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Orion { 274 images } Created 19 Feb 2011

A gallery of constellation photos specifically of Orion the Hunter, from both the Northern and Southern Hemisphere skies. This includes long-exposure closeups and wide-angle nightscapes. This gallery is presented in chronological order, with the newest images first.

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Orion Over Bow River (April 19, 2024...jpg
Nebulas & Dust Clouds of Orion (...jpg
Orion Nebulas (Samyang85 Ra).jpg
$Orion and Sirius over the moonlit badlands of Dinosaur Provincial Park, Alberta on Feb. 4, 2023 with the waxing gibbous Moon providing the illumination on this very clear and mild night. This is a blend of two 30-second exposures: one untracked for the ground and one tracked for the sky, both with the RF28-70mm lens at f/4 and Canon R5 at ISO 200, on the Star Adventurer tracker. A mild Orton glow added with Luminar Neo and star diffraction spikes added with AstronomyTools actions. It was a perfect winter night, with the temperature only at 0° C and no wind.$

Orion over Moonlit Badlands (28mm R5...jpg
$The sparkling winter stars and constellations over the moonlit badlands of Dinosaur Provincial Park, Alberta on Feb. 4, 2023. The waxing gibbous Moon is off frame at left providing the illumination on this very clear and mild night. Captured here in a vertical panorama from below the horizon to past the zenith. Orion is below centre, with his Belt pointing down to Sirius and up to Aldebaran. Above reddish Aldebaran is Mars, as it was on Feb 4, 2023. Above Mars is the blue Pleiades cluster. At top left is the bright star Capella in Auriga. Just above Capella is the tiny cyan-coloured fuzzy spot that is Comet C/2022 E3 (ZTF), again where it was this night as it was heading southward into Auriga and Taurus, after its closest approach to Earth 3 days earlier. It was nearly overhead this night and an easy sighting in binoculars. I could not frame Castor and Pollux in Gemini as the Moon was too close to that area. A better night for Moon position and lighting geometry would have been a week later with the rising waning Moon, but the clouds did not allow that. I took this night and made the best of it! This is a blend of seven 30-second exposures: one untracked for the ground and a stitch of 6 tracked for the sky, all with the RF28-70mm lens at f/4 and Canon R5 at ISO 200, on the Star Adventurer tracker. The camera was oriented in landscape format and moved upward in increments of 15° per segment. The panorama segments had to be stitched with PTGui, but even then with difficulty as it required adding a lot of manual alignment points for it to successfully stitch all segments. I used the Transverse Cylindrical projection to retain the straight horizon and rectangular image format. A mild Orton glow added with Luminar Neo and star diffraction spikes added with AstronomyTools actions for a "sparkling" effect. It was a perfect winter night, with the temperature only at 0° C and no wind. It was just me there that night, me and the howling coyotes echoing across the vall$

Winter Sky over Badlands Panorama (2...jpg
$The sparkling winter stars and constellations over the moonlit badlands of Dinosaur Provincial Park, Alberta on Feb. 4, 2023. The waxing gibbous Moon is off frame at left providing the illumination on this very clear and mild night. Captured here in a vertical panorama from below the horizon to past the zenith. Orion is below centre, with his Belt pointing down to Sirius and up to Aldebaran. Above reddish Aldebaran is Mars, as it was on Feb 4, 2023. Above Mars is the blue Pleiades cluster. At top left is the bright star Capella in Auriga. Just above Capella is the tiny cyan-coloured fuzzy spot that is Comet C/2022 E3 (ZTF), again where it was this night as it was heading southward into Auriga and Taurus, after its closest approach to Earth 3 days earlier. It was nearly overhead this night and an easy sighting in binoculars. I could not frame Castor and Pollux in Gemini as the Moon was too close to that area. A better night for Moon position and lighting geometry would have been a week later with the rising waning Moon, but the clouds did not allow that. I took this night and made the best of it! This is a blend of seven 30-second exposures: one untracked for the ground and a stitch of 6 tracked for the sky, all with the RF28-70mm lens at f/4 and Canon R5 at ISO 200, on the Star Adventurer tracker. The camera was oriented in landscape format and moved upward in increments of 15° per segment. The panorama segments had to be stitched with PTGui, but even then with difficulty as it required adding a lot of manual alignment points for it to successfully stitch all segments. I used the Transverse Cylindrical projection to retain the straight horizon and rectangular image format. A mild Orton glow added with Luminar Neo and star diffraction spikes added with AstronomyTools actions for a "sparkling" effect. It was a perfect winter night, with the temperature only at 0° C and no wind. It was just me there that night, me and the howling coyotes echoing across the vall$

