Amazing Sky by Alan Dyer

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Scenics { 1077 images } Created 19 Feb 2011

A gallery of nighttime landscapes scenes, with short exposures to prevent the stars from trailing, and often illuminated with moonlight. These are presented in chronological order, with the newest images first or at top.
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  • 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 7 segments, with the Canon RF70-200mm lens at 200mm and f/4, and Canon R5 at ISO 100. The original is 32,200 pixels wide, though some segments are soft from camera shake, and uneven field illumination from the lens at f/4 produced some slight bandind at the seams. Stitched with Adobe Camera Raw.
    Super Moonrise Over Badlands Panoram...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
  • 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 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 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
  • Venus as an "evening star" in the deepening twilight of solstice eve on December 20, 2021. <br />
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This is a 2-section panorama to show off the sweep of the horizon colours. Diffraction spikes added for artistic effect with AstronomyTools actions.
    Venus in Twilight Panorama (Dec 20, ...jpg
  • Venus as an "evening star" in the deepening twilight of solstice eve on December 20, 2021. <br />
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This is a single image with the Canon 28-70mm RF lens and Canon Ra. Diffraction spikes added for photogenic effect with AstronomyTools actions.
    Venus in Twilight (Dec 20, 2021).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
  • 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
  • Sunset at the September equinox, in this case on September 22, 2021, which was the evening of the day of equinox this year, which occurred on the afternoon of Sept. 22. Thus the Sun is settting very close to due west, marked by the direction of the prairie highway. After the date of the September equinox the Sun sets farther to the south of west, until the December solstice. I shot hiis to illustrate the equinox alignment.<br />
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This is a 7-exposure blend, from a short 1/3200-second image for essentially just the Sun's disk, to 1/50th second for the sky and foreground. All were with the 24-105mm RF lens at f/11 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. Dodge and burn touchups added with TKActions v8.<br />
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I shot this same scene from the same location the evening before, thinking this night would be too cloudy. But clouds cleared off just in time to shoot the sunset.
    Equinox Sunset (Sept 22, 2021).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
  • 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 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
  • Bands of green airglow in the northern sky through the area of the two Dippers (Big and Little), on a June night. This was from Red Rock Canyon road in Waterton Lakes National Park, June 3, 2021. Clouds coming in add the glows on the stars. The Big Dipper is at top; the Little Dipper is at right. All of Ursa Major is visible above the peak.<br />
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This is a single tracked 2-minute exposure with the MSM Tracker, and 20mm Sigma Art lens at f/2.8 adapted to the Canon EOS Ra at ISO 1600.
    Airglow in the Dippers.jpg
  • Bands of green airglow in the northern sky through the area of Cassiopeia and Perseus, on a June night. This was from Red Rock Canyon road in Waterton Lakes National Park, June 3, 2021. Clouds coming in at right add the yellow-green glows from light pollution to the north. The Double Cluster is at centre below Cassiopeia, M31 Andromeda Galaxy is at right. Capella shines between the trees at left. <br />
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This is a single tracked 2-minute exposure with the MSM Tracker, and 20mm Sigma Art lens at f/2.8 adapted to the Canon EOS Ra at ISO 1600.
    Airglow with Cassiopeia.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 composite image of the rising of the December 29, 2020 "Cold" Full Moon into a very clear evening twilight sky, here over the Badlands of Dinosaur Provincial Park, Alberta. The Moon rose with the Sun still up and lighting the landscape in warm tones, contrasting with the cool blues of the snowy landscape and sky. The pink Belt of Venus glow lights the lower sky near the horizon. It is not often we get a Full Moon (it was only 4 hours before being officially Full this night) rising with the Sun still up and illuminating the landscape. <br />
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This is a layered blend of 13 exposures taken at 5-minute intervals, from moonrise just before sunset, to the Moon high in a dark sky more than an hour later. The ground and sky near the horizon is a blend of the first four exposures while the upper sky is from the last two exposures to place the now bright Moon into a darker sky as it actually appeared. <br />
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The Moon moves its own diameter in about 2 minutes, so picking shots taken 5 minutes apart provides a good spacing for a shot with this field of view. Shots with longer telephoto lenses would be better with Moons taken every 3 to 4 minutes. <br />
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These frames were taken as past of an 800-frame time lapse with the camera on auto exposure to ensure each frame was well exposed for the ground and sky. But as the Moon brightens as it rises that inevitably overexposes the Moon's disk — the exposure sequence I used here works for the time-lapse but is not so ideal for a composite still image like this. Had I wanted this to be shot taken just for a still image composite I would have had to fix the exposure at more or less what it was at mid-sequence here, to keep the lunar disk at that brightness and detail. So be it!<br />
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All were with the Rokinon 85mm lens and Canon 6D MkII at ISO 100. It was about -10° C this evening.
    Moonrise at Dino Park Composite (85m...jpg
  • A 180° panorama of the rising Full Moon and twilight colours over the badlands of Dinosaur Provincial Park, Alberta on December 29, 2020. This was the "Cold Winter" Moon of 2020. The view is overlooking the Red Deer River valley. <br />
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I shot this panorama from the Park's entrance gate viewpoint. The image is a 14-segment panorama with the 50mm Sigma lens at f/4.5 and Canon EOS Ra at ISO 100, stitched with Adobe Camera Raw. The original is 34,000 pixels wide.
    Moonrise at Dinosaur Park Panorama (...jpg
  • The Full "Cold" Moon of December 29, 2020 rising over the Badlands of Dinosaur Provincial Park, Alberta, on the Red Deer River. The last light of the setting Sun was breaking through briefly, illuminating the far river bank, as the Moon rose into the dark shadow of the Earth and pink "Belt of Venus" glow in the upper atmosphere. Despite being full, the Moon rose this night about 30 minutes before sunset, allowing this lighting. The Moon was about 4 hours before being officially Full at this time. <br />
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This is a single image with the Rokinon 85mm lens on the Canon 6D MkII taken as part of an 800-frame time-lapse.
