-second image for all, except for a 1/8-second exposure for the Moon itself to preserve the colour of the lunar disk. Blended with BlendIf in Photoshop. Exposures taken moments apart with the 24-105mm RF lens at 105mm and f/8 and Canon Ra at ISO 100.
    Rising Cold Winter Moon v2 (Dec 19, ...jpg
  • The rising nearly Full Moon of December 19, 2021, above a snowy prairie scene with a lone tree, and the cold blue twilight lighting the snow, contrasting with the pink of the Belt of Venus above. The Moon is partly in a narrow band of cloud and is exhibiting a slight green flash phenomenon on its distorted upper edge, and red limb on its lower edge from atmospheric dispersion. <br />
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This is a single 0.3-second exposure with the 24-105mm RF lens at 105mm and f/8 and red-sensitive Canon Ra at ISO 100.
    Rising Cold Winter Moon v1 (Dec 19, ...jpg
  • Venus in the evening twilight on December 17, 2021, about 2 weeks after its point of greatest brilliancy. This was shot in hope of also catching Comet Leonard, but it showed up as only a dim smudge hard to distinguish from the background sky, and is behind thin cloud here. Shot from near home in southern Alberta. Foreground illumination is from the gibbous Moon to the northeast opposite this scene which looks southwest. <br />
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A single 4s shot with the 135mm Canon telephoto at f/2.8 on the Canon R6 at ISO 400, and with the air at -20° C with a bitter wind! Diffraction spikes added with AstronomyTools actions.
    Venus in Twilight (Dec 17, 2021).jpg
  • The line-up of three evening planets in the southwest twilight sky, on December 17, 2021 — with Jupiter at top left, Venus at bottom right, and dimmer Saturn in the middle, all defining the line of the ecliptic in the cold winter sky this night. The stars of Capricornus are at centre. The foreground is lit by moonlight from the waxing gibbous Moon in the northeast, opposite this scene which looks southwest. <br />
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A single 8s exposure with the Canon RF 28-70mm lens at 39mm, and Canon Ra at ISO 200. Shot in hope of also catching Comet Leonard below Venus but no luck! It was too faint and lost in the wispy clouds. V1 of this image was shot 10 minutes earlier with brighter twilight colors but fewer stars and a darker foreground. Diffraction spikes added with AstronomyTools actions.
    Planet Line-Up in Twilight v2 (Dec 1...jpg
  • The line-up of three evening planets in the southwest twilight sky, on December 17, 2021 — with Jupiter at top left, Venus at bottom right, and dimmer Saturn in the middle, all defining the line of the ecliptic in the cold winter sky this night. The stars of Capricornus are at centre. <br />
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A single 6s exposure with the Canon RF 28-70mm lens at 39mm, and Canon Ra at ISO 100. V2 of this image was shot 10 minutes later with less intense twilight colors but more stars in a darker sky and with a brighter moonlit foreground.
    Planet Line-Up in Twilight v1 (Dec 1...jpg
  • A nightscape scene of the summer Milky Way setting over the Elbow River in the Kananaskis Country in southern Alberta, on a superb autumn evening, with the rising waning Moon lighting the forground and autumn trees. <br />
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This is a blend of a stack of three 4-minute exposures at ISO 800 for the ground with a single 2-minute tracked exposure at ISO 1600 for the sky, all with the 15-35mm RF lens at 15mm and at f/2.8 on the Canon Ra camera. Luminosity masks and dodge & burn layers applied with TK8 Actions. ON1 No Noise AI applied to the sky. A mild Orton Glow added with Luminar AI. Taken September 26, 2021 and timed to catch the light from the rising waning Moon on the landscape. The tracker was the Star Adventurer Mini. <br />
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This serves as a good example of blending tracked and untracked images when there are trees in the foreground. It's a masking challenge!
    Milky Way in Moonlight at Elbow Fall...jpg
  • A nightscape scene of the summer Milky Way over the Elbow River and Elbow Falls in the Kananaskis Country in southern Alberta, on a superb autumn evening, with the rising waning Moon beginning to light the hills. Illumination is from starlight and moonlight.   This is a blend of a single long 6-minute exposure at ISO 800 for the ground with a single short 30-second untracked exposure at ISO 6400 for the sky, all with the 15-35mm RF lens at 15mm and at f/2.8 on the Canon Ra camera. Luminosity masks and dodge & burn layers applied with TK8 Actions. ON1 No Noise AI applied to the sky. A mild Orton Glow added with Luminar AI. Taken September 26, 2021.
    Milky Way at Elbow Falls (Sept 26, 2...jpg
  • Moonrise near the September equinox, in this case on the evening of September 21, 2021, which was the evening before the day of equinox this year, which occurred in the afternoon of Sept. 22. The Moon was a day past Full as the Harvest Moon. But the position of the Moon below the ecliptic this year meant it rose closer to due east this night, the night after Full. The Moon of course is usually not Full at an equinox. But when it is, as it almost was this year, it rises close to due east and sets close to due west, as the Sun does, because the Full Moon lies opposite the Sun. The Moon actually rose a little north of due east this night. The star at left is Capella.<br />
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This is a 7-exposure blend, in auto-bracketed sequence from a short 1/10 second image for essentially just the Moon's disk, to 6 seconds for the sky and foreground. All were with the 24-105mm RF lens at f/5.6 and 105mm, and the Canon EOS Ra at ISO 400. The images were blended not with HDR but with luminosity masks created with the ADP Pro (aka Lumiflow) extension panel for Photoshop, which does an auto-blend for up to 7 images. I added a mild Orton glow effect with Luminar AI.
