astrophotography
531 | Home | Mauna Kea, Hawaii Click the image to take a closer look.		The Milky Way, never needed a project so much effort like this. For a long time, I had a panorama of our home galaxy in mind which is suitable for a very large print. This image I wouldn’t be able to shoot in Switzerland that was clear. This was one of the reasons for my fifth trip to the Big Island of Hawaii. Now I was standing there at an altitude of 4000m on Mauna Kea and was collecting one piece of the other of the puzzle for more than eight hours. It didn’t take too long until I felt the altitude. My head was hammering and my body told me I shouldn’t be here for such a long time. But with the goal in my head I finished the image. When I got up the next evening it felt like I had run a marathon. SEE DETAILS | BUY PRINT
306 | Peles Milky Way | Hawaii Volcanoes National Park , Hawaii Click the image to take a closer look.		The Halema'uma'u crater in the Hawaii Volcanoes National Park is for sure one of the most picturesque locations for taking a photo of a volcano and the Milky Way in one shot.After the sunset at the end of the chain of craters road I drove up to the Jagger Museum to see if I could take a decent shot of this unique location. This spot is breathtaking at night. I was lucky because after this crystal clear night clouds and rain approached the southern part of the island and made it impossible to see the galaxy. SEE DETAILS | BUY PRINT
330 | Mystical Milky Way | Grabs, Switzerland Click the image to take a closer look.		On my mobile phone a message said „Welcome to Austria“, the last clouds disappeared and finally the sky was crystal clear after days of rain. I couldn’t believe what spectacle I was about to see in the next hours around Lake Voralpsee in the Region of Toggenburg. Fog slowly covered the landscape and above Mount Gamsberg (2385m) the Milky Way was moving across the horizon. After a short time, the humidity was so high that my lens got hazy and it was almost impossible to shoot exposures with 30 seconds. Due to that, there was a unique side effect, Saturn and Mars appeared like galaxies in our neighborhood. I visited a lot of breathtaking sceneries in Switzerland and this one is amongst the most beautiful places. SEE DETAILS | BUY PRINT
347 | Cosmic Art | Ile Rousse, Korsika Click the image to take a closer look.		The Milky Way is unbelievable wide and indescribable beautiful. Since the first photo I'm fascinated about it. Billions of stars form structures and colors, which are in the true sense of the word galactic! In Mai 2016 I was able to capture the core and its surrounding for the first time with a long exposure on Corsica. The result surpasses all of my pictures of our home galaxy in terms of exposure time and the details takes my breath away every single time I see the image. SEE DETAILS | BUY PRINT
482 | Hilltop Heavens | Vorderthal, Switzerland Click the image to take a closer look.		In some nights in the mountains I think “farmer in the alps that would be a great life.” When I see these sceneries it seems that they are the most romantic thing on earth. All the hard work during the day, which is part of the job, forgotten. Before the first hikers of the day strolling through the landscape I’m already gone with magic moments in my backpack. On my journeys around the world I hardly found a place which was so beautiful and save like the Swiss Alps. Therefore, it makes sense that in my family crest there’s a capricorn. Deep inside I simply am one of the mountain people. SEE DETAILS | BUY PRINT
524 | Pakaloha | Waikoloa, Hawaii Click the image to take a closer look.		Hawaii, the definition of sun, beach and surfer feeling. For us however, the vast lava fields are a fascinating world of a variety of colors and shapes, much more than a vacation paradise. In this night we went out to explore the 1859 lava flow of world’s largest volcano, the Mauna Loa. Dressed as traditional hula dancers we captured the Milky Way galaxy between us. It was adventurous to walk on the uneven and sharp A’a-Lava. An exciting and memorable night. SEE DETAILS | BUY PRINT
533 | Haleakala Heavens | Haleakala, Hawaii Click the image to take a closer look.		The volcano Haleakala is one of the main attractions on Maui. Up here you especially meet hundreds of people at sunrise. Therefore, I was surprised that I was the only one that night. Shortly after the set of the moon the Milky Way was shining at its best. When it was standing vertical above the Haleakala Observatory, I though some light painting would be great in the picture. I almost jumped in the car myself when technicians left the summit. I couldn’t believe my luck when I saw the photo on the back of my camera. SEE DETAILS | BUY PRINT
