When I saw the theme of the new photography contest organized by 
Most of my best night shots have already been published here, while some are still waiting for post-processing — which, unfortunately, I still haven’t found the time for. However, I do have a few strong images left in my archives that I can finally share. Here they are:
In July, I headed out into the field with one specific goal in mind: the impact of a coronal mass ejection (CME) and a strong chance of auroral activity. Unfortunately, it didn’t work out this time due to the unfavorable orientation of the Bz component, which remained positive for most of the event (while auroras require negative values).
Still, I made the most of that night and the exceptionally dark location by photographing the Milky Way — which more than compensated for the unsuccessful aurora hunt. In the end, I captured one of the best images of our galaxy in my entire “career.”
April last year was particularly active for me — and for astrophotographers in Poland and beyond. At the turn of April and May, the Milky Way season begins. During these months, late at night, the galactic center rises into a perfect position in the sky for photography.
That season was the first one I fully committed to. However, it was also my beginning with more advanced Milky Way photography, so the results are not yet at the level I ultimately aim for. Still, it was a major step forward — I learned a great deal, and I feel much better prepared for this year’s season. It’s just around the corner, and I can’t wait.
lease forgive the rather poor foreground. It is the result of stacking 15 exposures to reduce noise. I should have taken a separate exposure of the foreground and blended the sky with the landscape in post-processing, but… these were experiments — and it turned out the way it turned out. That said, the galactic center itself came out very nicely.
April was also an excellent month for aurora enthusiasts. As a result of two powerful solar plasma eruptions, one of the strongest geomagnetic storms of that year occurred, reaching the G4 level.
Unfortunately, the peak intensity took place just before nightfall, which meant it wasn’t visible from Poland. The aurora that appeared later was still very impressive, but its display coincided with an influx of Saharan dust. The particles suspended in the atmosphere significantly muted and diffused the auroral light.
As if that weren’t enough, thin Cirrus clouds also spread across the sky. Instead of photographing a clear and vivid aurora, I ended up capturing a unique cocktail of atmospheric phenomena — a blend of auroral light, Saharan dust, and high, wispy clouds.
This post in my entry to
That’s all for today. See you soon!
📸 Photographed using a Nikon Z6 with a Nikkor 14-24mm f2.8 and Sigma 50mm f1.4 lens. 📸
All photographs are my own work. The descriptions and texts were written by me, based on my personal reflections and acquired knowledge, and were subsequently edited and translated into English with the assistance of artificial intelligence.
Thank you for taking the time to visit and read my post.
