The wind had been blowing non-stop for two days. Relentless. Bitterly cold. The temperature was hovering around −10°C, but it felt much colder.
I had managed to get the forecast despite an almost nonexistent signal. The predictions were consistent: the night would offer perfectly clear skies. The moon was setting at 4:18 a.m., and full darkness would last until 4:43 a.m., leaving a 25-minute window to photograph the Milky Way.
Not exactly the kind of hour you feel like heading out in that kind of cold. The idea of leaving the warmth of the refuge didn’t thrill me, but the urge to capture an image was stronger. I already had the composition in mind. One big uncertainty remained: would I manage a 15-second exposure in that wind? The risk of camera shake was high.
To maximize my chances, I shielded the camera by placing my body between it and the gusts.
One too-short night and a bout of frostbite later… here’s the shot!
Taken in the french Alps in Marsh 2026.
Sony A1 + 16-25 f2.8 G @ 20mm
Foreground: iso 400 f8 1/8s taken at dawn, processed first in lightroom
Sky: 10 shots @ iso 3200 f2.8 15s, averaged in Sequator to reduce the noise and processed into lightroom
Blending in Photoshop and final edits in Lightroom.
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