    Moonrise over Dinosaur Park.jpg
  • The Full "Cold" Moon of December 29, 2020 rising over the Badlands of Dinosaur Provincial Park, Alberta, on the Red Deer River, here at left. The last light of the setting Sun was breaking through briefly, illuminating the far river bank, as the Moon rose into the dark shadow of the Earth and pink "Belt of Venus" glow in the upper atmosphere. Despite being full, the Moon rose this night about 30 minutes before sunset, allowing this lighting. The Moon was about 4 hours before being officially Full at this time. <br />
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This is a single image with the Sigma 50mm lens on the Canon EOS Ra taken as part of a 500-frame time-lapse.
    Cold Moon Rising over Dinosaur Park.jpg
  • The still close pairing of Jupiter and Saturn in the evening twilight over the Bow River Valley, in southern Alberta, taken from the Siksika First Nations land near Blackfoot Crossing on December 28, 2020. The night was very clear with brilliant twilight colours. The waxing Moon was providing some of the foreground illumination.<br />
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This is an HDR panorama of 3 x 3 panels: 3 segments, each with 3 exposures of 2, 4, and 8 seconds, to retain the sky colours but bring out the landscape details. Merged with Adobe Camera Raw. Shot with the Sigma 50mm lens on the red-sensitive Canon EOS Ra camera at ISO 100.
    Jupiter & Saturn over Bow River ...jpg
  • The pairing of Jupiter and Saturn in the evening twilight, the day after their closest conjunction, taken here on December 22, 2020. This was from home, as a snowstorm in the previous 24 hours had made the roads too poor to travel. <br />
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Brighter Jupiter is to the left of Saturn and is pulling away from Saturn here, but they were still separated by only 10 arc minutes this evening. <br />
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This is a stack of 6 untracked exposures to smooth the motion of the clouds, but the planets come from just one of the exposures, all being 0.8-second shots with the 85mm Rokinon lens at f/4 and with the Canon 6D MkII at ISO 200.
    Jupiter & Saturn from Home (Dec ...jpg
  • Jupiter and Saturn, on the eve of their rare "Great Conjunction," shot here on December 20, 2020 from Dinosaur Provincial Park, Alberta. The two planets are very close here, only 8 arc minutes apart, just 2 arc minutes more than at closest approach the next night (which was cloudy!). They are barely resolved in this image with a 35mm lens.<br />
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This was a superb night at the Park, with perfect skies and a mild temperature of only 0° C and no wind or frost. <br />
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Illumination is from moonlight from the waxing quarter Moon off frame to the upper left. <br />
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This is a blend of a single 15-second untracked exposure for the sky and a stack of 4 x 30-second exposures for the ground to bring out the foreground details. All at f/2.5 and ISO 800 and with the Canon 35mm lens and Canon 6D MkII camera. <br />
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I shot this well past twilight when the sky was now bright with moonlight. The planets were very low but I shot this set at the end of the evening as the lighting on the foreground looked good.
    Jupiter & Saturn over Badlands (...jpg
  • Jupiter and Saturn, on the eve of their rare "Great Conjunction," shot here on December 20, 2020 from Dinosaur Provincial Park, Alberta. The two planets are very close here, only 8 arc minutes apart, just 2 arc minutes more than at closest approach the next night (which was cloudy!). Even so, they are resolved in this image with an 85mm lens, and were easily resolvable to the naked eye. Some of the moons of Jupiter are visible, particularly Callisto and Ganymede to the left of Jupiter. <br />
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This was a superb night at the Park, with perfect skies and a mild temperature of only 0° C and no wind or frost. <br />
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Illumination is from the twilight but also moonlight from the waxing quarter Moon off frame to the upper left. <br />
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This is a blend of tracked (for the sky, to prevent star trailing) and untracked (for the ground) exposures: 7 x 30 second exposures for the ground (to bring out foreground detail) at f/2.8 and 5 x 8-second exposures for the sky at f/4, all at ISO 400 and with the Rokinon 85mm lens and Canon EOS Ra camera. The camera was on the Sky-Watcher Star Adventurer 2i tracker. Stacking the tracked shots blurred the moving clouds and smoothed noise. Stacking the ground reduced noise. <br />
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I shot this well past traditional "blue hour" when there was still colour in the sky to the camera, but the sky was dark enough to show stars, and the ground was beginning to light up with moonlight, highlighting the snow and ice patches.
    Jupiter & Saturn at Dino Park - ...jpg
  • This is the grouping of the 3-day-old waxing crescent Moon with the close pairing of Jupiter and Saturn on December 16, 2020, as seen from Dinosaur Provincial Park, Alberta on a mild winter evening with clouds parting just enough for the view. It waas nip and tuck getting any shots this night and getting a clear shot of both the Moon and the planets was tough! <br />
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This is a stack of 7 tracked exposures for the sky, all 6 seconds at f/2.8 and ISO 200 blended with a stack of 4 untracked exposures for the ground, all 30 seconds at f/4.5 and ISO 400, with each set stacked with Mean stack mode to reduce noise. But stacking the sky blurred the cloud motions for a nice soft effect, while leaving the Moon and planets sharp as the camera was tracking the sky for those images. The longer static exposures for the ground brought out the foreground details and colours. A dodge and burn layer helped touch up the relative brightnesses of the ground elements. <br />
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The camera was the Canon EOS Ra and lens the 35mm Canon L-series, on the Sky-Watcher Star Adventurer 2i tracker.
    Jupier, Saturn & Moon at Dino Pa...jpg
  • Jupiter and Saturn nearing their December 21, 2020 Great Conjunction, with this image taken December 10, 2020 from Red Deer River valley, north of Drumheller, Alberta. <br />
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This is a blend of 4 images for the dark ground, stacked to smooth noise, for 20 seconds each at f/5.6, and a single image for the sky for 5 seconds at f/2.8, all with the 35mm Canon lens and Canon EOS Ra at ISO 400. All untracked. A dodge and burn layer created by Lumenzia applied.
