My Milky Way Obsession

I enjoy photographing the Milky Way whenever conditions permit. After a few years of the usual shots, I wanted to try something different. So during two summers, on two nights (Aug 17, 2023 and Sept 8, 2024) I used two cameras (a Canon 5D II and a 6D II) and a Nikon 50mm lens with mount adapter to take 204 frames the first night and 198 frames the second night, each 10 seconds, f/2.8, ISO 6400. I would "mow the lawn" by moving the camera slightly after every 12-30 frames for a total of 24 overlapping panels. The resulting XCF file was 1.10 GB. After lots(!) of processing and experimentation, I'm pleased with the result. Quite a bit of work, but to me, it was worth it.

Canon 6D Mk II and Canon 5D Mk II DSLRs, Nikon 50mm lens with adapter, tripod, remote shutter release.

Sequator, Image Composite Editor, GIMP (stacking, aligning, stitching, cropping, sharpening, denoising, etc.). Easily the most effort I've ever put into an image. A real learning experience.