A self-portrait of me watching the Northern Lights from the upper deck of the Churchill Northern Studies Centre, looking south to the winter stars of Orion, Gemini and Auriga. This was Feb 11, 2016, a very windy, almost blizzard night with blowing snow and reduced visibility. However the aurora did appear through the haze and clouds. In the distance are the buildings of the old Churchill Rocket Range. This is a single 15-second exposure at f/2.8 with the 15mm lens and Canon 6D at ISO 3200.
The constellation of Orion and the bright star Sirius in Canis Major, down my country road, on a very cold and frosty moonless January night, with the temperature at -25° C. But no wind! This a stack of 5 x 15-second exposures, untracked, for the ground, stacked with mean combine mode to smooth noise, plus a single exposure for the sky, to keep the stars as pinpoint as possible. All at f/2 with Sigma 24mm Art lens and the Nikon D750 at ISO 3200. The image serves as a good workshop example of Rule of Thirds composition.
Orion and the star Sirius, at left, setting in the dawn sky over the Chiricahuas on the morning of December 9, 2015. The orange star is Betelgeuse. Light from the eastern dawn illuminates the landscape. Haze added the natural star glows — no filter used here. The sky is a stack of 5 x 90 second exposures at f/2.5 with the 35mm lens and Canon 5D MkII at ISO1600, with the camera on the iOptron Sky-Tracker to keep stars from trailing. The ground is from another set of 5 similar exposures with the tracker motor off, the eliminate blurring from the camera tracker motion.
