From the Beach – without Cocktail – IC 4603
Equipment
- Sony Alpha 7 (unmodified)
- Sony 70-200mm F/2.8
- Sky Watcher Star Adventurer Pro
This session took me far, far from home—across the continent and out into the Atlantic Ocean, on the beautiful (and very dry) Canary Island of Fuerteventura!
The skies here are different. Longer nights, slightly shifted constellations compared to Germany… I was super hyped. But of course, nothing ever goes exactly as planned.
The first few days? Terrible weather. Especially the wind. It made imaging basically impossible. But I was determined to get at least one proper session in. Why? Because I had some serious gear with me this time.
Thanks to my brother—who just happens to be a professional photographer—I got to try out a Sony Alpha 7 paired with a legendary lens: 200mm at f/2.8. That’s light-years ahead of my usual 300mm f/5.6 setup!
But again… the weather. One night I finally said: Screw it, I’ll just try. I had already scouted every possible spot. The nearby mountain looked amazing on the map but was way too steep to climb with all my gear. So: the beach it was. And wow… the sky over the ocean was insane. Bortle 4 officially—but honestly, it felt darker.
Tonight’s Target: Rho Ophiuchi Cloud Complex
One of the closest star-forming regions to Earth at just 370 light-years away. A chaotic, colorful mix of dark dust, glowing gas, and brilliant starlight. The region is home to young stars and protostars still forming. Right next to it: Antares, a massive red supergiant that’s nearing the end of its life. In maybe a million years, it’s going to go supernova—a once-in-a-lifetime show for whoever’s still around.
New gear means new settings. And new headaches. A lighthouse on the coast kept shining its beam right through Antares. So while I was under a Bortle 4 sky… the photos looked more like Bortle 5.
Still—I was feeling confident. Focusing with that f/2.8 lens? So easy. Star shapes were crisp, and even the single frames looked stunning. I started shooting.
Then… that gut feeling again. Something’s off. I checked. Yup. Still shooting in JPG. Ninety minutes of exposure… wasted. That’s a mistake I never thought I’d make. I corrected it quickly and restarted—RAW this time! But then, of course: clouds rolled in. I couldn’t believe it. That one golden opportunity… missed. I kept going anyway, hoping to salvage something. I shot until 5 a.m. In the end? I could use 19 minutes of exposure. That’s it.
But hey—at f/2.8, even 19 minutes can go a long way.
Previous Processed Images
Over time, my processing skills have improved. That’s why I occasionally return to old projects and rework everything from scratch—just to see what kind of results I can get now. It’s always nice to see how far I’ve come. So, here are all the versions (even the really bad ones)!