    Jupiter & Saturn in Red Deer Riv...jpg
  • Mars rising over the harvested field at home on October 12, 2020, with Mars just past its closest approach and just a day before opposition, so it was rising at sunset and was at its brightest, at magnitude -2.6. It shone very brightly even low in the twilight sky.<br />
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This is a single exposure with the 200mm lens and Canon 6D MkII. A mild Orton Glow effect added with Luminar 4. Diffraction spikes added with Astronomy Tools Actions.
    Mars Rising at Opposition (Oct 12, 2...jpg
  • Mars at its closest approach to Earth for another 15 years, on October 5, 2020, with autumn aspens. Taken from home with the waning Moon off camera providing the illumination. <br />
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This is a stack of 8 median-combined images for the ground to smooth noise and one exposure for the sky. All 15 seconds at ISO 2500 and f/4 with the Sigma 24mm Art lens and Nikon D750. SharpenAI applied to the ground; DeNoiseAI applied to the sky. Diffraction spikes on Mars added with Astronomy Tools Actions. A mild Orton Glow effect added with Luminar 4.
    Mars Closest with Autumn Trees (Oct ...jpg
  • The Harvest Moon (the Full Moon of October 1, 2020) rising almost due east at the end of a country road in southern Alberta, near home.  The horizon was smoky or dusty, so the Moon was very red as it rose, and looking almost like a totally eclipsed Moon. <br />
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This is a blend of 6 exposures, all 1/2-second with the A&M 80mm f/6 apo refractor (for 480mm focal length) and Canon 6D MkII at ISO 400, taken as part of a 460-frame time-lapse sequence, with shots every 2 seconds. For this composite I choose 6 images at 2-minute intervals, so the Moon rose its own diameter between frames. The ground comes from the first image in the sequence when the lighting was brightest. The Moon rose at 7:35 pm this night, about 30 minutes after sunset.  A mild Orton glow effect added to the ground with Luminar 4.
    Harvest Moonrise Composite (October ...jpg
  • The rising of the nearly Full Moon, the Harvest Moon of 2020, on September 30, from a site near home in Alberta, looking just south of due east this night. Refraction distorts the disk and atmospheric absorption reddens the disk toward the horizon.<br />
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This is a multiple exposure composite of 6 images with the Canon 6D MkII through the 80mm A&M apo refractor at f/6 without field flattener. Taken as part of a time-lapse sequence with images every 2 seconds. The frames for this blend were taken 2 minutes apart, so selected from every 60 frames out of the sequence. All were at 1/8 second at ISO 100. Images stacked in Photoshop and blended with Lighten mode. The ground comes from the first image.
    Harvest Moonrise Composite (Sept 30,...jpg
  • The Milky Way and galactic core area over Mount Andromeda (centre), Mount Athabasca (left) and the Athabasca Glacier (right) at the Columbia Icefields, on a very clear night July 27, 2020. <br />
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I shot this as the waxing quarter Moon was still up but behind Snow Dome at far right, and about to set. Warm low-angle moonlight illuminates the peaks at left with “bronze hour” lunar alpen glow, and brightens the sky at right, plus adds the blue tint to the sky. But in the clear mountain air, the Milky Way and its starclouds still show up very well. The constellations of Aquila and Scutum are at centre.<br />
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This is an exposure blend of 4 x 1.5-minutes, untracked at f/2 at ISO 1600 for the ground, followed immediately by 3 x 1.5-minutes at f/2.8 and ISO 3200 for the sky, with the sky exposures tracked on the iOptron SkyGuider Pro tracker. All with the 20mm Sigma Art lens and Canon EOS Ra, with the lens adapted to the camera with a Metabones adapter.
    Milky Way Over Mount Andromeda (20mm...jpg
  • Comet NEOWISE (C/2020 F3) on July 27, 2020, at right, over the Columbia Icefields with the Moon still lighting the peaks in a warm “bronze hour” light for a lunar alpenglow. The Moon is behind Snowdome Peak at centre and is also still lighting the sky a deep blue. The Milky Way is at left over Mount Andromeda. Arcturus is the bright star at top centre.<br />
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This was more or less my parting shot of the comet, as it was fading rapidly at this time receding from Earth, though it was still naked eye. Plus the waxing Moon was going to be lighting the sky much more in the following week. So this was the night!<br />
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Shooting a week earlier when the comet was brighter and larger would have been nice, but clouds would have got in the way. This was shot during a run of unusually clear nights at the Icefields, the first good clear nights according to the locals. <br />
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I shot this during the brief “bronze hour” interval immediately after the Moon had disappeared behind Snowdome but was still lighting the peaks. So to be clear — the peaks are lit by the setting Moon, not by the Sun. This is not a composite of day and night shots; it is a well-timed and planned panorama shot as quickly as possible over a few minutes before the lighting changed. <br />
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Lingering twilight lights the horizon down the Sunwapta Valley at right. The famous Athabasca Glacier is just left of centre; Snowdome Glacier is right of centre, with the glacial Sunwapta Lake in the foreground. Mount Athabasca is at far left with its glacier. <br />
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This is a 17-segment (!) panorama with the 35mm Canon lens at f/2.5 and Canon EOS Ra camera at ISO 1600, for 20 seconds each, untracked. The overlap was more than is normally needed but the segments stitched perfectly with Adobe Camera Raw, which is not always the case with such scenes. LENR employed on all segments when shooting on this warm night. Dodging and burning applied to accentuate highlights and shadows. Topaz Sharpen AI applied. The original is over 27,000 pixels wide.
    Comet Over Columbia Icefields Panora...jpg
  • The summer Milky Way with the Summer Triangle stars through pine trees, shot from the Howse Pass Viewpoint at Saskatchewan River Crossing, Banff National Park, Alberta. Jupiter is the bright object at the bottom.<br />
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This is an exposure blend of a stack of 4 x 2-minute untracked exposures at ISO 6400 for the ground and 2 x 1-minute tracked exposures at ISO 6400 for the sky, with the Canon 15mm full-frame fish-eye lens at f/2.8 and Canon EOS Ra camera. The camera was on the iOptron SkyGuider Pro tracker. An Orton soft glow filter added with Luminar Flex. Lights from the Saskatchewan Crosssing Resort lights the treetops.