Winter Sky over Badlands Panorama wi...jpg
$Orion and the winter stars and constellations in a moonlit sky, on a chilly (-20°C) winter night on January 28, 2023. Above Orion is Aldebaran and the Hyades star cluster in Taurus. Below Orion is Sirius in Canis Major. The red giant Betelgeuse and the blue giant Rigel stand out nicely above and below the Belt. Light from the first quarter Moon off frame illuminates the landscape. This serves as a good illustration of how the Belt stars in Orion point up to Aldebaran and down to Sirius. This is a stack of 2 x 30-second exposures for the sky with the camera tracking the sky, blended with a stack of 3 x 30-second untracked exposures for the ground. All with the Canon RF28-70mm lens at 28mm and f/2.8 and Canon R5 at ISO 200. A tracked exposure through the Alyn Wallace/Kase StarGlow filter added the star glows, and for artistic effect I also added diffraction spikes on the stars with the AstronomyTools actions. A mild Orton glow added with Luminar Neo.$

Orion and Winter Stars in Moonlight ...jpg
$Orion and Sirius rising into a moonlit winter sky, on a chilly (-20°C) winter night on January 28, 2023. Below Orion is Sirius in Canis Major. The red giant Betelgeuse and the blue giant Rigel stand out nicely above and below the Belt. Light from the first quarter Moon off frame illuminates the landscape. This serves as a good illustration of how the Belt stars in Orion point down to Sirius. The minor constellation of Lepus the Hare is below Orion. And the "Pi" stars that form the arc of the shield of Orion show up to the right of Orion. This is a stack of 4 x 30-second exposures for the sky with the camera tracking the sky, blended with a stack of 4 x 30-second untracked exposures for the ground. All with the Canon RF28-70mm lens at 33mm and f/2.8 and Canon R5 at ISO 200. A tracked exposure through the Alyn Wallace/Kase StarGlow filter added the star glows, and for artistic effect I also added diffraction spikes on the stars with the AstronomyTools actions. A mild Orton glow added with Luminar Neo.$

Orion and Sirius in Moonlight (Jan 2...jpg
Orion's Belt and Sword (WO51mm ...jpg
$The red planet Mars in the winter sky lit by the waxing gibbous Moon, off frame at right. Mars is at centre, and nearly at its brightest for the year with it 4 days before its December 2022 opposition. It appears in Taurus, east of the Hyades and below the Pleiades, and above Orion. Sirius is rising at bottom just above the horizon. Procyon and Canis Minor is at lower left, with Castor and Pollux in Gemini above. At upper left is Capella in Auriga. The stars of Perseus at at top. Taken from home in Alberta, December 3, 2022, with the old rake as a foreground object. This is a stack of 4 images for the ground to reduce noise blended with one exposure for the sky, all 13 seconds at f/4 with the Canon RF15-35mm lens at 16mm, on the Canon R5 at ISO 800. All untracked on a fixed tripod. Diffraction spikes added for artistic effect with Astronomy Tools actions.$