535 | The Beauty of Caltech | Mauna Kea, Hawaii Click the image to take a closer look.		The Caltech Submillimeter Observatory (CSO) is one of the most beautiful observatories in my opinion. 2015 it was shut down after 29 years of operation and will be dismantled some when soon. Due to that fact, I wanted to shoot a picture of the shiny ball under the Milky Way before it will be gone. On Mauna Kea, all telescopes must leave their site as they got it. Maybe there will be only lava rocks when I come back the next time. SEE DETAILS | BUY PRINT
551 | Meet me under the Milky Way | South Point, Hawaii Click the image to take a closer look.		During all my travels to Hawaii I spent many hours at South Point. Unless it is the place on the island with the least rain, I was never able to see the stars down there. This time it was about to happen! After a nice dinner under a clear sky there was not a single cloud present event when the astronomical twilight startet. You can image how my pulse skyrocketed. However, the time window to take this panorama was short. Behind the tree the rising moon was already on its way. I jumped out of the car and ran with my gear 200m, like Usain Bold on its best day, through the dried out landscape. Out of breath I was finally able to shoot the galactic panorama of my dreams. Due to the airglow and the rising moon, which gave the clouds at the horizon an orange tint, it should turn out as one of my most colourful astro pictures ever. SEE DETAILS | BUY PRINT
624 | Painting of the Universe | Mauna Kea, Hawaii Click the image to take a closer look.		Astro photography on the biggest sea mountain in the Pacific Ocean. Each time when I’m here I’m fascinated about the colors of the universe. Almost invisible for the naked eye but very intense on the sensor of the camera. In this night, I was standing at 4000m on Mauna Kea and was able to use my star tracker for the first time on Hawaii. And despite I capture the Milky Way for a couple of years now, colors like this I had never seen before! In this picture, you can see a panoramic shot of the Milky Way and a green layer of airglow above the craters of Mauna Kea on the left-hand side and Mauna Loa on the right-hand side. In the center there lies the city of Hilo which is identifiable on its light under the clouds. The small orange glow on the right side of Hilo is the volcano Kilauea, which was very active that night. SEE DETAILS | BUY PRINT
139 | Lake Lucerne Startrails | Luzern, Switzerland Click the image to take a closer look.		This photo shows Central Switzerland in winter with the city of Lucerne and Lake of Lucerne in focus. You can see what the stars are up to if you are going to expose them long enough. For this particular picture a total exposure of 104 minutes was used and contains 419 x 15 seconds shots. On this Monday evening in December I was standing on top of Mount Pilatus (2128) for about 15 hours. Although I booked a warm room in the hotel I just used it to recharge my batteries. I think the freezing was absolutely worth it. SEE DETAILS | BUY PRINT
110 | Galactic Ocean | Pahoa, Hawaii Click the image to take a closer look.		No description available. SEE DETAILS | BUY PRINT
215 | Dancing with Pele | Mauna Kea, Hawaii Click the image to take a closer look.		This is my all-time favorite photo of the Milky Way and it was probably a once in a lifetime moment. The picture has been taken when I was invited to visit the facilities of the Canada-France-Hawaii Telescope (CFHT) on the big island of Hawaii. It is located at the summit of Mauna Kea at 4208m above sea level, the highest sea mountain in the pacific ocean. Usually the rangers ask everyone to leave the summit after sunset, so was I the day before. Due to my stay at the telescope I was able to spend some quality time in absolute darkness at high altitude. Up here the air is so clear that the Milky Way is visible to the naked eye like almost no place else. Although the temperature dropped drastically after sunset to 1°C and the wind was blowing with 60km/h I was able to capture the center of our universe perfectly. On the picture you can see the Gemini Telescope in the front and the University of Hawaii Telescope in the background. SEE DETAILS | BUY PRINT
