Capture the Atlas – Milky Way Photographer of the Year
Full reference table for the Capture the Atlas Milky Way Photographer of the Year lists used in the Nightmap insights page. The table is compiled from publicly available information on the competition website, including image captions, EXIF summaries and gear notes. You can see the current curated feature article here: Capture the Atlas – Milky Way Photographer of the Year .
| Year | Title | Photographer | Sky FL | Foreground FL | Cameras Listed | Lens | Filters | Other Gear | Tracker/Mount | Tripod/Head | Exposure Info | Workflow |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2025 | One in a Billion | Don Pettit | 14mm | 14mm | Nikon Z9 + Sigma 14mm | 8s, f/1.4, ISO unknown | Single exposure | |||||
| 2025 | Tololo Lunar Eclipse Sky | Petr Horálek | 35mm | 35mm | Canon Ra + Sigma 35mm | 10s, f/1.8, ISO unknown (81x) | Panorama | |||||
| 2025 | Boot Arch Perseids | Mike Abramyan | 50mm | 50mm (meteors 14mm) | Sony A7IV | Sky: 10s f/1.4 ISO unknown; Meteors 13s f/1.4 | Panorama + Meteor composite | |||||
| 2025 | Bottle Tree Paradise | Benjamin Barakat | 14mm | 14mm | Sony A7IV | Sky: 120s f/2.8; FG: 10s f/8 | Tracked sky + blue hour FG | |||||
| 2025 | Double Milky Way Arch Over Matterhorn | Angel Fux | 20mm | 15.5mm | Nikon Z6 + Z8 | Sky:127s f/5.6; FG:1/5s f/5 | Sky pano + FG pano | |||||
| 2025 | Valle de los Cactus | Pablo Ruiz García | 14mm | 14mm | Nikon D810 + Z6 | Sky:240s (9x); FG:120s (9x) | Panorama | |||||
| 2025 | Cosmic Fire | Sergio Montúfar | 24mm | 24mm | Canon 6D + Samyang 24mm | 10s f/1.4 | Single exposure | |||||
| 2025 | A Sea of Lupines | Max Inwood | 28mm | 28mm | Sony A7IV | 30s f/2 | Single exposure | |||||
| 2025 | Diamond Beach Emerald Sky | Brent Martin | 20mm | 20mm | Sony A7IV | Sky:60s f/3.5; FG:60s f/2.5 | Tracked sky + static FG | |||||
| 2025 | Blossom | Ethan Su | 20mm | 20mm | Sony A7IV | Sky:90s f/2; FG:60s f/2.8 | Sky pano + FG focus stack | |||||
| 2025 | The Night Guardians | Rositsa Dimitrova | 14mm | 14mm | Sony A7III | Sky:20s f/2; FG:88s f/3.5 | Two-shot blend | |||||
| 2025 | Fortress of Light | Mauricio Salazar | 20mm | 14mm | Nikon Z6II | Sky:30s f/1.8; FG:90s f/2.8 | Sky pano + FG pano | |||||
| 2025 | Glimpse of Colors | Tomas Slovinsky | 50mm | 50mm | Canon R6 | 20s f/2.5 | Single exposure | |||||
| 2025 | Evolution of Stars | Kavan Chay | 40mm | 40mm | Canon R6 | Unknown | Sky RGB/Hα blend + FG pano | |||||
| 2025 | The Wave | Luis Cajete | 20mm | 12mm | Nikon Z6II + Z6 | Sky:60s f/1.8; FG:8s f/3.5 | Sky pano + 360 FG | |||||
| 2025 | Winter Fairy Tale | Uroš Fink | 20mm | 20mm | Nikon Z6 | Sky:90s f/1.8; FG:80s f/2.2 | Panorama | |||||
| 2025 | Galaxy of the Stone Array | Alvin Wu | 40mm | 24mm | Nikon D810 + Z8 | Sky:60s; FG:120s | Sky pano + FG pano | |||||
| 2025 | Echiwile Arch | Vikas Chander | 12-24mm | 12-24mm | Sony A7RV | Sky:300s f/2.8; FG:480s | Panorama | |||||
| 2025 | Universo de Sal | Alejandra Heis | 16mm | 16mm | Sony A7IV | 10s f/1.8 | Sky pano | |||||