Mars in the Winter Sky (Dec 3, 2022).jpg
Orion in Ha (RF28-70mm at 50mm).jpg
M42 Orion Nebula (FRA500 R6).jpg
Orion Nebulas (Askar230 R6).jpg
Eclipsed Moon Near Orion - Nov 19, 2...jpg
Winter Sky Setting at Dino Park (Apr...jpg
Winter Sky over Home v2 (Feb 19, 202...jpg
Winter Sky over Home v1 (Feb 19, 202...jpg
Nebulas in Orion (RedCat EOS Ra).jpg
Winter Sky Rising (January 2021).jpg
Comet ATLAS (C2020 M3) in Orion.jpg
Dawn Sky Panorama (Sept 21, 2020).jpg
Zodiacal Light Panorama with Venus &...jpg
Winter Sky at Dawn Panorama (August ...jpg
Winter Sky at Dawn (August 14, 2020).jpg
Orion and Venus at Dusk Panorama (Ma...jpg
Orion and Venus at Dusk (March 25, 2...jpg
The Constellation of Orion (EOS Ra 5...jpg
Orion in H-Alpha Light (50mm).jpg
Orion and Winter Milky Way from Home...jpg
Orion with Dim Betelgeuse (Jan 25, 2...jpg
Orion (50mm EOS Ra).jpg
Orion and Taurus with Filters (35mm ...jpg
Orion and Sirius (35mm EOS Ra).jpg
Orion Rising with Dim Betelgeuse (De...jpg
Orion Rising with Dim Betelgeuse (De...jpg
CP Holiday Train with Orion (Dec 18,...jpg
CP Holiday Train at Gleichen (Dec 18...jpg
Winter Sky Over Bow River (EOS Ra 15...jpg
Orion RIsing Over Bow River (EOS Ra ...jpg
Winter Sky Rising in Moonlight (EOS ...jpg
Orion Rising in Moonlight (15-35mm E...jpg
Winter Stars Rising (15-35mm EOS-Ra).jpg
Orion in Dawn Twilight Panorama.jpg
Orion in Dawn at Two Trees Panorama.jpg
Orion Rising at Dawn.jpg
Spring Sky Panorama at Dinosaur Park.jpg
Winter Sky & Zodiacal Light at D...jpg
Winter Sky Setting at Dino Park Pano...jpg
Winter Sky in Twilight at Dino Park ...jpg
Orion and Canis Major over Mt Temple...jpg
Orion Setting at Vermilion Lakes Pan...jpg
Winter Stars and Red Chairs at Two J...jpg
$The Belt and Sword region of Orion, with the Orion Nebula, Messiesr 42 and 43, at bottom. Below the left star of the Belt, Alnitak, is the famous Horsehead Nebula, while above it is NGC 2024, aka the Flame Nebula. At very top left is Messier 78, while part of Barnard’s Loop arc across the field at left. The field is filled with other faint red emission and blue reflection nebulas. The large loose open cluster Collinder 70 surrounds the middle star of the Belt, Alnilam. The field is similar to that of binoculars. This is a stack of 16 x 2- to 3-minute exposures with the filter-modified Canon 5D MkII at ISO 800 to 1250 and 200mm Canon L-Series lens at f/2.8. Taken with the Fornax Lightrack tracker as part of testing. Taken from home on January 8, 2019 in a clear couple of hours between haze patches, and while battling dying batteries for the drive and camera. Diffraction spikes added with Astronomy Tools. Main images stacked with Median stack mode to eliminate satellite trails from geosats that populate this area of sky.$