    Equinox Moonrise (Sept 21, 2021).jpg
  • Sunset near the September equinox, in this case on September 21, 2021, which was the evening before the day of equinox this year, which occurred in the afternoon of Sept. 22. Thus the Sun is settting just a bit north of due west, marked by the direction of the prairie highway. The evening of September 22 proved too cloudy for taking this type of image. Nevertheless, this image serves to illustrate the due west setting point of an equinoctial Sun. After the date of the September equinox the Sun sets farther to the south of west, until the December solstice. <br />
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This is a 7-exposure blend, from a short 1/8000 second image for essentially just the Sun's disk, to 1/250th second for the sky and foreground. All were with the 24-105mm RF lens at f/8 and 105mm, and the Canon EOS Ra at ISO 100. The images were blended not with HDR but with luminosity masks created with the ADP Pro (aka Lumiflow) extension panel for Photoshop, which does an auto-blend for up to 7 images. I added a mild Orton glow effect with Luminar AI. <br />
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About 40 minutes after this image, I shot a matching image of the rising Moon from a location a few hundred metres away down the same highway.
    Equinox Sunset (Sept 21, 2021).jpg
  • A telescopic close-up of the full Harvest Moon rising over the Badlands of Dinosaur Provincial Park on September 20, 2021. <br />
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This is a single 0.8-second exposure taken as part of a time-lapse sequence, shot through a 76mm f/4.4 refractor telescope for an effective focal length of 335mm using the Canon R6 at ISO 100. Luminosity masks created with TKActions v8 applied to enhance the contrast of the foreground. A mild Orton glow added with Luminar AI.
    Harvest Moon at Dinosaur Park (SS76 ...jpg
  • The Harvest Full Moon rising over the Badlands landscape of Dinosaur Provincial Park, Alberta, on September 20, 2021. <br />
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This is a single 1.6-second exposure for the sky and ground, blended with a shorter exposure for the Moon's disk to present the view more as the eye saw it. Taken with the Canon EOS Ra and 24-105mm RF zoom at 80mm. Dodging and burning with TKActions and a mild Orton glow added with Luminar AI.
    Harvest Moonrise over Badlands (105m...jpg
  • Jupiter (bright at left) and Saturn (dimmer at centre) over hoodoo formations at Dinosaur Provincial Park, Alberta, August 29/30, 2021, with the foreground illuminated by moonlight from the rising last quarter Moon. The planets are in or near the constellation of Capricornus framed at centre. <br />
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This is a blend of two images: a single tracked 1-minute exposure for the sky at f/2.8 and ISO 800 plus a single untracked 3-minute exposure for the ground at f/4 and ISO 800, both with the Canon 15-35mm RF lens at 29mm and Canon R6 camera on the Star Adventurer Mini tracker. I added a mild Orton effect with Luminar AI. Long Exposure Noise Reduction applied to the ground image in camera.
    Jupiter & Saturn over Hoodoo (Au...jpg
  • The waning last quarter Moon rising at Dinosaur Provincial Park, Alberta, on August 29, 2021. Capella is at left, Perseus is at top left, and the Andromeda Galaxy is at top. The Pleiades are just above the Moon, then in Taurus. <br />
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This is a blend of a stack of 2 x 4-minute untracked exposures for the ground with a single tracked 2-minute exposure for the sky, all at ISO 800 with the Canon R6, and the Canon RF 15-35mm lens at 15mm and f/2.8. The camera was on the Star Adventurer Mini tracker. A mild Orton glow effect added with Luminar AI.
    Moonrise at Dinosaur Park.jpg
  • The summer Milky Way in the southwest with the planets Jupiter (brightest) and Saturn (centre) to the east, over the Badlands formations at the Trail of the Fossil Hunters site at Dinosaur Provincial Park, Alberta. The illumination of the sky and ground is from the rising last quarter Moon off frame to the east at left, adding the warm lighting naturally. <br />
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Lights from the town of Brooks to the southwest adds the skyglow at right. <br />
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This is a blend of tracked exposures for the sky and untracked for the ground: 2 x 2-minutes tracked for the sky at f/2.8 and ISO 1600, plus 2 x 5-minutes at f/4 and ISO 800 for the ground, all with the Canon 15-35mm RF lens on the Canon R6 camera, and on the Star Adventurer Mini tracker. Taken August 29, 2021. A mild Orton glow added with Luminar AI and some dodge/burn contrast enhancements brushed onto the foreground with TK Actions Paint Contrast action.