| 2025 | Lake RT5 | Tanay Das | 14-30mm | 14-30mm | Nikon Z6II | Sky:120s f/4; FG:600s f/8 | Long exposure FG | |||||
| 2025 | A Stellar View from the Cave | Anthony Lopez | 11mm | 11mm | Nikon Z6II | Sky:120s f/2.8; FG multi-row | Sky+FG panos | |||||
| 2025 | Spines and Starlight | Burak Esenbey | 14mm | 14mm | Sony A7III astro-mod | Sky RGB/Hα; FG 5s f/4.5 | Panorama + Hα | |||||
| 2025 | Un Destello en la Oscuridad | Luis Merino | 24mm | 8mm | Sony A7III | Sky pano (4 panels); FG fisheye | Sky pano + FG fisheye pano | |||||
| 2025 | Stairway to Heaven | Marcin Rosadziński | 24mm | 24mm | Canon 6D | Sky:25s; FG:180s | Pano | |||||
| 2025 | Starlit Ocean | Xingyang Cai | 14mm | 14mm | Sony A7III | Sky:4s stack; FG:20s stack | Stacked sky+FG | |||||
| 2026 | My Perfect Night | Daniel Viñé Garcia | 16mm | 8mm | Sony A7III Astro-modified | Samyang 8mm f/2.8 fisheye (foreground); Viltrox 16mm f/1.8 (sky) | MSM Nomad | Sunwayfoto T3240CK | Sky: 8 x (10 x 30sec), f/1.8, ISO 1250, 16mm; Foreground: 4 x 60sec, f/2.8, ISO 1250, 8mm | Tracked/stacked sky + foreground composite; mixed focal lengths | ||
| 2026 | The Milky Way Over a Field of Lupines | Alvin Wu | 24mm | 24mm | Nikon D810a | 24mm + HRGB | HRGB | Sky pano: 30sec, f/2.2, ISO 1600; Foreground pano: 60sec, f/2.8, ISO 3200 | Panorama | |||
| 2026 | Geminid Symphony Over La Palma’s Guardian of the Sky | Uroš Fink | 14mm | 14mm | Nikon Z6IIa (2x) | TTArtisan 11mm (x3); Sony 14mm f/1.8 GM (x2); Sigma 20mm f/1.4 DG DN; Sony 20mm; Sony 24mm; Sigma 28-45mm @35mm | Capture the Night filter; Astronomik H-alpha 12nm MaxFR | Focus on Stars mask; Megadap ETZ adapter; Viltrox E-Z adapter | Sky: 13 panels, 4 frames per panel at 60sec, f/1.8, ISO 1600; Foreground: 8 panels at 90sec, f/1.8, ISO 1600, 14mm; H-alpha: Sigma 28-45mm @35mm, 5 frames per panel at 240sec, f/1.8, ISO 1600; meteors registered into panorama | Multi-camera panorama + meteor composite + H-alpha | ||
| 2026 | Aoraki Mt Cook | Owain Scullion | 27mm | 27mm | Fujifilm X-T30 Astro-modified | Fujifilm XF23; Viltrox 27mm f/1.2 | Kase star glow filter; Nantong H-alpha filter | MSM Nomad | Sky panorama: 60sec, f/1.4, ISO 800; Ground panorama: 60sec, f/2.0, ISO 1600 | Tracked sky panorama + ground panorama | ||
| 2026 | Galactic Gandalf | Evan McKay | 40mm | 40mm | Nikon Z6 Astro-modified | Sigma 40mm f/1.4 Art | Sky-Watcher EQ6-R Pro; MSM Nomad | INNOREL RT80C; Custom nodal tripod head | Stars: 15sec, f/2, ISO 1600 x 4 stack; Nebula: 120sec, f/2, ISO 800 stacked; Starlit landscape: 30sec, f/2, ISO 3200; Landscape: 30sec, f/8, ISO 800 | Stacked stars + nebula + landscape composite | ||
| 2026 | Sodium Milky Way | Julien Looten | 28mm | 28mm | Canon EOS Ra | Sigma 28mm f/1.4 | Photoshop; Autopano | Almost 360° panorama, 85 exposures at 13sec, f/1.4, ISO 3200, 28mm | Nearly 360° panorama | |||
| 2026 | Celestial Light Over Sea Cliffs | Anthony Lopez | 11mm | 11mm | Nikon Z6II Astro-modified | TTArtisan 11mm | IDAS NB12 Dualband Filter (H-Alpha) | MSM Nomad | Benro Tortoise 34C with GX35 Head | Sky: 7 images at 180sec, f/2.8, ISO 650; Foreground: 2 images at 120sec, f/2.8, ISO 1600; H-alpha: 5 images at 180sec, f/2.8, ISO 2000 | Tracked/stacked sky + focus-stacked foreground + H-alpha | |