Belt and Sword of Orion with Barnard...jpg
$The Canadian Pacific Holiday Train under the stars of winter, including Orion, Taurus and – just rising at lower left – Sirius in Canis Major. The train was stopped in Gleichen, Alberta, on December 7, 2018, at 10 p.m. for a half hour stop and musical show with Terri Clark (on stage here) and band. Hundreds of people attended. This was a challenge to shoot, to be sure, what with the town lights, the floodlights lighting the stage area, and the lights from the train itself, requiring exposures of a fraction of a second, while the stars needed several seconds. This is a blend of two exposures of 0.4 and 2 seconds, both at ISO 400 at f/2.8. And with the Sony a7III and Laowa 15mm lens. Layers blended with conventional masks. Plus for the long exposure I covered the lens with my hand to hide the lower area of the image to prevent the lights from glaring too much into the sky, but that helped only a bit. And I had fun applying Orton glow effects with ON1 and Luminar, to the ground and to the sky, plus using the Astronomy Tools actions to add the diffraction spikes on the stars and some of the train lights. A duplicated sky layer blended in with Linear Dodge punches up the stars and sky glows around them. So, yes, this all makes for a processed scene to be sure, but it’s Christmas! And the sky is real and has not been “cut and pasted” into the scene. The location of the sky at 10 pm was perfect for including the main winter stars above the westbound train.$

CP Holiday Train Stage and Orion.jpg
$The Canadian Pacific Holiday Train under the stars of winter, including Orion, Taurus and – just rising down the end of the tracks – Sirius in Canis Major. The train was stopped in Gleichen, Alberta, on December 7, 2018, at 10 p.m. for a half hour stop and musical show with Terri Clark and band. Hundreds of people attended, with the show going on down the train at the stage car. I’m standing near the front of the train to take in as much of its light display as possible, to contrast it with the stars overhead on this very clear December night. This was a challenge to shoot, to be sure, what with the town lights, the floodlights lighting the stage area, and the lights from the train itself, all requiring exposures of a fraction of a second, while the stars needed several seconds. This is an exposure blend of three exposures of 1/30, 1/8, and 3.2 seconds, all at ISO 800 but with the short exposures at f/5.6 and the long exposure at f/2.8. And with the Somny a7III and Laowa 15mm lens. Layers blended with conventional and luminosity masks. And I had fun applying Orton glow effects with ON1 and Luminar, to the ground and to the sky, plus using the Astronomy Tools actions to add the diffraction spikes on the stars and some of the train lights. This makes for a processed scene to be sure, but the sky is real and has not been “cut and pasted” into the scene. The placement of the stars at 10 pm was perfect for including the main winter stars down the end of the train. The sky and its orientation was real.$

CP Holiday Train with Orion.jpg
$A collage of the northern hemisphere winter sky, with a background mosaic of the sky, surrounded by telescopic close-ups of the brightest stars in that sky. The background mosaic is made of 8 segments, in two columns of 4 rows, with generous overlap. Each segment was made of 4 x 2.5-minute exposures stacked with mean combine stack mode to reduce noise, plus 2 x 2.5-minute exposures taken through the Kenko Softon filter layered in with Lighten belnd mode to add the star glows. Each segment was shot at f/2.8 with the original 35mm Canon L-series lens and the filter-modified (by Hutech) Canon 5D MkII at ISO 1600, riding on the iOptron Sky-Tracker. All stacking and stitching in Photoshop CC 2015. The soft diffusion filter helps bring out the star colours in this area of sky rich in brilliant giant stars. I shot the segments on a very clear night on December 5, 2015 from the Quailway Cottage at Portal, Arizona. The close-ups are each stacks of 2-minute and 30-second exposures with a 130mm f/6 apo refractor and Canon 6D Mark II at ISO 800. taken November 19, 2018 from home. A waxing gibbous Moon provided the blue background sky.$

