FALL SKIES OF LA PALMA - 4K (UHD)

Four and a half hours a day… That’s how long I have slept each day for ten days. Why would I bother being deprived of vital sleep though? Because my mission and goal was to show the night sky in a different way. The second opus of my sequel ‘Galaxies’ aims at finding new techniques and skills to bring the beauties of the cosmos to the general public, and in this optic, I went to spend a bit more than a week in a privileged place: a dark sky reserve. La Palma is located in the Canary Islands. Its climate and location enable professional and amateur astronomers to gaze at the stars almost year round in a very little light polluted sky. Having shot on top El Teide in Tenerife, the neighbor island two years before (vimeo.com/163680035), I thought it was the perfect place to go shoot the wonders of the winter night sky. Tenerife also possesses decent skies and opportunities to gaze at the core of the milky way, but when your goal is to observe and capture fainter deep-sky red glows, you need a less polluted and bright atmosphere. That’s why I embarked for an epic and restless astro-adventure on Canary’s darkest island. Epic and restless, because the goal was to spend all night shooting. So have I done. Every evening I would drive one and a half hours from sea level to 2400m of altitude along the dangerously winding coastal roads to arrive at the top El Roque de Los Muchachos, the volcano. The air is very thin and chilly up there, not to mention the constant wind gusts, making any kind of portable time-lapse astrophotography challenging. I would start shooting from dusk till dawn in the dry cold air, and rest in my rental car while my cameras are shooting. At the break of dawn, I would drive down to my holiday condo and sleep for about 4-5 hours. I needed to get back up, because no matter how much I planned the trip before hand using google Earth to find good shooting spots, you need to scout during the day, otherwise you won’t get a chance to see anything. If you don’t know what dark is, I advise you to get up there. It is so dark because of the basaltic rocks, that almost none of my sequences are taken below ISO 6400 and 10 seconds of exposure, no matter what the focal length. You need all the light you can gather! However the real challenge of an astrolapser is the adapt to the local conditions: if the wind picks up, you need to lower your shutter speed to avoid jitter as much as possible, meaning you will have to compensate in any other way. This game of fine manipulation is what makes your astrolapse look good, or horrendous. There is no in between. The slightest slip-up, and you could see the result of a long energy and time investment go to waste (I did have to delete all of my first night’s captures because of misjudgment…). Practice makes perfect, especially within this novel field of astrolapse. The second opus of Galaxies will include a lot of medium format astrolapse, pushing the limits of single astrophorography. I wanted to use narrower angles, astro-modified cameras and contrast filters to reveal the light and colors of nebulae and gas clouds that the winter sky is strewed with. In this short film that also includes day-time sequences of my unforgettable journey around the island, I wanted to feature some of these deep-sky scenes, as a test.The main goal of this short film was showing La Palma under its Fall skies. It was also the occasion for me to use motion control tools for the first time (Yes, it was about time). I used the Vixen Polarie to track the deep sky sequences to get maximum details and sharpness. I also used the Syrp tilt and pan bracket system for wider angle shots. To increase contrasts at angles higher than 14mm, I used the Pure Night filter by Lonely Speck. Camera wise, I used the Canon 6D Baader modified to reveal the H-alpha emission nebulae, the Sony a7s (other night shots), and the Sony a7rII (day shots). From the 1% young crescent moon setting to the blood reds of Barnard’s loop, I tried getting a maximum of interesting and innovative shots. I am sure you can spot countless meteors (Leonids, Taurids and others). Also, some multicolor airglow and dust clouds from the Sahara were rampant and usually add a lot of haze and colors to some frames. On the tracked deep-sky sequences, you can also notice loads of satellites, and these are geo-synchronous ones that stay in synch with the Earth’s orbit! In some wide-angle shots, you can probably spot the famous zodiacal lights. These were the main goals for me, and I believe these objects have rarely been photographed in that way before, but unlike what you might think, it is possible with nowadays technology, and is very relevant as this test suggests! I will gladly provide a more detailed list of gear and processing techniques upon request. Enjoy this short and thanks for watching (don't forget to like, share and subscribe!)

[@holabellezo1971]

Mr. Maudit: Good evening, you do not know me and I do not know you. Yet Thank you for all the time, the emotions and your present to show us this beautiful video piece. I do believe that you have Inspiration in your heart and vision in your mind. Thank you for YOUR PASSION!!! Thank you for this exclusive videos for us. and for the most important human being in the UNIVERSE, YOU. Splendid Regards. -José Albornoz - Cancún México.

[@gans74111]

Wunderbar!!!!👍

[@GuillaumeDoyen]

You are making great strides Adrien ! This movie is *simply astonishing* . Very good job as usual.

[@NightLightsFilms]

Thank you Guillaume... Well I'm trying to, it's a new field that needs a lot of experimenting, so yes I'm trying my best! thanks for your nice comments!!

[@mmusabozturk]

Congratulations. Wonderful.

[@otmanianwar1446]

شكرا لك أدريان مقطع خلابة واختيار جيد

[@richardgrudzien2798]

This is simply the most beautiful time lapse I have ever seen, Adrien. You are very talented and skilful! Wow!

[@NightLightsFilms]

Thank you so much Richard I really appreciate it :)

[@gloriacedeno.2737]

Beautiful!! Thank You 🥰 Especially for taking the time to present us with such beautiful sky, some place some of us may never ever get to see 🥰. TY💞

[@jimmypao5744]

Thank you for showing me what wonders this world presents. Applaud your efforts ^_^ Bless you.

[@NightLightsFilms]

Thanks a lot Jimmy!! Thanks for your praise :)

[@ariesmars29]

Beyond words...