    Milky Way Through Pine Trees.jpg
  • Jupiter (brightest), Saturn (to the left), and the Milky Way over the Saskatchewan River and the area of Howse Pass, on July 26, 2020. Mount Cephren is at left; the scene is framed to include Cephren. The nebulas and star clouds of the galactic centre area at right show up well on this very clear night. The bright Small Sagittarius Starcloud, aka M24, is most obvious, flanked by the star clusters M23 and M25 to the side, and the nebulas M17 and M16 above, and M8 and M20 below. The fuzzy globular cluster M22 is to the left of the large Lagoon Nebula, M8. Green airglow tints the sky. <br />
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This is an exposure blend of a stack of 4 x 2-minute untracked exposures for the ground at ISO 1600 (exposed long to bring out ground details), with 2 x 1-minute tracked and stacked exposures at ISO 3200 for the sky. Shot from the Howse Pass Viewpoint area off the Icefields Parkway at Saskatchewan River Crossing.<br />
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The camera was on the iOptron SkyGuider Pro tracker. For the ground shots I simply turned the tracker motor off. All with the 35mm Canon lens at f/2.8 and Canon EOS Ra, a filter-modified camera.<br />
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Topaz Sharpen AI applied to the ground; Topaz DeNoise AI applied to the sky. In camera LENR employed on all shots on this warm night.  An Orton soft glow effect added to the sky with Luminar Flex plug-in.
    Milky Way at Howse Pass Viewpoint (3...jpg
  • Another incredible sky this night!<br />
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This is Comet NEOWISE (C/2020 F3) over the badlands formations at Dinosaur Provincial Park, Alberta on July 22-23, 2020, with the Big Dipper above. A very active thunderstorm system moving northeastward this night but well to the west of me lights the horizon. Parallel bands of red and green airglow tint the sky, as does the blue of lingering summer twilight. Even with the bright sky the comet’s blue ion tail can be traced up to and past the Bowl of the Big Dipper. <br />
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This is an exposure blend, with the landscape from a stack of seven exposures from 2.5 to 3.5 minutes long at f/2.8 and ISO 1600, stacked to smooth noise, blended with a single untracked 30-second exposure for the sky at ISO 6400 at f/2, all with the Sigma 24mm lens and Canon EOS Ra camera. The ground is illuminated by starlight and sky light only; no light painting was used here. Topaz DeNoise AI applied to the sky; Sharpen AI applied to the ground. Some light sculpting applied to the ground with a Dodge and Burn layer and a luminosity mask, to make the foreground less flat in lighting.
    Comet NEOWISE with Big Dipper at Din...jpg
  • Comet NEOWISE (C/2020 F3) over a ripening canola field near home in southern Alberta, on the night of July 15-16, 2020. Light pollution from a nearby gas plant reflecting off low clouds and a rain shower adds the yellow at right. <br />
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This is a blend of a stack of three 2-minute exposures at ISO 1600 and f/5 to smooth noise, provide depth of field, and bring out the colours of the canola, blended with a single short 15-second exposure of the sky at f/2.8 and ISO 3200, all with the 50mm Sigma lens and Canon 6D MkII camera.
    Comet NEOWISE over Canola Field Clos...jpg
  • Comet NEOWISE (C/2020 F3) over a ripening canola field near home in southern Alberta, on the night of July 15-16, 2020. Light pollution from a nearby gas plant reflecting off low clouds adds the yellow at right. <br />
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This is a blend of a stack of six 2-minute exposures at ISO 3200 and f/5.6 to smooth noise, provide depth of field, and bring out the colours of the canola, blended with a single short 15-second exposure of the sky at f/2.8 and ISO 1600, all with the 35mm lens and Canon 6D MkII camera.
    Comet NEOWISE over Canola Field (Jul...jpg
  • Comet NEOWISE (C/2020 F3) with a small display of noctilucent clouds over Emerald Bay and the iconic Prince of Wales Hotel at Waterton Lakes National Park, Alberta, at dawn on July 14, 2020. This was from the new International Peace Park viewpoint near the marina. Capella is at upper right. <br />
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This is a blend of a stack of four exposures for the ground and water to smooth noise, blended with a single short exposure for the sky, all 20 seconds at f/2.5 and ISO 400, plus an additional short 8 second exposure at ISO 100 blended in with a luminosity mask to reduce the intensity of just the hotel lights and prevent them from overexposing too much. All with the 35mm Canon lens and Canon 6D MkII camera. LENR employed on all shots to reduce thermal noise this warm summer night.
    Comet NEOWISE and NLCs over Prince o...jpg
  • Comet NEOWISE (C/2020 F3) with the Northern Lights and a STEVE arc aurora to the left, all over the Waterton River at Waterton Lakes National Park, Alberta, on July 13-14, 2020. This was from the Maskinonge picnic area. The Big Dipper is at upper left. A very faint green picket fence aurora is at right above the comet, a characteristic of STEVE arcs. This was an astounding night for sky phenomena! <br />
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This is a blend of a stack of six exposures for the ground and water to smooth noise, blended with a single short exposure for the sky, all 15 seconds at f/2 and ISO 3200, with the 20mm Sigma Art lens and Canon EOS Ra camera (with the Nikon-mount Sigma lens adapted to the EOS Ra with a Metabones F to RF adapter). LENR employed on all shots to reduce thermal noise this warm summer night.
    Comet NEOWISE and STEVE Aurora (July...jpg
  • Comet NEOWISE (C/2020 F3) over the Red Deer River from Orkney Viewpoint north of Drumheller, Alberta, on the morning of July 11, 2020. The sky is brightening with dawn twilight and a small display of noctilucent clouds is on the horizon at right. The constellation of Auriga with the bright star Capella is at right. This is looking north toward the Bleriot Ferry terminal. Light from the waning gibbous Moon provides the illumination, plus twilight. Some ground fog lies in the valley below.<br />
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This is a two-segment vertical panorama with the 35mm Canon lens at f/2.8 and Canon 6D MkII at ISO 200 for 13 seconds each. Stitched with Adobe Camera Raw with Perspective geometry.