The Winter Sky & Its Brightest S...jpg
Orion Setting over Calgary Skyline (...jpg
Orion Star Trails over Calgary.jpg
$This was a busy sky in the western twilight on April 17, 2018. To the far right: The waxing crescent Moon, with the darkside lit by Earthshine, about 6° south (left) of Venus in the evening twilight and below the Pleaides, with the Aldebaran and the Hyades to the left of the Pleiades. At centre: Orion setting behind the old farm shed. At far left: Sirius setting behind the old farm house, with bright Procyon at upper left. All set in the deep blue twilight. This is a blend of two exposures: a long 13-second exposure for most of the image and a short 2-second exposure for the bright twiilight at right and the Moon, blended with a luminosity mask. To be artistic I added a “Misty Land” Orton-style glow effect with Luminar. And diffraction spikes on the brightest objects with Astronomy Tools actions. Taken from near home in southern Alberta, with a lot of snow only now beginning to melt. I used the Sigma 24mm Art lens at f/2 and Nikon D750 at ISO 800.$

Waxing Moon, Venus and Winter Sky (A...jpg
$Orion and his Belt and Sword stars (and the Orion Nebula) set in the twilight behind the old shed at a rustic farmstead near home, on April 17, 2018. This is a stack of 4 x 4-second exposures for the foreground to smooth noise and one 4-second exposure, untracked, for the sky, with the Nikon D750 at ISO 1600 and old classic Nikkor 105mm lens wide open at f/2.5. I should have stopped it down and used a higher ISO for more depth of field but minimizing exposure time. Oh well! Diffraction spikes added with Astronomy Tools Actions.$

Orion Belt Setting Behind Old Shed.jpg
$The waxing crescent Moon, with the darkside lit by Earthshine, a binocular field south of Venus, bright as an evening star. This was April 17, 2018, from near home in southern Alberta. This was with the Nikon D750 and the old 1970s vintage 105mm f/2.5 Nikkor lens at f/2.8. This is a single 5-second exposure, untracked. To be artistic I added diffraction spikes on Venus with Astronomy Tools actions, and an Orton-style glow effect with Luminar effects plug-in.$

Waxing Moon and Venus (April 17, 201...jpg
Winter Sky in April Twilight.jpg
Winter Sky Setting in April Twilight.jpg
$Orion and the winter stars, including Sirius and Procyon, on a clear winter night in downtown Calgary and shining over the pedestrian Peace Bridge over the Bow River. I shot this on January 20, 2018. This is a real scene, though the sky is a single longer exposure of 13 seconds, while the ground is a blend of 4 exposures from 2 to 8 seconds, all at ISO 100 and f/2.8 with the 14mm Sigma Art lens and Nikon D750. No light pollution reduction filter was used here, as none fit over the large lens of the 14. The ground images were blended with luminosity masks generated with ADP Pro v3, to prevent the lights on the bridge from blowing out too much. Star diffraction spikes added with Astronomy Tools actions.$

Winter Stars over Peace Bridge (14mm...jpg
$Orion on a clear winter night in downtown Calgary and shining over the pedestrian Peace Bridge over the Bow River. I shot this on January 20, 2018. This is a real scene, though the sky is a single longer exposure of 6 seconds at ISO 400, while the ground is a blend of 4 exposures from 1.6 to 8 seconds at ISO 100, all at f/2.8 with the 24mm Sigma Art lens and Nikon D750. A NISI Natural Night filter helped cut through light pollution and provide a more natural blue sky, though this was a moonless night. The ground images were blended with luminosity masks generated with ADP Pro v3, to prevent the lights on the bridge from blowing out too much. Star diffraction spikes added with Astronomy Tools actions.$

Orion over Peace Bridge (24mm D750).jpg
$The constellation of Orion the hunter, with its complex of nebulosity and colourful stars, enhanced here with the addition of diffraction spikes for artistic effect. This is a stack of 5 x 2-minute exposures taken from home on January 19, 2018, on a clear night, using the 50mm Sigma lens at f/2.5 and filter-modified Canon 5D MkII at ISO 1600. Tracked on the Star Adventrer Mini tracker. The key added element was the use of a NISI Natural Night light-pollution reduction filter in a test to see how well it brought out nebulosity and suppressed sky glow and gradients compared to a filterless shot. It did work and provided more nebulosity and reduced gradients toward the bottom of the frame. Star diffraction spikes added with Astronomy Tools actions.$

