The Milky Way reflected in the unusually calm waters of Middle Waterton Lake from Driftwood Beach, in Waterton Lakes National Park, Alberta, Canada. The Park is an International Dark Sky Preserve, along with Glacier National Park in the U.S. The Park is also a U.N. World Heritage Site. Sagittarius, with Saturn and the Dark Horse dark nebula area is at centre; Scorpius and Antares are at right. This was June 17/18, 2018, on a windless night and a clear night between storm systems. This is a stack of 5 exposures for the ground, mean combined to smooth noise, and a single exposure for the sky and reflected stars, to minimize trailing. All were 25 seconds at f/2.2 with the Sigma 20mm Art lens and Nikon D750 at ISO 3200. Softening “Orton” style effects added to the sky and ground using Luminar and ON1 Photo RAW as filters.
Jupiter (at right) and Saturn (at left) shining brightly in the sky and reflected in the still waters of Maskinonge Lake at Waterton Lakes National Park, Alberta, on June 17/18, 2018. The Milky Way is at left, Scorpius is at centre, and two satellite trails are at top. The sky is blue with solstice twilight. The trees on the opposite shore are charred from the Kenow Fire in September 2017. In the distance are Sofa Mountain and Viny Peak. This is a stack of 10 exposures for the ground, mean combined to smooth noise, and one exposure for the sky and stellar reflections. All 20 seconds at f/2.2 with the Sigma 20mm Art lens and Nikon D750 at ISO 3200.
Mars (at left) and the galactic centre area of the summer Milky Way low over the southern horizon at Writing-on-Stone Provincial Park, Alberta, on June 8/9, 2018. Sagittarus is at centre, with Scorpius at right. The Messier 6 and 7 open star clusters are just above the horizon at centre, just right of the Sweetgrass Hills on the horizon in Montana. This is a stack of 12 exposures for the ground, mean combined to smooth noise, and 1 exposure for the sky, all 30 seconds at f/2 with the Laowa 15mm lens on the Sony a7III camera at ISO 6400. These were the last frames in a 340-frame time-lapse sequence. At this time of year, the sky is always bright with deep blue perpetual twilight.