    Summer Stars at Fossil Hunters Trail.jpg
  • A dim red and green aurora from Dinosaur Provincial Park, Alberta, on August 29/30, 2021. There were expectations of a bigger display this night, but litte came to pass! Capella is rising at centre; Perseus is at top right.<br />
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This is a stack of 4 exposures for the ground to smooth noise and one exposure for the sky, all 30 seconds at f/2.8 with the Canon 15-35mm RF lens at 25mm and the Canon R6 at ISO 4000.
    Aurora from Dinosaur Park (Aug 29, 2...jpg
  • The Big Dipper over hoodoo formations at Dinosaur Provincial Park, Alberta. Arcturus is at left. Illumination of the foreground is from starlight. <br />
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This is a blend of 2 x 3-minute stacked exposures for the ground at f/2.8 and ISO 800 with a single 30-second untracked exposure at f/2 and ISO 6400 for the sky, all with the 24mm Canon L lens on the Canon EOS Ra camera. A mild Orton glow added to the foreground with Luminar AI. ON1 NoNoise applied to the sky. Taken August 29, 2021.
    Big Dipper over Hoodoo.jpg
  • Jupiter (brightest) and Saturn (at right) rising in the southeast in Capricornus, amid the deepening evening twilight over the Badlands of Dinosaur Provincial Park, Alberta, on August 29, 2021. This was from the Trail of the Fossil Hunters site. <br />
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This is a blend of a stack of 4 x 25-second exposures, untracked, for the ground, and a single 25-second untracked exposure for the sky, all at f/6.3 and ISO 800 with the Canon EF 24mm lens and Canon R6 camera. A mild Orton glow added with Luminar AI. LENR used on all exposures.
    Planets Rising in Badlands Twilight.jpg
  • A mild display of Northern Lights in the moonlight, from home in southern Alberta, August 24, 2021. <br />
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This is a single 15-second exposure with the 15-35mm RF lens at f/2.8 and 20mm, on the Canon R6 at ISO 800.
    Aurora from Home (Aug 24, 2021).jpg
  • A composite showing about three dozen Perseid meteors accumulated over 3 hours of time, compressed into one image showing the radiant point of the meteor shower in Perseus. This was August 12, 2021, from The Trail of the Fossil Hunters trailhead lot in Dinosaur Provincial Park, Alberta. A dim magenta aurora is visible to the northeast at left. Cassiopeia is at centre above the radiant point; the Andromeda Galaxy is just right of centre. Capella is rising at left. Airglow also tints the sky.<br />
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This is a blend of: a single 30-second exposure for the background sky, one with the aurora at its most active, such as it was this night, with a stack of 8 x 30-second exposures for the ground to smooth noise. Then 32 x 30-second exposures for the individual meteors (a couple of frames have two meteors on them) are overlaid with Lighten blend mode onto the base sky image, each with masks to reveal just the meteors. <br />
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All frames were with the Canon R6 at ISO 6400 and with the TTArtisan 11mm fish-eye lens at f/2.8. The camera was on a static tripod, not tracking the sky, so I hand-rotated all the meteor frames around Polaris at upper left, to bring them into close alignment to the base sky image, so the positions of all the meteors are close to their actual positions in the starfield when they appeared. A couple of exceptions were the meteors at bottom which appeared in Taurus, below the horizon at the time the sky image was taken, so those meteors are moved up artificially. ON1 NoNoise applied to the sky image. Ground illumination is from starlight.
    Perseids 2021 (Untracked R6 11mm).jpg
  • A composite blend illustrating the radiant point of the Perseid meteor shower in Perseus at left, taken on the night of the peak, August 12, 2021, ffrom Dinosaur Provincial Park, Alberta. A couple of non-Perseid meteors also appear in the scene. The brightest Perseid, at bottom, left a yellowish ionized trail that appeared on several frames. Bands of red and green airglow tint the sky. The Pleiades are just rising at bottom, as is Capella in Auriga at lower left. Cassiopeia is above the radiant point. The Andromeda Galaxy is at centre. <br />
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This is a stack of 27 x 1-minute tracked exposures at ISO 3200 with the Canon 6D and Rokinon 14mm SP lens at f/2.8, on the Star Adventurer tracker, for the sky and meteors, blended with a stack of 4 x 2-minute untracked exposures for the ground, taken at the beginning of the sequence. With all the sky images taken on a tracker, they all align and so the meteors do appear where they actually did against the background stars, preserving the effect of the radiant.
    Perseids 2021 (Tracked 6D 14mm).jpg
  • Blue hour twilight with a waxing crescent Moon, over the Bow Valley, Banff, Alberta, on an evening with the air filled with smoke from B.C. forest fires to the west, muting the colours and clarity. <br />
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This is from the Hoodoos Viewpoint trail on Tunnel Mountain Drive, looking back toward Banff. The lights of the Banff Springs Hotel are in the distance at left. The Bow River winds below. Tunnel Mountain is at centre with Sulphur Mountain to the left and at far left a portion of Mt. Rundle. Cascade Mountain is at far right.  <br />
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This is a panorama from 7 segments with the Canon EOS Ra and 15-35mm RF lens.