Orion with NISI Filter Test.jpg
$An urban nightscape of the constellations of Orion and Canis Major over the skyline of Calgary on January 18, 2018, on a very clear and moonless winter night, allowing stars to show up fairly well despite the light pollution. Sirius is above the Bow Tower building at left. I shot this from Crescent Road on the north bank of the Bow River, with Orion nearly due south as high as it could get. So this is a real scene, not a faked composite with a sky shot someplace else or at some other time layered in. However, the view was helped by the use of a NISI Natural Night light pollution filter on the lens which helped filter out the yellow emission lines from sodium vapour lights, and rendered the sky a more pleasing blue tint (this is not from moonlight). The faintest stars are about magnitude 7.5, not bad from a city site, though this was a very clear, haze-free night, the sky factor. In addition, the sky is a longer single exposure of 10 seconds at f/2.5 and ISO 400 (which brought out the stars more but overexposed the skyline), while the skyline is a stack of 4 x 3-second exposures at f/2.8 and ISO 400 (to better expose for the bright lights). This composited accommodated the huge range of brightness of the scene. something like an HDR blend. I shot this with the 24mm Sigma Art lens and Nikon D750. I added the star diffraction spikes for artistic effect using Astronomy Tools actions.$

Orion over Calgary (24mm D750).jpg
$The stars, Milky Way, and constellations of the northern winter sky, including the Winter Hexagon of bright stars, and the Winter Triangle of Betelgeuse, Sirius and Procyon, in a wide-angle shot from the snowy horizon to Capella nearly at the zenith. Orion is at centre. His Belt point up to Taurus and down to Canis Major and Sirius. The Beehive Cluster is at lower left, while the Pleiades is at upper right. There are deer tracks in the snow. With the 14mm Sigma Art lens at f/2 for 20 seconds at ISO 3200, with the ground a stack of 4 exposures to smooth noise. All untracked. Shot from home January 13, 2018, on a mild winter night at -8° C or so. Diffraction spikes added with Astronomy Tools actions.$

Winter Sky over Snow (14mm D750).jpg
Orion and His Dog Stars (35mm 5DII).jpg
Orion & Sirius Rising over Pelon...jpg
Orion and Eridanus (35mm 5DII).jpg
Geminid Meteors 2017 (Tracked Compos...jpg
Orion and Gemini above Hoodoos.jpg
Sagebrush and Stars at Dino Park.jpg
Selfie at Dino Park Looking East.jpg
Orion Rising over Badlands.jpg
Winter Sky Rising at Dino Park.jpg
Winter Sky Rising at Dino Park (with...jpg
Winter Sky Rising at Dawn (Sept 5, 2...jpg
Orion Setting & Scorpius Rising ...jpg
Orion Setting in Deep Twilight.jpg
Orion Setting in Blue Twilight.jpg
Orion Star Trails At Loch Ard Gorge.jpg
Orion and Sirius over Twelve Apostle...jpg
Southern Autumn Sky Panorama (Spheri...jpg
Southern Autumn Sky Panorama (Equire...jpg
Orion and Waxing Moon Setting at Cap...jpg
Orion, Milky Way and Waxing Moon at ...jpg
Orion over the Old Barn.jpg
Winter Evening Twilight at Dinosaur ...jpg
Winter Sky Panorama at Dinosaur Park.jpg
Orion and Taurus at Dinosaur Park.jpg
February Sky Panorama (Circular).jpg
Winter Stars on Ice #4 (Feb 2, 2017).jpg
Winter Stars on Ice #3 (Feb 2, 2017).jpg
Winter Stars on Ice #2 (Feb 2, 2017).jpg
Winter Stars on Ice #1 (Feb 2, 2017).jpg
Orion and Winter Stars over Old Hous...jpg
Winter Milky Way over CNSC (Jan 25, ...jpg
Orion over Snow Inukshuk_.jpg