| 2026 | Night at the Remarkables | Tom Rae | 28mm | 28mm | Nikon Z6A | Sigma Art 28mm f/1.4 | iOptron SkyGuider Pro | Sky: 21 x 30sec, f/2.5, ISO 1600; Foreground: 12 x 30sec, f/2.8, ISO 1600 + 0.5sec city-light frame | Tracked sky + foreground composite | |||
| 2026 | Firewater | Baillie Farley | 15mm | 15mm | Sony A73 Astro-modified | Laowa 15mm f/2 | Benro Polaris | Sky: tracked panorama of 3 frames at 45sec, f/2.8, ISO 4000, 15mm; Foreground: 2 frames at 30sec, f/2.8, ISO 4000, 15mm | Tracked panorama + foreground | |||
| 2026 | Lost in the Ripples of Space and Time | Leonel Padrón | 11mm | 11mm | Nikon Z30; Nikon D5500 Astro-modified | Yongnuo 11mm f/1.8 | Kenko Pro1D Pro Softon(a) | Sky-Watcher Star Adventurer 2i | Foreground: 16 x 1/6s, f/11, ISO 320, 11mm at blue hour; Sky: 66 x 60s, f/1.8, ISO 800, 11mm, 60% overlap | Blue-hour foreground + tracked sky panorama | ||
| 2026 | Perseid Meteors Over Durdle Door | Josh Dury | 15mm | 15mm | Sony A7S III | Sigma 15mm DG DN F/1.4 Diagonal Fisheye | Sky-Watcher Star Adventurer | Benro Tortoise 24CLV | Sky: 25sec, f/1.4, ISO 1600; Foreground: 8sec, f/1.4, ISO 2000; 14 meteor exposures integrated | Meteor composite | ||
| 2026 | Galaxy on the Rise | Anastasia Gulova | 35mm | 16mm | Canon RP Astro-modified (sky); Canon R5 (foreground) | Tamron 35mm f/1.4 SP Di USD; Canon EF 16-35mm f/4 | VF foto white mist filter | Sky-Watcher Star Adventurer Pro 2i | Leofoto Ranger | Sky: 1-row panorama, 6 panels x 4 frames at 60sec, 35mm, f/1.8, ISO 800; Foreground: 1-row panorama, 6 panels at 60sec, 16mm, f/4, ISO 100 with focus stacking/bracketing | Mixed focal-length sky panorama + foreground panorama | |
| 2026 | Divinity | Kavan Chay | 40mm | 40mm | Nikon Z7a | Sigma Art 40mm f/1.4 | PTGui; Photoshop; Lightroom | Sky-Watcher Star Adventurer Pro | Sky: 9 frames x 3 rows at 30sec, f/2, ISO 1250, each at 40mm; Foreground: 10 frames x 2 rows at 70sec, f/4, ISO 6400, each at 40mm | Panorama | ||
| 2026 | Milky Way Over the Tatra Mountains | Łukasz Remkowicz | 28mm | 28mm | Canon EOS R mod | Sigma Art 28mm | Sky-Watcher Star Adventurer | Ulanzi Zero | Sky: 8 panels x 3 frames at 120sec; Foreground: 9 frames at 30sec | Tracked sky panorama + foreground | ||
| 2026 | Double Milky Way Over Monfragüe National Park | Luis Cajete | 20mm | 14-24mm | Nikon Z6II; Nikon Z6 Astro-modified | Nikkor Z 14-24mm f/2.8; Nikkor Z 20mm f/1.8 | Astronomik H-alpha 12nm | iOptron SkyGuider Pro | Manfrotto MT055CXPRO3 | Foreground: 3-row panorama, 120s, f/2.8, ISO 6400; Double panorama for each Milky Way: 1 row, 90s, f/1.8, ISO 640; H-alpha sky: double panorama, 3 stacked exposures per frame, 240s each, f/1.8, ISO 1600 | Composite of winter and summer Milky Way + H-alpha | |
| 2026 | Salto del Agrio | Alejandra Heis | 16mm | 16mm | Sony A7 IV | Viltrox 16mm f/1.8 | Benro BAT FBAT24C | Sky: 20s, f/1.8, ISO 6400; Foreground: 30s, f/1.8, ISO 4000; 2-row panorama; all frames taken at the same time | Two-row panorama, same-time capture | |||