    Comet NEOWISE over Red Deer River (J...jpg
  • What a magical scene this was! <br />
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This is Comet NEOWISE (C/2020 F3) over the sweep of the Red Deer River and Badlands from Orkney Viewpoint north of Drumheller, Alberta, on the morning of July 11, 2020. The sky is brightening with dawn twilight and a small display of noctilucent clouds is on the horizon right of centre. Venus and and Pleiades are rising at right. Venus was close to the star Aldebaran and in the Hyades star cluster, both just visible right on the horizon. This is looking north toward the Bleriot Ferry terminal. Light from the waning gibbous Moon provides the illumination, plus twilight. This  nicely shows the arch of the twilight colours. <br />
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This is a 6-segment panorama with the 50mm Sigma lens at f/2.8 and Canon 6D MkII at ISO 400 for 13 seconds each. Stitched with Adobe Camera Raw. Topaz DeNoise AI and Sharpen AI applied.
    Comet NEOWISE over Red Deer River Pa...jpg
  • This is Comet NEOWISE (C/2020 F3) over the Horseshoe Canyon formation near Drumheller, Alberta on the night iof July 10-11, 2020, taken about 2 a.m. MDT with the comet just past lower culmination with it circumpolar at this time. Warm light from the rising waning gibbous Moon provides the illumination. The comet’s faint blue ion tail is just barely visible even in the moonlit sky and low altitude.  The glow of summer perpetual twilight at latitude 51.5° N still colours the northern horizon despite this being close to the middle of the night.   This is a blend of six 1- and 2-minute exposures for the ground at ISO 800 and 400 stacked to smooth noise, with a single 30-second exposure at ISO 1600 for the sky, all with the 35mm Canon lens at f/2.8 and Canon 6D MkII, with LENR employed on this warm night. Stacked and masked with Photoshop. Topaz DeNoise AI applied to the sky; Topaz Sharpen AI applied to the ground. Construction barriers prevented access to the trail down, which might have made a better image with a cleaner horizon.
    Comet NEOWISE Over Horseshoe Canyon ...jpg
  • This is Comet NEOWISE (C/2020 F3) over Deadhorse Lake near Hussar in southern Alberta, taken just after midnight on July 10-11, 2020 during its evening appearance. The comet shines just above low noctilucent clouds. The slight wind ruffled the waters enough to prevent the clean reflection I was after. <br />
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This is a blend of nine exposures for the ground stacked to smooth noise and the water, with a single exposure for the sky, all 4 seconds with the 135mm Canon lens at f/2 and Canon 6D MkII at ISO 1600, with LENR employed on this warm night. Stacked and masked with Photoshop. Topaz DeNoise AI applied to the sky.
    Comet NEOWISE with NLCs over Prairie...jpg
  • This is Comet NEOWISE (C/2020 F3) over Deadhorse Lake near Hussar in southern Alberta, taken just before midnight on July 10-11, 2020 during its evening appearance. The comet shines just above low noctilucent clouds. The slight wind ruffled the waters enough to prevent the clean reflection I was after. The foreground has “puffball” plants viewed in cultural legends and depicted on tipis by First Nations Blackfoot people as having come from shooting stars. Not comets per se, but the celestial connection and juxtapostion here is still a nice one.<br />
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This is a blend of 13 exposures for the ground stacked to smooth noise, with a single exposure for the sky, with the 50mm Sigma lens for 15 to 30 seconds at f/5.6 for the ground and 8s at f/2.8 for the sky, all with Canon 6D MkII at ISO 400, with LENR employed on this warm night. Stacked and masked with Photoshop. Topaz DeNoise AI applied to the sky; Topaz Sharpen applied to the ground.
    Comet NEOWISE Over Prairie Lake (Jul...jpg
  • The Full Moon rising on July 4, 2020 with the 200mm lens and 1.4x Extender and Canon 6D MkII camera.
    Rising Full Moon (July 4, 2020).jpg
  • A pass of the Starlink 4 train of satellites on March 26, 2020. This was the set launched February 17, 2020, not the then latest set of Starlink 5s launched March 18. So more than a month after launch they were still bright, at magnitude +1 or so. But note that at left they are dimming as they enter Earth’s shadow. They paraded across the sky over many minutes, each disappearing to the south. The stars are pinpoints but the satellites are streaks because of their motion over the length of the 13-second exposure.<br />
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This view is looking southwest. Sirius is at right; Alphard in Hydra is at upper left. <br />
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This is a single 13-second exposure at f/2 with the Sigma 24mm lens and Nikon D750 at ISO 1600.
    Starlink 4 Satellite Pass (March 26,...jpg
  • The evening scene on March 26, 2020 of the setting waxing crescent Moon below Venus which is below the Pleiades star cluster. At top centre is the Hyades star cluster and Aldebaran in Taurus. At left is Orion sinking into the twilight of a spring evening. The setting is the old farmstead near home.<br />
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This is a stack of 7 exposures for the ground to smooth noise, and one for the sky, all 10 seconds at f/2.8 with the 24mm Sigma lens and Nikon D750 at ISO 400.
    Moon, Venus and Orion over Old Shed ...jpg
  • The waxing crescent Moon with Earthshine and (above) Venus shine in the evening twilight sky over an icy pond near home, on March 26, 2020. Venus was just past greatest elongation from the Sun, and being spring with the high angle of the ecliptic, Venus was as high as it can get this year in an evening apparition. The Pleiades is at very top.<br />
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This is a stack of 7 exposures for the ground to smooth noise and one for the sky, all 2.5 seconds at f.4 with the Sigma 24mm lens and Nikon D750 at ISO 200.