    Smoky Sunset over Bow Valley (July 1...jpg
  • Blue hour twilight with a waxing crescent Moon, over the Bow Valley, Banff, Alberta, on an evening with the air filled with smoke from B.C. forest fires to the west, muting the colours and clarity. <br />
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This is from the Hoodoos Viewpoint trail on Tunnel Mountain Drive, looking back toward Banff. The lights of the Banff Springs Hotel are in the distance at left. The Bow River winds below. Tunnel Mountain is at centre with Sulphur Mountain to the left. The Hoodoos are at the bottom of the frame. <br />
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This is a single image with the Canon EOS Ra and 15-35mm RF lens at 20mm.
    Smoky Moon over Bow Valley (July 14,...jpg
  • A 180° panorama taken in blue hour twilight with a waxing crescent Moon, over the Bow Valley, Banff, Alberta. This evening the air was filled with smoke from B.C. forest fires to the west, muting the colours and clarity. <br />
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This is from the Hoodoos Viewpoint trail on Tunnel Mountain Drive, looking back toward Banff. The lights of the Banff Springs Hotel are in the distance at left. The Bow River winds below. Tunnel Mountain is at centre with Sulphur Mountain to the left and at far left is Mt. Rundle. Cascade Mountain is at far right.  <br />
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This is a panorama from 6 segments with the Canon EOS Ra and 15-35mm RF lens at 22mm.
    Smoky Sunset Panorama over Bow Valle...jpg
  • Sunset at Vermilion Lakes, Banff, Alberta, over Mt. Rundle reflected in the still waters, on an evening with a smoke-filled sky from B.C. forest fires. <br />
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This is a single shot with the Canon EOS Ra and 15-35mm RF lens.
    Sunset at Vermilion Lakes (July 14, ...jpg
  • The galactic core area of the northern summer Milky Way over the Blakiston Valley and Blakiston Creek in Waterton Lakes National Park, Alberta on a July night. Sagittarius is at left over Vimy Peak, with the bright Sagittarius Starcloud over the valley, with the Messier 6 and 7 star clusters low and left of centre. Scorpius with reddish Antares is at right. The pink Lagoon Nebula, M8, is at top, and the globular cluster M22 is at upper left. The dark Pipe Nebula is at top centre. <br />
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This is a blend of tracked exposures for the sky and untracked exposures for the ground: a stack of 4 x 2-minute tracked at f/2.8 and ISO 1600 for the sky, blended with a stack of 2 x 5-minute untracked at f/4 and ISO 1600 for the ground. A tracked 2-minute exposure through an Kase/Alyn Wallace Starglow filter adds the star glow effect. An additional 8-minute exposure at ISO 400 and f/8 taken early in the evening during blue hour adds some illumination to the distant mountains. However, the majority of the landscape comes from untracked exposures taken just before the tracked ones when the sky was dark, with illumination just from starlight with a more normal colour balance. <br />
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Forest fire smoke moving in added some haze and lowered contrast. The bright light is the Prince of Wales Hotel, and the light to the left is from the golf course clubhouse.<br />
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The sky tracker was the Star Adventurer Mini which worked perfectly. The camera was the Canon ESO Ra and lens the Canon 15-35mm RF at 35mm.
    Milky Way over Blakiston Creek (July...jpg
  • The northern summer Milky Way over Middle Waterton Lake at Driftwood Beach in Waterton Lakes National Park, Alberta on a July night. Sagittarius is at centre, with the pink Lagoon Nebula, M8, right of centre. The Dark Horse complex of dust lanes is over the peak at right. The Scutum Starcloud is at top centre. The bright object at far left is Jupiter, with dimmer Saturn to the right, with both over Vimy Peak and in Capricornus or thereabouts!<br />
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This is a blend of tracked exposures for the sky and untracked exposures for the ground: a stack of 4 x 2-minute tracked at f/2.8 and ISO 1600 for the sky, blended with a single 8-minute untracked at f/5.6 and ISO 800 for the ground, taken with Long Exposure Noise Reduction on to eliminate most thermal hot pixels this warm night. A tracked 2-minute exposure through an Kase/Alyn Wallace Starglow filter adds the star glow effect. An additional short 30-second exposure at ISO 400 and f/4 is for the lights of the Prince of Wales Hotel and their reflections, to preevent them from overexposing too much which they would in the long ground exposure. <br />
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Forest fire smoke moving in added some haze and lowered contrast.<br />
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The sky tracker was the Star Adventurer Mini which worked perfectly. The camera was the Canon ESO Ra and lens the Canon 15-35mm RF at 15mm.
