A 300° panorama of the Milky Way and Mars to the south over Maskinonge Lake at Waterton Lakes National Park, Alberta. Mars is the bright object at left over Vimy Peak and Sofa Mountain. To the north at far left and far right the sky is already brightening with morning twilight as this was at 3 am. Some green bands of airglow tint the sky. The lights at far right are from the Park Entrance Gate and are far too bright for the purpose. They are out of place in a Dark Sky Preserve. Maskinonge is a sacred site to the Blackfoot First Nations...This is a 10-segment panorama with each segment 30 seconds at f/2 with the Sigma 24mm Art lens and Nikon D750 at ISO 6400. Stitched with Adobe Camera Raw. Taken July 13, 2018 on a perfect night in Waterton.
A flower-filled meadow at the Hay Barn Road at Waterton Lakes National Park, Alberta, with the summer Milky Way and Mars to the south over Waterton Valley and Vimy Peak at left. Mars is the bright object at left, and Saturn is dimmer in the Milky Way at right of centre, left of the pink Lagoon Nebula. Green bands of airglow tint the sky. Waterton Lakes is a World Heritage Site and Dark Sky Preserve. This is a blend of 3 x 4-minute exposures at f/5.6 for depth of field for the foreground and averaged to smooth noise, and a single 20-second exposure at f/2 for the sky to minimize trailing, all with the Sigma 24mm Art lens and Nikon D750 at ISO 6400. Taken July 13, 2018 on a superb night at Waterton. Luckily, the night was not too windy, so the flowers were not moving too much in the long exposures. But wind inevitably blurs them. The foreground is not light painted — illumination is just by natural starlight, though foreground details are brought out with a generous helping of shadow recovery.
Bright yellow Mars approaching a close opposition in July 2018 shines over the waters of Middle Waterton Lake in Waterton Lakes National Park in southwest Alberta on the Alberta-Montana border. Mars is so bright it produces a glitter path on the water. The Milky Way is at right. This was from Driftwood Beach, windy as always this night. The sky is tinted green with bands of airglow, though there was a dim aurora to the north this night as well, quite unexpected. Waterton Lakes is a World Heritage Site and a Dark Sky Preserve. This is a stack of ten exposures for the ground to smooth noise (and blur the wind-rippled water) at f/3.2, and a single exposure for the sky at f/2.2, all 30 seconds with the Sigma 24mm Art lens and Nikon D750 at ISO 6400. Taken July 11/12, 2018 at the end of a 6-hour session training the Dark Sky Guides staff. It was a superb night, with everything to see in the sky.