    Moon and Venus over Icy Pond (March ...jpg
  • This is the evening sky on March 25, 2020, with brilliant Venus high in the west just after the date (March 24) of its greatest elongation in the evening sky for 2020. It appears here about as high as it can get with the ecliptic tipped up to a high angle in spring. To the left is Orion and the winter stars in the twilight. Just above the horizon at bottom right in the bright twilight is the day-old thin crescent Moon about to set. Above Venus are the Pleiades and Hyades star clusters. <br />
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This is a single exposure with the Nikon D750 and 24mm Sigma lens, at 8 seconds at ISO 400 and f/2.8.
    Orion and Venus at Dusk (March 25, 2...jpg
  • The Canadian Pacific Holiday Train at its last stop for its 2019 tour, in Gleichen, Alberta, near the Siksika Nation and near home, on December 18, 2019. At each stop, performers present a concert from the stage car to the trackside audience, and raise funds for charity. On this night it was clear enough that some winter stars in and around Orion actually showed up in the sky.<br />
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This is a 2-exposure blend with the Canon 6D MkII at ISO 800 and Rokinon 14mm SP f/2.5 lens stopped to f/4.5. The ground is 1/8-second; the sky is 3.2 seconds. An Orton glow effect added to the ground with Luminar Flex.
    CP Holiday Train with Orion (Dec 18,...jpg
  • The Canadian Pacific Holiday Train at its last stop on its 2019 tour, in Gleichen, Alberta, near the Siksika Nation and near home, on December 18, 2019. At each stop, performers present a concert from the stage car to the trackside audience, and raise funds for charity. On this night it was clear enough that some winter stars in and around Orion actually showed up in the sky, though for Orion I blended in a longer 3.2-second exposure to make his stars show up better. <br />
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This is a 6-segment panorama with the Canon 6D MkII at ISO 800 and Rokinon 14mm SP f/2.5 lens stopped to f/4.5. Stitched with Adobe Camera Raw. An Orton glow effect added with Luminar Flex.
    CP Holiday Train at Gleichen (Dec 18...jpg
  • Orion and the winter stars and constellations rising in the light of a first quarter Moon on December 3, 2019. The vertical format sweeps up the Milky Way. <br />
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This was from a viewpoint overlooking the Bow River on the Siksika Nation in southern Alberta. <br />
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Orion is above the river with Sirius in Canis Major just rising. Aldebaran in Taurus and the Pleiades are at top right. At top is the star Capella and the constellation of Auriga. At left are Castor and Pollux in Gemini. Above the lights is Procyon in Canis Minor. The Beehive Cluster is at left.<br />
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The low Moon behind the camera to the right added a warm “bronze hour” tint to the landscape.<br />
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This is a blend of untracked exposures for the ground and tracked exposures for the sky, using the Star Adventurer tracker. The ground and sky are each stacks of 4 x 1-minute exposures with the 15-35mm Canon RF lens at 15mm and f/2.8 and on the Canon EOS Ra camera at ISO 800. I had some fun with filters on this one, applying a Soft Glow filter with Luminar Flex to the ground and an Orton Glow effect to the sky with ON1 Photo RAW 2020.
    Winter Sky Over Bow River (EOS Ra 15...jpg
  • Orion and the winter stars rising in the light of a waxing Moon on December 3, 2019. This was from a viewpoint overlooking the Bow River on the Siksika Nation in southern Alberta. Orion is above the river with Sirius in Canis Major just rising. Aldebaran and the Hyades in Taurus are at top. At left are Castor and Pollux in Gemini. Above the lights is Procyon in Canis Minor. The Beehive Cluster in Cancer is at far left.<br />
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The low Moon behind the camera to the right added a warm “bronze hour” tint to the landscape.<br />
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This is a blend of untracked exposures for the ground and tracked exposures for the sky, using the Star Adventurer tracker. The ground and sky are each stacks of 4 x 1-minute exposures with the 15-35mm Canon RF lens at 15mm and f/2.8 and on the Canon EOS Ra camera at ISO 800. I had some fun with filters on this one, applying a Soft Glow filter with Luminar Flex to the ground and an Orton Glow effect to the sky with ON1 Photo RAW 2020.
    Orion RIsing Over Bow River (EOS Ra ...jpg
  • Orion and the winter stars and constellations rising in the light of a first quarter Moon on December 2, 2019. This was from home in Alberta. Orion is above the trees with Aldebaran in Taurus and the Pleiades above him. At top left is the star Capella and the constellation of Auriga. At left of centre are Castor and Pollux in Gemini. Just rising amid the trees is Procyon in Canis Minor. Sirius and Canis Major had not yet risen. The timing nicely captures 4 of the sky’s best star clusters in a row across the sky, with the Beehive just rising at lower left, the Hyades at upper right, and the Pleiades at top. Between the Hyades and the Beehive is the small binocular cluster in Gemini, M35, but visible in this wide-angle view. <br />
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The low setting Moon behind the camera to the right added a warm “bronze hour” tint to the landscape. Tracks in the snow are from deer. <br />
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This is a blend of untracked exposures for the ground and tracked exposures for the sky, using the Star Adventurer tracker. The ground and sky are each stacks of 4 x 1.5-minute exposures with the 15-35mm Canon RF lens at 15mm and f/2.8 and on the Canon EOS Ra camera at ISO 800. I had some fun with filters on this one, applying a Soft Glow filter with Luminar Flex to the ground and an Orton Glow effect to the sky with ON1 Photo RAW 2020.
    Winter Sky Rising in Moonlight (EOS ...jpg
  • The conjunction of Venus and Jupiter of November 23, 2019, as seen over the foothills and front ranges of the Rocky Mountains in southwest Alberta. <br />
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I shot this from the Rothney Astrophysical Observatory, prior to their monthly Open House event that night with about 400 in attendance. But at this time it was just me and one other ardent photographer present to shoot this scene.<br />
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This is an HDR blend (stacked using Adobe Camera Raw) of 5 exposures at 2/3-stop intervals, with the Rokinon 85mm lens at f/4 on the red-sensitive Canon EOS Ra camera at ISO 100. It works great on sunsets, bringing out the reds and magenta hues. The high dynamic range blending brings out details in the dark foreground without blowing out the highlights in the bright sky. A mild application of an overlay-mode dodge-and-burn layer touches up the mid-tone luminosity levels.