    Milky Way at Driftwood Beach (July 1...jpg
  • The summer Milky Way and galactic core region over Upper Waterton Lake and Waterton Townsite on a July evening. <br />
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This was from the famous viewpoint of the Prince of Wales Hotel, looking south with Sagittarius and the Galactic Centre positioned over the lake. Scorpius is at right with reddish Antares. The M6 and M7 star clusters are low over the lake. The pinkish Lagoon Nebula, M8, is left of centre, with the M24 Small Sagittarius Starcloud above. Some forest fire smoke dampened the contrast and transparency this night.<br />
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This is a blend of tracked exposures for the sky and untracked exposures for the ground: a stack of 4 x 2-minute tracked at ISO 1600 and f/2.8 for the sky and a stack of 3 x 4-minute untracked at ISO 800 and f/4 for the ground. LENR noise reduction applied in-camera to the ground images to reduce thermal speckling on this warm night. <br />
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An additional short 30-second exposure at ISO 400 and f/5.6 masked in is for the town lights to subdue their brightness, though the result does better resemble the naked eye view, as the lighting has been reduced and shielded recently to make it much less glaring than before. An additional 2-minute tracked exposure at the end of the sequence taken through a Kase/Alyn Wallace Starglow filter blended in add the star glows! <br />
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The tracker was the Star Adventurer Mini which worked perfectly and consistently. The camera was the Canon EOS Ra with the 15-35mm RF lens at 24mm.
    Milky Way over Upper Waterton Lake (...jpg
  • The conjunction of bright Venus with much dimmer Mars (to the left of Venus), with the waxing crescent Moon nearby, above the mountains of the Continental Divide at Waterton Lakes National Park, Alberta, on July 11, 2021. <br />
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Mars was very dim and showed up on camera but was not visible to the naked eye or even readily in binoculars. <br />
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This is a single shot with the 200mm Canon lens on the Canon EOS Ra, a red-sensitive camera that picks up more of the sunset reds in such twilight scenes.
    Venus, Mars and the Moon (July 11, 2...jpg
  • The summer Milky Way and galactic core region over the formations at Dinosaur Provincial Park, Alberta, July 9, 2021, on a warm moonless night. <br />
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This is a blend of 4 tracked exposures (2 to 3 minutes each) at f/2.8 for the sky and 3 untracked exposures (4 to 8 minutes) at f/5.6 for the foreground. An additional tracked exposure through a Kase/Alyn Wallace Starglow filter adds some subtle glows to the bright stars. Two of the sky exposures were shot through a Kase Natural Night filter as a test, but it didn't make a big difference over the unfiltered images. <br />
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All with the Canon Ra at ISO 1600 to 3200, and on the Star Adventurer 2i tracker, and with the Canon 15-35mm RF lens. No artificial lighting was employed here. Smoke from BC forest fires spoiled the transparency and contrast in the sky.
    Summer Milky Way at Dinosaur Park.jpg
  • A 180° panorama from Waterton Lakes National Park, Alberta, of the scene in the Waterton townsite looking across the Upper Waterton Lake to Vimy Ridge and the Milky Way rising in the east. To the south, at right, the galactic core area is rising down the lake but is obscured here by clouds moving in. The bright star over Vimy at centre is Altair. <br />
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The north, at left, are bands of green airglow prominent this night to the camera. Those glows are not aurora. Haze adds the natural star glows. The yellow sky glow in the far distance at right must be urban glow from Whitefish and Kalispell, Montana. <br />
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I shot this June 3, 2021. This is a blend of two 6-segment panoramas: one for the ground shot without the tracker motor on and one for the sky with the tracker motor on. The exposures for the ground were 2 minutes at ISO 3200, and for the sky were 1 minute at ISO 3200, all with the Sigma 20mm lens at f/2.8 adapted to the Canon EOS Ra camera, on the Move-Shoot-Move MSM tracker. As is the MSM's habit, it stopped tracking for one of the segments. It is not a reliable device to use for critical time-sensitive shoots.
    Waterton Shorefront Panorama (June 3...jpg
  • The Milky Way, with the starclouds of the galactic core in Sagittarius at left and the head of Scorpius at right, over a still ice-covered Cameron Lake, a high altitude alpine lake in Waterton Lakes National Park, Alberta, Canada. This was on a very clear night on June 2, 2021. <br />
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The Lagoon Nebula, M8, and M24 Small Sagittarius Starcloud are prominent at left. Antares and the Rho Ophiuchi dark lanes are at right just over the mountain ridge, with the tracked shots timed to catch Antares before it set behind the peak. The Galactic "Dark Horse" is at centre, with this area of sky about as high as it would get for the night — this is right on the Canada-US border at 49° N. <br />
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The landscape is lit only by starlight and residual airglow. Cameron Lake is in the extreme southwest corner of Alberta and is certainly one of the darkest places in Canada. Waterton Lakes is a Dark Sky Preserve. The slope at left is scarred from the 2017 Kenow Fire. <br />
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This is a blend of tracked and untracked exposures: a stack of 2 x 8-minute untracked shots at ISO 400 for the ground, and a stack of 4 x 2-minute tracked shots at ISO 1600 for the sky. All were with the 35mm Canon L-series EF lens at f/2.8 and Canon Ra camera. The tracker was the little MSM Move-Shoot-Move Rotator, polar aligned with the laser. The ground shots were taken immediately after the tracked sky shots. Stacked, masked and blended in Photoshop.
