Deepscape photography is transforming the way we capture the night sky by showcasing deep sky objects (DSOs) like nebulae and galaxies in harmony with terrestrial landscapes. While traditional landscape astrophotography—often referred to as nightscape photography—focuses on wide-angle compositions of the Milky Way over a landscape, deepscape photography utilizes telephoto lenses to reveal the true scale and majesty of the cosmos. This innovative approach moves beyond the formulaic wide-angle shots of the Milky Way’s galactic center, offering a fresh perspective that blends precise planning, star tracking, and meticulous post-processing. By aligning DSOs with earthbound elements, deepscapes open a new frontier in night photography, inspiring photographers to rethink their connection with the night sky.
Landscape astrophotography, or a nightscape, is the integration of the night sky with a terrestrial landscape. This typically involves capturing long exposures to record the night sky, following either classic or contemporary landscape photography compositional principles. Since the advent of digital photography, this approach has grown significantly in popularity, becoming more accessible and user-friendly. As a result, countless images now feature wide-angle compositions, often showcasing the Milky Way’s galactic core above a landscape element.
On social media, a new genre has emerged, fueled by technological advancements and refined post-processing techniques: the Dreamscape. Dreamscapes combine landscapes with unrelated deep-sky objects (DSOs), typically resulting in a fusion of Hubble-style imagery and stock or landscape photography. It was within this evolving space that I captured my first nightscape.
I bought a star tracker, hoping that the new challenge would reignite my passion for being under the night sky with my camera in hand. While it did provide some initial excitement, I eventually found myself unsatisfied once again. When fall arrived, bringing an end to another Milky Way season, I surprisingly felt a sense of relief. That feeling was a wake-up call, prompting me to try something new. Instead of putting my camera away for the season, I spent the winter of 2018/2019 photographing winter constellations and the less familiar side of the Milky Way visible during the colder months.
By the end of my first winter Milky Way season, I felt reinvigorated and ready for another summer of astrophotography. However, the excitement didn’t last long, and I quickly grew tired of the status quo. While I was proud of the work I was creating and it was generally well-received, I had lost my personal connection with the night sky. I knew I needed to find a way to rediscover that sense of wonder. That’s when the idea for a deepscape came to me.
The idea came to me in September 2018 as I was photographing a 50mm panorama of the galactic core. When I turned my camera to capture a section of the night sky that includes the Rho Ophiuchi Cloud Complex, I noticed a grain bin in the distance on my LCD screen. To my astonishment, the Rho Ophiuchi Cloud Complex appeared larger than the grain bin! By using a longer focal length, I had unwittingly conveyed the true scale and majesty of the night sky in a way that a wide-angle photograph could never achieve. Immediately, I thought of trying something similar with my longest lens at the time, an 85mm lens, during the remaining nights of the summer Milky Way season. Unfortunately, I didn’t have the time or ideal conditions to shoot again as September marks the last month in Saskatchewan, Canada, when the Rho Ophiuchi Cloud Complex is visible above the horizon. Instead, I began planning for my first attempt at capturing what would later be known as a deepscape the following spring.
Fast forward to November 2018. While scrolling through Facebook, I stumbled upon a photograph of the Andromeda galaxy above a landscape. At first, I felt a twinge of disgust, assuming it was yet another dreamscape. But upon closer inspection, my feelings shifted to pleasant surprise—it was real. The photograph, taken by Paul Schmit using a telephoto lens, captured the Andromeda galaxy perfectly aligned with a notable mountain in Southern Colorado. Seeing this validated my idea of combining the Rho Ophiuchi Cloud Complex with a landscape the following spring. It also made me realize there could be other potential alignments between sky objects and the landscape beyond the single deepscape I had envisioned.
This realization was reinforced in February 2019, when Nicholas Taubbush shared his 180mm image of Orion captured at the CASLEO astronomical observatory in San Juan, Argentina.
In early April 2019, I captured this rendition of the Rho Ophiuchi Cloud Complex as it crept above the Saskatchewan horizon. With a focal length of 122mm (I had purchased the Tamron 70-200 2.8 G2 months earlier in preparation for this shoot), and two stitched panoramic panels, I was beyond elated that I had captured my first deepscape.
However, as this was still a novel approach to landscape astrophotography, I was unsure how it would be received. The response was overwhelmingly positive overall, but, as expected, there were pockets of negativity and accusations of fakery. These criticisms stemmed from years of skepticism fueled by an overabundance of dreamscapes and other unscientific approaches to landscape astrophotography that had saturated the field over the previous half-decade.