| 2026 | Galactic Spine | Andrew Imhoff | 35mm | 14-24mm | Nikon Z6A; Nikon Z7II | Nikon 14-24mm f/2.9; Tamron 35mm f/1.4 | Sky-Watcher Star Adventurer | Foreground: 1/200sec, f/3.2, ISO 800; Night Sky: pano 35mm 4×5, 90sec, f/2.8, ISO 1600 | Mixed focal-length foreground + tracked sky panorama | |||
| 2026 | Valle de la Luna, Universo Triasico Ischigualasto | Gonzalo Javier Santile | 19mm | 19mm | Nikon D750 Astro-modified | Tamron 15-30mm | No filters | iOptron SkyGuider Pro | Sky: 90s, f/2.8, ISO 2000; Foreground: 20s, f/2.8, ISO 6400; Focal length: 19mm; Total: 20-frame panorama; ground-based star tracker for sky exposures | Tracked sky panorama + foreground | ||
| 2026 | Fireball in Paradise | Jason Rice | 16mm | 16mm | Sony A7III Astro-modified | Sony 16mm f/1.8 G | 3 Legged Thing Corey Tripod | Single exposure: 15sec, f/1.8, ISO 4000 | Single exposure with fireball | |||
| 2026 | Caldera Galaxy Panorama | Max Terwindt | 16mm | 16mm | Nikon Z7II | Viltrox 16mm f/1.8 | Peak Design Travel Carbon Fiber Tripod | 20sec, f/1.8, 16mm | Panorama | |||
| 2026 | The Garden of Stars | Luca Fornaciari | 20mm | 20mm | Sony A7III modified, Super UV/IR cut | Sony 14-24mm f/2.8 GM | Super UV/IR cut | MSM Nomad | Omegon Deluxe Equatorial Head; K&F Concept BH-36 | Sky: 11 × 180s tracked, 20mm, f/4 + calibration frames; Foreground and fireflies: 2 × 180s, 20mm, f/4 | Tracked sky + foreground/firefly blend | |
| 2026 | Standing on the Shoulders of Giants | Nacho Peláez | 20mm | 20mm | Nikon Z6III | Nikon 20mm f/1.8 | iOptron SkyGuider Pro | FLM CP 30-L4 tripod | Sky: 10-panel panorama, each panel 120sec, f/2.2, ISO 800; Foreground: 10-panel panorama, each panel 90sec, f/2.2, ISO 3200; additional bracketed sky panels for light pollution | Tracked panorama + foreground panorama + bracketed sky panels | ||
| 2026 | Botswana Baobabs by Night | Stefano Pellegrini | 15mm | 15mm | Nikon D850 Astro-modified | Irix 15mm | MSM Nomad | INNOREL KT254C tripod | Sky: stack of 4 tracked exposures at 2min, f/4, ISO 800; foreground light painting exposures | Light-painted foreground + tracked sky stack | ||
| 2026 | Where Earth Meets the Cosmos | Andrea Curzi | 17mm | 17mm | Canon EOS R (foreground); Canon 6D Astro-modified (sky) | Tamron 17-35mm f/2.8-4 | Astronomik 12nm Max FR filter | Minitrack LX2 | Sirui AM324 tripod | Sky: 7 shots at 180sec, f/4, ISO 800, 17mm for RGB + 20 shots at 180sec, f/4, ISO 3200 with H-alpha filter; Foreground: 12 shots at 180sec, f/4, ISO 800, 17mm with focus stacking | Tracked sky + H-alpha + focus-stacked foreground | |
| 2026 | Milky Way Over Syme Hut and Mt Taranaki | Brendan Larsen | 28mm | 28mm | Canon R Astro-modified | Sigma 28mm f/1.4 Art | NISI Star Soft astrophotography filter | MSM Nomad | Sirui AM-284 Carbon Fiber Tripod | 78 images at 30sec, f/2.5, ISO 6400, 28mm; star layer with NISI Star Soft filter at same settings but 6sec | Large panorama + star-soft layer |