    Milky Way over Cameron Lake (June 2,...jpg
  • A "deepscape" image of the head of Scorpius with the colourful Rho Ophiuchi nebula complex culminating over the icy peak of Mount Custer in Montana, as taken from the north shore of Cameron Lake in Waterton Lakes National Park in Alberta, Canada. Antares is the yellow star, with the globular cluster Messier 4 just to the right. The mountain is lit only by starlight. This is from latitude 49° N so this area of sky is low in the south and just clears this mountain even with Scorpius at its highest, which it was here. <br />
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This is a blend of tracked and untracked exposures: 4 x 1-minute tracked at ISO 3200 for the sky plus a single 4-minute untracked exposure at ISO 800 for the ground, all with the Samyang 85mm AF lens at f/2.8 on the Canon Ra camera, and on the Move-Shoot-Move MSM tracker, polar aligned with the laser. Out of the 8 tracked shots I took for the set, half were unacceptably trailed. Taken on a very clear night June 2, 2021 with the tracked shots taken after the untracked image. That's a mistake with the MSM as it can take 2 or 3 minutes for the gears to re-engage and start tracking, wasting those shots and valuable time.
    Scorpius over Mount Custer (85mm EOS...jpg
  • The view of the Milky Way over Upper Waterton Lake in Waterton Lakes National Park, Alberta, processed to resemble the actual naked eye view. <br />
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Scorpius is at right, Sagittarus at centre, with the Galactic Dark Horse and Small Sagittarius Starcloud above. The M6 and M7 star clusters are just above the end of the lake. I shot this on a very clear night, June 1, 2021, from the Prince of Wales Hotel grounds. This image simulates the monochromatic naked-eye view. <br />
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This is a blend of a tracked and untracked exposures: a single 2-minute tracked exposure at ISO 1600 with the MSM Move Shoot Move tracker, with a single 4-minute untracked exposure with the MSM off and at ISO 400, all with the 35mm Canon L lens at f/2.8 and Canon EOS Ra. An additional 30-second exposure at ISO 200 adds the town lighting to prevent that area from being overexposed in the longer exposures. Blended, masked and stacked with Photoshop.
    Milky Way over Waterton Townsite (Na...jpg
  • The galactic core region of the Milky Way over Upper Waterton Lake in Waterton Lakes National Park, Alberta on an early June night. Scorpius is at right, Sagittarus at centre, with the Galactic Dark Horse and Small Sagittarius Starcloud above and the pink Lagoon Nebula at centre. The M6 and M7 star clusters are just above the end of the lake. <br />
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I shot this on a very clear night, June 1, 2021, from the Prince of Wales Hotel grounds. The sky is slightly blue from the impending moonrise and the solstice twilight. <br />
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This is a blend of a tracked and untracked exposures: a single 2-minute tracked exposure at ISO 1600 with the MSM Move Shoot Move tracker, with a single 4-minute untracked exposure with the MSM off and at ISO 400, all with the 35mm Canon L lens at f/2.8 and Canon EOS Ra. An additional 30-second exposure at ISO 200 adds the town lighting to prevent that area from being overexposed in the longer exposures. It was windy enough that the MSM proved bouncy and created slightly trailed stars in all shots. Blended, masked and stacked with Photoshop.
    Milky Way over Waterton Townsite.jpg
  • The galactic core region of the Milky Way over Maskinonge Pond and Sofa Mountain at Waterton Lakes National Park, Alberta on an early June night. Scorpius is at right, Sagittarus at centre, with the Galactic Dark Horse and Small Sagittarius Starcloud above and the pink Lagoon Nebula at centre. The brightest area low in the south is the main Sagittarius Starcloud near the galactic centre. The M6 star cluster is just above the mountain ridge. <br />
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I shot this on a very clear night, June 1, 2021. This is a blend of a tracked and untracked exposures: a single 4-minute tracked exposure with the MSM Move Shoot Move tracker, and a stack of two 4-minute untracked exposures with the MSM off, all with the 35mm Canon L lens at f/2.8 and Canon EOS Ra at ISO 400. Blended, masked and stacked with Photoshop.
    Milky Way over Maskinonge Pond.jpg
  • A "deepscape" of the rich galactic core region of the Milky Way, here shining over Sofa Mountain in Waterton Lakes National Park, Alberta on an early June night. <br />
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The lower part of the Galactic Dark Horse, called the Pipe Nebula, B78, is at right. The Large Sagittarius Starcloud is at lower centre over the mountain ridge, and very yellow because of interstellar dust absorption; the whiter Small Sagittarius Starcloud (aka M24) is at top, flanked by the large star clusters M23 at right and M25 at left. The pink Lagoon Nebula, aka M8, is at centre, with the bluish Trifid Nebula, M20, above. The globular star cluster M22 is at lower left. <br />
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I shot this on a very clear night, June 1, 2021, from the Maskinonge Pond area. <br />
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This is a blend of a tracked and untracked exposures: a stack of 4 x 1-minute tracked exposures at ISO 3200 with the MSM Move Shoot Move tracker, with a single 8-minute untracked exposure with the MSM motor off and at ISO 400, all with the 85mm Samyang AF lens at f/2.8 and Canon EOS Ra. The untracked shot was taken immediately after the tracked shots from the same position, though the camera was re-leveled to frame the mountain. The sky really was at this altitude just above the mountain, as this was from latitude 49° N. <br />
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Blended, masked and stacked with Photoshop.