    Venus and Jupiter over Rockies (Nov ...jpg
  • A panorama of the sunset sky with Venus (brighter) and Jupiter (fainter above Venus) near centre in the twilight on November 22, 2019, a day before their close conjunction. This panorama is overlooking the Bow River Valley at Blackfoot Crossing east of Calgary, Alberta. <br />
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This is a 5-segment panorama with the 85mm Rokinon lens on the Canon EOS Ra, a red-sensitive camera that accentuates the red sunset. Stitched with Adobe Camera Ra.w.
    Venus & Jupiter over Blackfoot C...jpg
  • Orion rising in the light of a waxing gibbous Moon, from at home, as part of a time-lapse test of the Canon EOS Ra camera, used here with the Canon RF 15-35mm lens, at f/5.6. Sirius is just rising at centre. <br />
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This is a stack of eight 30-second exposures for the ground to smooth noise and a single 30-second exposure at ISO 800, one of 470 shot for a time-lapse. Topaz Sharpen AI used for the foreground. A Dynamic Contrast filter applied with ON1 2020 snaps up the foregrounde. A highlights luminosity mask created with Lumenzia boosts the star colours.  The Ra, being very red sensitive, adds a warmer tone to the foreground. This was shot on a Daylight White Balance.
    Orion Rising in Moonlight (15-35mm E...jpg
  • The waning gibbous Moon in the morning sky and in the northwest as we sailed out of the port of Havøysund, Norway. From this latitude of 70° N the Moon would not have ever set this day but capturing it skimming low across the northern horizon at sunset was not possible diue to cloud and horizon haze.
    Waning Gibbous Moon in the Morning a...jpg
  • The Northern Lights from the deck of the ms Trollfjord, a ferry in the Hurtigruten fleet. This was out of Tromsø sailing north toward Skjervøy. <br />
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The waning gibbous Moon off frame illuminates the scene. This is looking south with the Summer Triangle stars left of centre. This was October 16, 2019.<br />
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This is a single 1-second exposure at ISO 3200 with the Sony a7III and Venus Optics 15mm lens at f/2.
    Aurora over Moonlit Peaks (Norway Oc...jpg
  • A 360° panorama of the moonlit night sky from the Lofoten Islands on October 15-16, 2019, with the waning gibbous Moon bright in the southeast at left. The Pleiades and Taurus are rising at far left. Orion is just rising above the moutains at left. Deneb and Vega are at centre. The Big Dipper and due north is at right. We are sailing north. <br />
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There is only the faintest wisps of aurora visible at this time. <br />
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This is an 11-section panorama, stitched with Adobe Camera Raw, each segment 1.3-seconds at ISO 1600 and f/2 with the 15mm lens and Sony a7III.  Inevitably the rocking of the ship misaligns the ship with the background landscape, so the software aligns as best it can on the landscape and so the ship railings misalign at the seams. But all considering, it is remarkable this works at all from a moving ship, though the sea was calm this night.
    Moonlit Night Sky Panorama from Trol...jpg
  • A very faint photographic aurora in the moonlight as we pass under the bridge over the Rafsundet Strait in the Lofoten Islands, Norway, from the ms Trollfjord. The Big Dipper and Ursa Major are at centre.
    Faint Aurora Above Rafsundet Bridge.jpg
  • Exiting the narrow Trollfjord by searchlight and under moonlight, on the northbound voyage of the Hurtigruten ferry ship the ms Trollfjord, on October 15, 2019. Capella is at top; Betelgeuse and Orion are rising at centre at the mouth of the fjord; Aldebaran is partly in cloud left of the Moon. <br />
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This is a luminosity mask blend of two exposures, a 1/4-second shot for the main scene and a short 1/160 sec shot for the bright waning Moon. Both at ISO 3200 and f/2.
    Exiting Trollfjord by Moonlight.jpg
  • Entering the narrow Trollfjord in the Norwegian Lofoten Islands by moonlight and searchlight. This was from the deck of the ms Trollfjord, October 15, 2019 on the northbound cruise. Vega in Lyra is the bright star at top. <br />
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This is a single 0.8-second exposure at f/2 with the 15mm lens and Sony a7III at ISO 3200.
    Entering Trollfjord by Searchlight.jpg
  • The Northern Lights in the moonlight arcing over the Rafsundet Strait near the entrance to the Trollfjord in Norway. This was from the deck of the ms Trollfjord, October 15, 2019 on the northbound cruise. <br />
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This is a single 0.8-second exposure at f/2 with the 15mm lens and Sony a7III at ISO 3200.
    Aurora at Trollfjord.jpg
  • The Big Dipper and Ursa Major over the Viking Hall at the Lofotr Viking Museum in the Lofoten Islands, Norway on an unusally clear night, but alas with no aurora. Illumination is from moonlight and the sidewalk lights along the pathnways there. In Viking skylore, the Big Dipper was Karlwagn, the Men’s Chariot. The Little Dipper was Kvennavagn, the Woman's chariot.<br />
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The Lofotr Viking Museum (Lofotr Vikingmuseum) is a historical museum based on a reconstruction and archaeological excavation of a Viking chieftain's village on the island of Vestvågøya in the Lofoten archipelago in Nordland county, Norway. It is located in the small village of Borg, near Bøstad, in the municipality of Vestvågøy.<br />
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This is a stack of 4 x 5-second exposures with the 15mm Venus Optics lens at f/2 and Sony a7III at ISO 3200.
