Image of the Week: Milky Way over the North Atlantic

Once in a blue moon, the stars align (literally!) for me to seize the opportunity and capture a shot of the Milky Way core dancing above the fluffy clouds in the North Atlantic. It’s like this event conspires to happen just once a year, and this time, it all fell into place during my @virginatlantic 104 flight from Atlanta to London Heathrow.

First and foremost, major kudos go to the awesome cabin crew who, bless their souls, dimmed those pesky cabin lights to the perfect level. Their thoughtful but rather unxpected action allowed me to fashion a makeshift glare-blocker using my trusty blanket, shielding my shot from any unwanted luminosity coming from inside the cabin.

But that was only the beginning of it. With my camera in hand, I had to summon the powers of luck to keep it as steady as a rock for a whopping 2 seconds. You know, it’s like trying to hold your breath during a thrilling moment, hoping that nothing – and I mean nothing – would disrupt the tranquility of the shot. Oh, and let’s not forget the brightest of the plane’s two blinking lights! I had my fingers crossed, praying that it wouldn’t decide to show off its disco moves precisely during those crucial seconds.

Now, it took me no less than a hundred attempts (yes, I counted!) to finally nail that perfect shot. And my neck ended up being stiffer than a board by the end of it all, but hey, I wasn’t about to give up! Persistence paid off, and I managed to capture the essence of the Milky Way core, frozen in time.

I still can’t quite wrap my head around the fact that I pulled off a solid 2 seconds of steady camera work. I mean, who would have thought? And let’s not forget the stroke of luck that was on my side that night. There was no pesky moonlight, no unexpected turbulence shaking things up, and, thankfully, no fellow passengers flashing their in-flight entertainment screens, trying to steal the show.

In a nutshell, this whole experience was a convergence of coincidences that allowed me to capture the sheer beauty of the Milky Way core while soaring high above the North Atlantic. It’s a reminder that when the stars align (both literally and metaphorically), breathtaking wonders can be captured, even from the confines of an airplane window!

The settings for this shot were:

24mm| F2.8 | ISO 20,000 | 2 Seconds | Shot on the Sony A7R5 along with my Sigma Art 24-70 F2.8 Lens 

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