[@NightLightsFilms]

ariesmars29 thanks a bunch!! :)

[@yolandamayesc6971]

Hermoso ❤

[@marprol_]

Absolutly love it!! Crazy airglow...

[@NightLightsFilms]

Thanks Marina! Yes indeed haha :) it wasn't that bright but very colorful!

[@ScenicMotion]

Such an incredible video Adrien. The true colours You have captured in this video makes this video outstanding.

[@NightLightsFilms]

Thank you so much for all those kind words! Hard work sure pays off :)

[@MilanKarakas]

Beautiful, as usually!

[@NightLightsFilms]

Milan Karakas thanks for thé praise Milan! :)

[@lycosa10]

Great film Adrien 😍

[@NightLightsFilms]

Thanks a lot mate!! And thanks for sharing it on Fb! :)

[@byDeaLeR16]

Amazing job Adrien and thanks for sharing the story behind it! Regards from Spain :)

[@NightLightsFilms]

byDeaLeR16 thanks a lot mate!! No worries, the full story will be up in my blog by tonight!! Take care! :)

[@spif7]

Really enjoyed that! Awesome in 4k.

[@geniusphil1]

This is just insanely beautiful!

[@luisladeveze8323]

QUE CIELOS TIENEN NUESTAS ISLAS "EXTRAORDINARIOS"

[@winnysneece694]

MAGNIFICENT! If only the humans of the world could take a moment and gaze at the heavens.

[@NightLightsFilms]

Win Nys thanks! You are absolutely right!! :) we don’t spend enough time gazing and reflecting on our place in the universe :)

[@Fickerig]

This video is so intense! Thank you for your work!

[@NightLightsFilms]

Georg Gassmann thbak you so much Georg!! :)

[@ppfppfppf]

Magnifique ! Je suis particulièrement épaté par les séquences ou l'on assiste au lever ou au coucher de la Lagune, de la Galaxie d'Andromède ou d'Orion. Ce sont là des plans hors du commun, le genre de chose que je rêvais de voir (et de faire !) un jour. Bravo !

[@NightLightsFilms]

ppfppfppf merci beaucoup 😁 oui c’est ce que j’essaie de montrer et améliorer, pour montrer que le Time lapse de ciel profond est bien possible et qu’il présente un intérêt et des résultats époustouflants :)

[@videos_by_dipini]

WOW

[@MyRene200]

Awsome:)

[@NightLightsFilms]

Rene Pedersen taaaak!

[@martina-photo]

Excellent clip, Adrien. Specially in the combination with the soundtrack. Very harmonic. Thanks a lot. I've been three time at this amazing place... but never had the time for timelapsing. Maybe one day in the future.

[@NightLightsFilms]

MartinA-Photo thanks! Yes it’s such an amazing place isn’t it? :)

[@martina-photo]

Indeed... my favourite canary island...!

[@jasminer1784]

so beutiful I wish to see the sky as this be for I leave this earth.💜💛💙may be one day God willing.

[@br2v]

Great job Adrian, La Palma, is very challenging. I walked up there 29 th dec 2008 and stayed with my tent two nights enjoying -7C while doing astros. and enjoying some snow. Luckily not so much wind. It's dark, but less dark than the mid Pyrenees (south of Lourdes) But due to its southern location you have a better view on our galactic core.

[@NightLightsFilms]

BjornR Vink thanks Bjorn! To be honest I would have preferred no wind and -7! For astrophotography it’s better with no wind! :) yes other than that La Palma is a privilege place for viewing he core for sure!! :)

[@br2v]

jep wind is the killer, -7C is better than + 10C with 100 km/h...

[@julioroman8442]

Impresionante ..

[@NightLightsFilms]

Thanks a lot Julio! :)

[@swingfly008]

ethereal

[@NightLightsFilms]

Hanzo Q. For sure mate, that’s how I’ve been feelin for 10 days under the stars!!

[@swingfly008]

I am going to stay one night in Sahara next month. although at that time the galaxy center can not be seen during the night, i am still looking forward to it. can't wait. lol

[@NightLightsFilms]

Hanzo Q. Wow lucky you! You’re gonna get some clear skies for sure!! You’ll still be able to see a lot of great things :)

[@Chris-St-DE]

Hi Adrien, very well done. Hopefully La Palma will stay dark. Light pollution is growing there also. One question: With naked eye the colours of the Milkyway center (GC) can be seen or not?

[@flair6833]

WOW!! Does it look like a video from a human eye??

[@mundos_virtuales]

Brutal video !!! of my island :) come one day in our life.

[@NightLightsFilms]

Darkshaker _ nice!! You love there?? Lucky you it’s so beautiful! For sure, where do you live?

[@mundos_virtuales]

Adrien Mauduit i live in los llanos de aridane, my mini city jaja

[@NightLightsFilms]

Darkshaker _ so nice! I was staying at casa balcon Del Mare in El Paso and so I did my groceries nearby!! Nice area man!

[@Thisaussierides]

Incredible ! Can i ask where you find your music?

[@NightLightsFilms]

JPA Lucid Imaging thanks mate! Envato market for this one :)

[@Thisaussierides]

Adrien Mauduit cheers!

[@multigabby2]

Found your work this evening , i think its great, what lens did you use for the milky way shots ?

[@NightLightsFilms]

gabby early thanks Gabby! It should be in the description but it depend on the scene! Some are at 14mm and some are at 135mm :)

[@multigabby2]

Hi thanks for reply , it was the make of Lens i was asking about, cheers

[@NightLightsFilms]

Sigma 14mm f1.8, Sigma 20mm f1.4, Sigma 50 f1.4, Samyang 85mm f1.4, Samyang 135mm f2

[@multigabby2]

Thank you.