Venus in firs by BenCoffman

*I just announced my 2016 night-sky photography workshops, where I teach all of my in-field and post-processing techniques. Check my website for details.*

Friend and fellow photographer Mitch Carlson accompanied me for this shoot several weeks back. The goal was to capture the planet Venus shining brightly in the skies over South Falls (Silver Falls State Park). Despite some patchy fog that was pretty think in places, we got lucky and made it happen.

I beg of you, plead of you, please give this one a click to view it on a dark background.

I had shot a similar composition over three years ago. I’d never quite been happy with that old photo, which was extremely dark and had some problems with the light painting techniques I’d used. This is a really challenging place to shoot for various reasons, but I feel like I made significant improvements on that old image.

Thanks for checking out the photo!

http://500px.com/photo/130945559

Celestial Dance Over Lake Superior by morganpt

The morning of October 11th was a beautiful one where Venus, Jupiter, and Mercury formed an arc leading to the crescent moon over Hollow Rock. Per my normal travel habit, I parked my car next to my morning photo destination so I would not miss the morning magic. This time just outside of Hollow Rock, which is just south of Grand Portage, MN.

Setting up about 2 hours before sunrise, around 5:20 am, I first took a series of astro shots and kept taking pictures from the same spot until sunrise. This image is a composite of three images from the same spot with a 15 minute time period. Here, you can see three planets and the crescent moon. Venus is the brightest object, with Jupiter just below and to the left, and Mercury is very faint as it is just above and a little left of the crescent moon. You can see details here: http://earthsky.org/tonight/mercury-visible-in-the-morning-sky-starting-around-october-11

http://500px.com/photo/126795411

a (resting) bird’s eye view of San Diego! by fmarty

This is the photo I took for the One Minute on Earth 2015 project at 02:10 AM on 10 October 2015 in San Diego, California!
Thanks to all who took up the challenge and took part in this wonderful project!
Please take a look at the One Minute on Earth 2015 photos that are being uploaded here!
Instagram: @Pacho.Shots

http://500px.com/photo/124694711