I understood that changing perceptions would take time and a consistent effort to produce more deepscapes, but I felt confident this approach had the potential to reshape the genre.
Since then, I have successfully photographed several more deepscapes, including Orion, the North American Nebula, the Rho Ophiuchi Cloud Complex (again), and a cosmic triangle (which will be discussed in more detail later in this article). Each of these shots was captured at precise locations, carefully chosen using planning software like Stellarium, Google Earth, and PlanIt. Once you know where, when, and which focal length in the telephoto range to use, it’s simply a matter of showing up at the right time with a telephoto lens, camera, star tracker, and tripod.
A simplified definition of a deepscape is telephoto landscape astrophotography of deep sky objects (DSOs) as they align with a landscape. These shots always involve a mix of exposures to maximize detail in the night sky while minimizing noise in the foreground. However, even though deepscapes involve multiple exposures, there is a significant difference between a deepscape and a dreamscape. Great care is taken during both planning and shooting to ensure the final image accurately represents the alignment of the elements. The scale and positioning of every component in the photograph must reflect a precise moment in time.
Once you arrive and set up in the correct spot, it’s crucial to document the exact location of the deep sky object (DSO) as it rises (or sets) into position. This ensures you can accurately blend it into its correct place. Next, you’ll photograph the sky with a star tracker as the DSO moves across the horizon. I prefer my integration time to be around an hour, which allows me to pull out sufficient detail. This usually covers about 5 degrees of elevation change in the night sky object itself. You can start or end with your end with your foreground exposures with your tracker turned off. After everything is captured, you can use post-processing to carefully blend the elements, maximizing detail in the night sky.
The most involved deepscape I attempted was a cosmic triangle created by our Moon, the planet Venus, and the star cluster Pleiades (also known as the Seven Sisters).
Back in January 2020, I was exploring Stellarium for potential deepscape opportunities for the upcoming year. I had a few potentials jotted down, and as I progressed into late March, I discovered a chance to photograph the Pleiades, Moon, and Venus. It’s rare to capture the conjunction of two space objects with a telephoto lens and the landscape, so the likelihood of finding a date to photograph three space objects together was incredibly small. I quickly marked March 28th and began searching for an appropriate foreground.
The location had to be in a dark sky, where light pollution wouldn’t hinder the detail of the Pleiades, especially with the Moon already at 19% illumination and washing out some of the detail. After scouring Google Earth, I found a tree in a Class 2 dark sky location and planned to check it out before the date in March.
I never made it. Life got busy, and I couldn’t justify the three-hour drive to scout the area. As March 28th approached and the weather forecast predicted clear skies, I felt unprepared. I thought about finding a better location but couldn’t think of anything. So, on the night of the 28th, I headed to the location sight unseen. Thankfully, with tools like PlanIt, I was able to position myself correctly for the shoot.
I set up my tripod around 10:40 PM and photographed the foreground first, using the moonlight to naturally illuminate the landscape when the Moon was higher in the sky. Then, I turned on my tracker and took 36 one-minute exposures for Venus and the Pleiades. This exposure time overexposed the Moon, so I switched the exposure to 30 seconds at f/6.7, set my tracker to lunar mode, and took another 20 exposures with those settings.
This shoot was certainly a challenge due to the brightness of the Moon and Venus, but I’m pleased with what I managed to capture. These three astronomical objects wouldn’t be this close together for decades, so I thought filming behind-the-scenes footage of the event would be a great way to commemorate it (above). It will be fun to look back on this moment when—if—I reach the age of 72 and these three objects align again. For those who are interested, mark your calendars for April 3rd, 2060. On that date, the Pleiades, Venus, and the Moon will align again, and, if that isn’t enough, Saturn and Jupiter will join the party, filling a single telephoto frame, for the ultimate deepscape.
My newfound passion for deepscape landscape astrophotography was spurred by a falling out of love with wide-angle Milky Way photography. If you take anything away from this article, let it be this: Explore the entire night sky. Don’t lose your connection with both the land and the night sky by settling for the status quo. Space is vast—so much more than a single streak of bright stars, nebulae, and a bit of space dust. There is so much more to discover, and I encourage you to get out there and experience the vastness and majesty of the heavens.
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I hope you enjoyed this article on Deepscapes. More information about night photography can be found in the videos below. If you have any questions that you think I can answer, drop me a line! If you want to share this with your friends then use the share links right here.