    Big Dipper over Viking Hall.jpg
  • The Big Dipper and Ursa Major plus the Little Dipper or Ursa Minor over the Viking Hall at the Lofotr Viking Museum in the Lofoten Islands, Norway on an unusally clear night, but alas with no aurora. Illumination is from moonlight and the sidewalk lights along the pathnways there. In Viking skylore, the Big Dipper was Karlwagn, the Men’s Chariot. The Little Dipper was Kvennavagn, the Woman's chariot.<br />
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The Lofotr Viking Museum (Lofotr Vikingmuseum) is a historical museum based on a reconstruction and archaeological excavation of a Viking chieftain's village on the island of Vestvågøya in the Lofoten archipelago in Nordland county, Norway. It is located in the small village of Borg, near Bøstad, in the municipality of Vestvågøy.<br />
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This is a stack of 4 x 5-second exposures with the 15mm Venus Optics lens at f/2 and Sony a7III at ISO 3200.
    Big and Little Dippers over Viking H...jpg
  • The northern summer Milky Way setting over the mountains of Waterton Lakes National Park, Alberta, Canada, with warm golden lighting supplied by the rising waning Moon (behind the camera) illuminating the landscape and sky in a “moonstrike” effect. Taken on September 21, 2019, in frames taken as part of a time-lapse. Faint bands of red airglow tint the sky, though the blue sky colour is from the moonlight. This is taken during the lunar “golden hour.”<br />
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This is a stack of 8 images for the ground to smooth noise, one image from the set for the stars to minimize trailing. A mild Orton glow effect added to the sky with Luminar Flex. <br />
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Each exposure in the set was 30 seconds at ISO 4000 and f/2 with the Venus Optics 15mm lens and Sony a7III. Part of a 360-frame time-lapse.
    Moonstrike at Waterton Lakes.jpg
  • The northern summer Milky Way setting over the mountains of Waterton Lakes National Park, Alberta, Canada, with the Space Station rising at right, then fading into sunset, in a trail from the series of long exposures. This is from the Bison Compound viewpoint looking south and southwest, on September 21, 2019, in frames taken as part of a time-lapse. <br />
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This is a stack of 8 images for the ground to smooth noise, one image from the set for the stars to minimize trailing, and a stack of 6 images masked to reveal just the ISS trail. The trail fades to deep red as the ISS travels into the Earth’s shadow as it rose here and experienced sunset at their altitude. A mild Orton glow effect added with Luminar Flex. <br />
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Each exposure in the set was 30 seconds at ISO 4000 and f/2 with the Venus Optics 15mm lens and Sony a7III. Part of a 360-frame time-lapse.
    Milky Way and ISS over Waterton.jpg
  • The rising of the almost Full Moon (1 day before full) on September 12, 2019, taken from home in a quick shot, looking over the old rake I often use for a foreground prop. The dark blue in the sky near the horizon is the shadow of the Earth rising. <br />
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This is a blend of a long exposure for the ground and sky and a short exposure for the lunar disk itself and masked in to prevent it from being overexposed as a blank disk. I added a modified soft glow / autumn colors filter with Luminar Flex.
    Harvest Moonrise from Home (Sept 12,...jpg
  • A 360° panorama of the observing field at the 2019 Saskatchewan Summer Star Party in the Centre Block of Cypress Hills Interprovincial Park, Saskatchewan, a Dark Sky Preserve. This was August 31, 2019 on a less than ideal night with thin cloud about, while an aurora brightening with a Kp5 level display colours the sky at right to the northeast. The Milky Way is at left to the south. The Big Dipper in haze is right of centre. <br />
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This is an 11-segment panorama, each 30 seconds at f/2 with the Sigma 24mm lens and Nikon D750 in landscape orientation and at ISO 6400. Stitched with PTGui. ACR worked but did not allow framing the scene as desired.
    SSSP 2019 360° Panorama.jpg
  • The Big Dipper and all of Ursa Major in the deep twilight of an August evening, at Eastend, Saskatchewan, with an old farmstead building in the foreground. Shot August 28, 2019. <br />
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This is a blend of a single long 5-minute exposure at ISO 400 for the dark ground, and a single short 30-second exposure at ISO 1600 for the bright sky. Both with the 24mm Sigma Art lens and Nikon D750. LENR not applied (by mistake — I forgot!) to the long ground exposure, so I had to employ a Dust and Scratches filter in post to eliminate all the hot pixels on this warm night. Serves as a good demo of why you should use LENR. A mild Orton glow added to the sky, and a mild application of a “Dramatic Landscape” filter added to the ground, both with Luminar Flex.
    Big Dipper over Old Farmstead.jpg
  • Clouds streaking out of the west in the twilight sky over old rail lines in the Frenchman Roiver valley near Eastend, Saskatchewan. <br />
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This is a stack of six 30-second exposures then further blurred with a Radial Blur filter. With the Sigma 24mm lens and Nikon D750.
    Cloud Streaks and Train Tracks.jpg
  • Sunset over an old cabin in the Frenchman River valley near Eastend, Saskatchewan, amid the sagebrush and badlands of the valley. <br />
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This is an HDR blend of five exposures from bright to dark to retain detail in the bright sky and dark ground. All with the 24mm Sigma lens and Nikon D750.
    Sunset over Old Cabin at Eastend.jpg
  • The core of the Milky Way in Sagittarius low in the south over the Frenchman River valley at Grasslands National Park, Saskatchewan. This is from the 76 Ranch Corral site. Grasslands is a Dark Sky Preserve. <br />
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The frame takes in the openj star clusters M6 and M7 just above the horizon in Scorpius, on up through the Sagittarius Starcloud and galactic core, then up past the red nebulas M8 and M20, the Small Sagittarius Starcloud M24 flanked by the clusters M23 and M25, then the nebulas M17 and M16 at top in Serpens. The globular cluster M55 is visible at far left. <br />
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Jupiter is bright at right above reddish Antares, Saturn is dimmer at left, to the left of the globular cluster M22. I shot this August 27, 2019. <br />
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This is a stack of 5 x 3-minute tracked exposures for the sky (to avoid star trails) blended with a stack of 5 x 3-minute untracked exposures for the ground, all with the 35mm Canon lens at f/2.8 and filter-modified Canon 5D MkII camera at ISO 1600. The tracker was the Star Adventurer.
    Galactic Centre at Grasslands (35mm ...jpg
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