Opis
Description: The panorama whose processing I had been putting off until last week has finally gotten the green light.
As you can see, a lot of things is happening in this 360-degree photograph! The editing process looked just as intense. It took quite a bit of time and skill to successfully stitch it all together.
Let’s walk through the photo from left to right!
On the left, just above the horizon, you’ll notice a powerful beam of light rising toward the Big Dipper. And no, it’s not a Comet.
What you’re seeing is fuel from a Falcon rocket launched into the atmosphere from Florida — illuminated by the Sun. It’s almost unimaginable that we can see something in the sky that’s happening more than 8,000 km away.
The light was so bright that I could watch it with the naked eye; it slowly faded after a few minutes.
In the center of the panorama, right beneath the arch of the Milky Way, stands the mighty rocky summit of Tulove Grede, which you can climb to the top of in about an hour.
For this panorama I decided to include a self-portrait with a light: I positioned myself on one of the rocky peaks and hoped I wouldn’t fall off. As a bonus, I also lightly painted the landscape with the light.
On the right side of the panorama are coastal towns with quite strong light pollution, but since creating multi-exposure panoramas has become one of my strengths, that wasn’t a problem for me.
This is a truly unique night panorama: a stunning composition of the Milky Way and rugged karst landscape, accompanied by the glowing trail of a Falcon rocket exhaust and little old me.
I think it’s safe to say: Right place, right time!
Gear:
Nikon Z6IIa
Sony 14 1.8 GM + Viltrox E-Z adapter
Lee Soft 5 filter for stars
Focus on star mask: https://focusonstars.com/ref/
Exif:
- Sky: 8panels, iso800, f2.2, 60s single frames + lee soft for stars ( iso1600, f2.2, 30s )
- Foreground: 8panels, iso1250, f2.2, 60-90s + low exposure frames for city lights ( 30s, 15s, 5s, 2s, 1s )
- Portrait + lightning on the rocks: iso6400, f2.2, 5s
Location and date: Hrvaška, Tulove grede – Velebit mountains, 23.07.2025
