The Perseid Meteor shower was said to have peaked on for the year this past August 12, 2016. The meteor shower is a result of comet Swift-Tuttle which passed through our system years ago leaving a stream of remnants that burn up in our atmosphere.
These photos were shot at Barrier Lake, Alberta. The challenge was trying to get a decent view of the stars and The Milky Way, while contending with the huge amount of light pollution caused by our own Moon which was 2/3 full.
Barrier lake itself is about 75 minutes drive out of Calgary’s city limits. It’s a quiet place with some great scenery to use in night sky compositions. Even though the moon was still giving a significant amount of light reflection off the clouds, the effect was still nice to create a nice contrast between the sky, stars, clouds, and trees. I highly recommend this place for night sky photography–just make sure you show up during daylight and keep a good flashlight handy. Unfortunately for me, the GoPro camera I had setup for timelapse photos blew over and ended up in the lake.
Ara
