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Submitted: December 28, 2008
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Dartmoor Galaxyby ~Alex37

Photography / Animals, Plants & Nature / Landscapes

This is a shot I have wanted to do for so long. The cluster of stars is our galaxy, the milky way. This is looking out of the galaxy rather than into the center like most photos.

This is Staple Tor again, my favourite spot this winter. To give you an idea of how cold it was ice, yes ice, formed on my lens as I was shooting, when I rubbed it off with my shirt I thought I had taken off the lens coating. The wind was 20 gusting 40 so it was unbeleivably cold, fortunately I was very well kitted out. I even had a balaclava!

I cant remember a clearer night (possibly thanks to the wind) the stars seemed so bright, it was wonderful. Standing out there in the darkness next to these enormous stones also helped me to realise just how anchient they are and how long they have stood under the sky.

This is a vertical panoramic of 2 images at 17mm on a Canon 5D and 17-40L. 60 seconds, f4, ISO1600. With the 1 min exposure I do of course get very short star trails, but I felt that it was worth is to keep the noise down a bit whilst still getting a moderately bright sky.

Processing largely involved the nightmare of hand distorting and stiching the images which I hope I wont have to repeat. I also increased the contrast and cooled off the white balance to reduce the effect of the light pollution.