Milky Way from Santorini, Greece

[SyedT]

I've been going through my old photos, and came across my favourite Milky Way shot from Santorini, Greece in 2017. It was a while ago but I remember it so clearly. I was on holiday with some friends and we were staying very close to Perissa beach. I wasn't planning on taking any shots, but having seen the beach landscape earlier during the day I decided it would make for a good foreground. I headed out at about 11 pm and a couple of my friends joined me, but soon I was left by myself. The beachfront was completely lit up with all the shops and streetlights, but the skies out towards the sea were pitch black. I must have looked rather silly to most people, taking pictures of what appears to be nothing! It remains one of my favourite pictures to date, even though it's tough to edit due to the LP gradients from the beachfront lighting. I would love to go back to Greece at some point and explore the other islands, such an incredible place.

Canon 6D unmodified
Samyang 14 mm f/2.8 IF ED UMC @ f/2.8
No tracking

Milky Way - 46 x 30s @ ISO 12800 = 23 min
Foreground - 1 x 20 s @ ISO 6400 
Darks applied

Edited April 18, 2020 by SyedT

[vineyard]

That's amazing.  To think that all of us when we're hanging out with friends in beach bars etc on holiday, are on a little rock going around a little star that's going around with millions of others in one of millions of galaxies!  That photo is great for putting things in perspective. 👏🏾

Edited April 18, 2020 by vineyard
typo

[SyedT]

6 hours ago, vineyard said:

That's amazing.  To think that all of us when we're hanging out with friends in beach bars etc on holiday, are on a little rock going around a little star that's going around with millions of others in one of millions of galaxies!  That photo is great for putting things in perspective. 👏🏾

It's quite something isn't it? I initially thought standing in front of the camera was cheesy, but all it did was heighten that sense of perspective for me.