    Galactic Centre over Sofa Mountain.jpg
  • The region of Scorpius and Ophiuchus filled with dusty dark nebulas and colourful reflection nebulas, here in a "deepscape" over Sofa Mountain in Waterton Lakes National Park. The yellow star at right in Antares with the Rho Ophiuchi reflection nebulas nearby. At left is the Galactic Dark Horse that includes the Pipe Nebula at bottom. This area of sky was rising at the time, with some green tinting from airglow. <br />
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I shot this on June 1, 2021 from the Maskinonge Pond area. <br />
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This is a blend of tracked and untracked exposures: a stack of 2 x 1-minute tracked exposures at ISO 3200 for the sky, blended with 2 x 8-minute untracked exposures at ISO 400 for the ground, all at f/2.8 with the Samyang 85mm AF lens and Canon EOS Ra camera. The tracker was the Move-Shoot-Move MSM tracker which mistracked for many of the exposures, giving only 2 out of 16 or so that were tracked properly and not trailed. Using the MSM required a lot of wasted time and unusable exposures.
    Dust and Star Clouds over Sofa Mount...jpg
  • This is a 160°-wide panorama of the Milky Way arching over the Badlands formations at Dinosaur Provincial Park, Alberta, taken on a moonlit night in May. <br />
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The waxing crescent Moon is low and off frame at left and is providing the warm illumination. Capella is the bright star at far left. The Summer Triangle stars are right of centre, with bright Vega at top. Cassiopeia and Perseus are at left; Cygnus is at centre. Haze in the sky adds the natural star glows but also mutes the contrast in the Milky Way and adds the horizon glows. However, a weak aurora adds a green and magenta glow to the northern horizon at centre. <br />
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This is a blend of a 6-segment panorama framed for the sky, with a matching 6-segment panorama framed for the ground, layered, masked and blended in Photoshop. Segments were spaced 30° apart with the camera in landscape orientation. <br />
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The sky segments are untracked, each 20 seconds at f/2.8 with the Sigma 24mm Art lens. The ground segments are each 30 seconds also at f/2.8. All were with the Canon R6 at ISO 3200. I should have used 1 to 2 minutes each for the ground panorama, shot at a lower ISO, but it was late! Stitching was with Adobe Camera Raw. I applied a mild Orton glow effect using Luminar AI. Shot May 16, 2021.
    Milky Way over Dinosaur Park Panoram...jpg
  • This is a 160°-wide panorama of the Milky Way arching over the late Cretaceous Badlands formations at Dinosaur Provincial Park, Alberta, taken on a moonlit night in May, juxtaposing the dramatic earth tones with the bluish sky above.<br />
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The waxing crescent Moon is low and off frame at left and is providing the warm illumination. Capella is the bright star at far left. The Summer Triangle stars are right of centre, with bright Vega at top. Cassiopeia and Perseus are at left; Cygnus is at centre. Haze in the sky adds the natural star glows but also mutes the contrast in the Milky Way and adds the horizon glows. However, a weak aurora adds a green and magenta glow to the northern horizon at centre. <br />
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This is a blend of a 6-segment panorama framed for the sky, with a matching 6-segment panorama framed for the ground, layered, masked and blended in Photoshop. Segments were spaced 30° apart with the camera in landscape orientation. <br />
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The sky segments are untracked, each 20 seconds at f/2.8 with the Sigma 24mm Art lens. The ground segments are each 30 seconds also at f/2.8. All were with the Canon R6 at ISO 3200. I should have used 1 to 2 minutes each for the ground panorama, shot at a lower ISO, but it was late! Stitching was with Adobe Camera Raw. I applied a Dynamic Contrast filter to the ground using ON1 Effects, and a mild Orton glow effect using Luminar AI. Shot May 16, 2021.
    Milky Way over Dinosaur Park Panoram...jpg
  • The Cygnus Milky Way in moonlight above some eroding formations at Dinosaur Provincial Park, Alberta, on a mild spring night, May 16, 2021. Vega is at top; Deneb is left of centre. The waxing crescent Moon off frame at left provides the illumination. <br />
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This is a blend of a single 15-second exposure for the sky, untracked, at f/2.8 and ISO 6400 with a single 2-minute exposure at f/5.6 and ISO 1600 for greater depth of field. The camera was not refocused. Both images were with the Canon EOS R6 camera and adapted 24mm Sigma Art lens. LENR was not applied but should have been as the foreground did have lots of hot pixels on this warmish night, reduced with a dust & scratches filter. A mild Orton Glow effect added with Luminar AI. This can serve as a demo of image stacking for depth of field.
    Cygnus Above Badlands Formations.jpg
  • The waxing crescent Moon near the stars Castor and Pollux in Gemini, with Mars below, as the last of the winter stars set into the western twilight on a May night. This was May 16, 2021 from Dinosaur Provincial Park, Alberta. Capella in Auriga is at right. Procyon in Canis Minor is at left. <br />
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This is a stack of 7 images (all 8 seconds) for the ground to smooth noise, blended with one long 13s exposure for the sky, plus one short 0.3s exposure for the Moon, to prevent its disk from overexposing too much, especially with the haze present this night. All with the Canon R6, untracked, and adapted Sigma 24mm lens at f/2.8.
