This is my very first Milky Way photo – and the beginning of an exciting journey.
It consists of a 3×2 mosaic built from two sets of exposures. You’ll find the full technical data below.
One mosaic was tracked to keep the stars sharp and round during long exposures, and to capture fine detail in the galactic core. The second mosaic was untracked, focused solely on the landscape, to avoid any motion blur in the foreground. Both panoramas were then carefully aligned and merged.
To edit the Milky Way separately from the stars, I used StarNet, a neural network that removes stars from the image. This allowed me to create two additional layers: one for the bright nebula regions and one for the dark dust lanes. Each layer was processed individually to bring out depth, contrast, and atmosphere – otherwise, the stars would get damaged during editing.
This kind of post-processing is highly complex and time-consuming.
In the final step, everything was brought back together: the sky, the landscape, the stars, the bright core regions, and the dark dust structures of the Milky Way. Color tones and brightness needed to harmonize perfectly – otherwise, the image would feel disjointed and fall apart visually.
The photo was taken under Bortle Class 4 skies (https://www.lightpollutionmap.info) – far from ideal for astrophotography. In a densely populated country like Germany, it takes a great deal of planning, patience, and precision to reach this level of quality. I wanted to see what was technically possible here – and gain experience for what lies ahead.
And now, I'm counting down the days until summer: three weeks with a camper van in the Dolomites, chasing the stars. At 2,500 meters elevation, under some of the clearest skies in Europe, the Milky Way doesn’t just arch overhead – it feels like it flows through you. I can’t wait to experience what's possible there in terms of image quality.
Thanks to tracking, I was able to shoot at a moderate ISO 400 with long single exposures of 3 minutes and 20 seconds. Compared to stacking 20 to 50 high-ISO frames, this technique offers several advantages: less noise, more depth, and finer detail. Without tracking, stars would start trailing after just 6 to 8 seconds.
⚙️ Technical Data:
📷 Camera: Sony Alpha 7R V
🔭 Lens: Sony FE 14mm F1.8 GM
🗻 Mount: Benro Cyanbird Carbon Tripod + Benro Polaris Astro Tracker
➕ Panorama: 3×2 mosaic (tracked for sky, untracked for foreground), with approx. 65% overlap for maximum image quality
✂️ Stitched in: PTGui
🔍 Focal Length: 14mm
🌌 Aperture: f/2
🌙 ISO: 400
⏱️ Exposure per frame: 3 minutes 20 seconds
🕒 Total exposure time: approx. 40 minutes (12 frames total)
That's an incredible image, very well executed especially for a first try on a very complex process.
I understand you shot the foreground and sky separately to optimize exposure for each, and I think they are balanced very well. The foreground feels warmer - I wonder if it was a bit cooler it would fit the sky better. Also, I think it may help if the Milky Way's and stars' reflection in the water are more prominent (it's barely visible).