    Waxing Moon and Winter Stars at Dino...jpg
  • The northern summer Milky Way rising on a spring night at Dinosaur Provincal Park, Alberta. This is a 180° panorama from northwest, at left, where the waxing crescent Moon is setting, over to southeast, at right, where Scorpius and the galactic centre is rising. The Summer Triangle stars are at centre; Cassiopeia is left of centre; Auriga and Gemini are setting at far left amid the glow of the setting Moon. <br />
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The sky was hazy, adding the natural star glows, horizon clouds and tints. No light pollution or starglow filter was employed. This was May 15/16, 2021 about 1 am. <br />
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This is a blend of tracked exposures for the sky and untracked exposures for the ground. The sky is a stitch of 9 segments at 30° spacings, each 1 minute at ISO 1600 with the original Canon 24mm L lens at f/2. The camera was in portrait orientation. The ground is a stitch of 18 segments at 15° spacings and taken after the sky segments with the tracker motor off, each ground segment 2 minutes at ISO 3200 with the lens at f/4 for more depth of field. Both passes were single row panoramas, with the camera unchanged in altitude. <br />
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All with the Canon EOS Ra camera on the Move-Shoot-Move (MSM) rotator/tracker with the Alyn Wallace Z Plate to allow the camera to pan horizontally on the level, despite the tracker being tipped over polar aligned. All stitching was with Adobe Camera Raw, to create two panoramas, which were then layered, masked (using Select Sky) and blended in Photoshop. A mild Orton glow effect added with Luminar AI. I have left some satellites in.
    Dinosaur Park Panorama (EOS Ra with ...jpg
  • The autumn constellations of Cassiopeia (centre) and Perseus (left) low in the north in the moonlight at Dinosaur Provincial Park, April 20, 2021. From this latitude of 51° N they skim low across the north on spring nights. The Moon was at first quarter phase off frame at top left.<br />
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This is a stack of 4 x 20 seconds for the ground and a single 20-second exposure for the sky, all with the Sigma 24mm Art lens at f/2.8 adapted to the Canon EOS Ra camera at ISO 800. All untracked.
    Cassiopeia & Perseus at Dino Par...jpg
  • The bright spring star Spica (left of centre) in Virgo and the distinctive quadrilateral shape of Corvus the Crow low in the south in the moonlight at Dinosaur Provincial Park, April 20, 2021. The Moon was first quarter phase off frame at top right.<br />
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This is a stack of 4 x 20 seconds for the ground and a single 20-second exposure for the sky, all with the Sigma 24mm Art lens at f/2.8 adapted to the Canon EOS Ra camera at ISO 800. All untracked.
    Spica and Corvus at Dino Park (24mm ...jpg
  • The full array of northern winter stars and constellations, including Orion, setting in the evening twilight at Dinosaur Provincial Park, Alberta, on April 20, 2021, so about the last opportunity to shoot the scene for the season. <br />
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Light from the waxing quarter Moon just off frame at top illuminates the scene, plus the sky is still bright with twilight colours in the west. <br />
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Orion is just all visible but with Rigel about to set. The Hyades and Pleiades in Taurus are just over the formation at right. Sirius in Canis Major is over the formation at left. Procyon in Canis Minor is at left of centre. Castor and Pollux in Gemini are the two stars at top. Capella in Auriga is at upper right. Perseus is at far right. Mars is dim at centre frame as an "extra star" between Gemini and Auriga. <br />
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This is a stack of 4 x 30-second tracked exposures for the sky at ISO 800 and 4 x 1-minute untracked exposures for the ground at ISO 200, at f/4 with the 14mm Samyang SP lens on the Canon EOS Ra camera. The tracker was the Star Adventurer 2i. This is not a multi-segment panorama but is a multi-exposure stack. Stacked, masked and blended in Photoshop.
    Winter Sky Setting at Dino Park (Apr...jpg
  • A panorama of the auroral arc seen from home in southern Alberta (latitude 51° N) on April 14/15, 2021, showing a very red component above (to the south of?) the main green auroral arc low across the north. At right, it takes on a STEVE-like appearance. Is this an example of a SAR Arc -- a Sub-Auroral Red Arc? A brief sighting of a partial STEVE arc was reported this night but I missed it. The Kp level did go as high as 5 this night. This scene was about 12:30 am MDT April 15, 2021.<br />
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By coincidence the arc of the Milky Way low across the north parallels the arc of the Northern Lights. Capella is at far left in the northwest; Vega is rising at right of centre in the northeast.<br />
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This is a stitch of 4 segments, each untracked for 45 seconds at f/2.8 with the Sigma 24mm Art lens on the Nikon D750 at ISO 1600. Stitched with Adobe Camera Raw.
    Aurora from Home-April 14, 2021 Pano...jpg
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