262 | Earth's Ride through the Universe | Mauna Kea, Hawaii Click the image to take a closer look.		This photo has been taken on the highest mountain of Hawaii, Mauna Kea (4208m), overlooking the lava fields of the Big Island one of the world’s darkest places. At this point my camera was standing at about 3000m capturing more stars than ever. I’ve never seen the Milky Way in such a perfect alignment with the horizon. The clouds blocked most of the light pollution of the city of Hilo on the left and under the Milky Way you can see the volcanoes Mauna Loa (4169m) and on the right hand side Hualalei (2521m). In these moments I really feel like traveling through the universe. SEE DETAILS | BUY PRINT
346 | Terraforming | Alt St.Johann, Switzerland Click the image to take a closer look.		Year after year I’ve seen the mountain range called Churfirsten on my adventures. From Lake Walensee they reach steep into the sky and seem almost impossible to conquer. These mountains are fascinating from the first encounter. From the backside the rocky landscape isn't that steep anymore but the surrounding more beautiful. They are the proud of the region Toggenburg. In this night we spent marvelous hours in between hundreds of cows. These animals were calm and visited us a couple of times. After some cuddling the went back to sleep in the meadow. When the cow bells became silent the last clouds disappeared and the Milky Way was brightening up the sky. As mighty the Churfirsten seem to be as little they are in the universe, just like grain of sand. SEE DETAILS | BUY PRINT
352 | Toggenburg Dreamscape | Alt St.Johann, Switzerland Click the image to take a closer look.		A long time ago, before I started astro photography, I've seen a photo of a mountain which remembered me of the Matterhorn. It turned out that this peak was one of the mountain range called Churfirsten, Mount Frümsel (2267m). Not a majestic name but at night it is perfectly aligned with the Milky Way. It is incredible what dreamy sceneries Switzerland offers. SEE DETAILS | BUY PRINT
354 | Out of Reach | Vorderthal, Switzerland Click the image to take a closer look.		The Andromeda Galaxy is 2.5 millions lightyears away from our solar system. Therefore, it is the closest galaxy near the Milky Way. Nevertheless, we will never be able to reach it. On Wednesday I decided to take my star tracker on a hike to the Swiss mountains. When I was getting some sleep my camera was tracking our neighbor for 1h40min. SEE DETAILS | BUY PRINT
359 | Verzasca Perseids 2016 | Verzasca, Switzerland Click the image to take a closer look.		For the night from the 11.-12. August the peak of the Perseids Meteor Shower was predicted and 2016 it should be so intense like every 12 years. Unfortunately, the forecast was very bad for whole Switzerland expect the Italian part. Of course we couldn’t miss this astronomical highlight! Therefore, we packed our gear and jumped into the car. When we reached the St. Gotthard we realized that we had forgotten all our warm jackets, looks like we were too excited. Anyway our sleeping bags we had with us, so we continued our journey through the darkness heading to the dam wall of Verzasca. This place we knew crowded because of the famous James Bond bungee jump, but now we were alone. The best idea ever was to transport our beach chair through half of Switzerland. We snuggled into our sleeping bags and enjoyed the clear night sky. What we were able to observe there surpassed all our expectations! So many and bright shooting stars we had never seen before. SEE DETAILS | BUY PRINT
433 | Sophistication | Männedorf, Switzerland Click the image to take a closer look.		Some photo ideas need almost endless patience. Not only taking the photo also the waiting for the right condition is sometimes hard. When I discovered this tree I knew that I had to shoot star trails above it. But in my mind I had a picture with a snowy landscape. With snow not only the stars are shining, even the surface of the snow sparkles. Unfortunately, there were never snow and a clear sky at the same time in the past 2 years. Until this magical night! The conditions were perfect. The moon was half illuminated and the sky was very clear. The temperature dropped to -15°C that night, therefore the camera was completely frozen after 5 hours. The result, the image out of my dreams. SEE DETAILS | BUY PRINT
481 | My Dream | Vorderthal, Switzerland Click the image to take a closer look.		Since I’ve seen the Milky Way for the first time I’m fascinated about it. To observe it I’ve spent countless nights in darkness. In the past years I always had one picture in my mind. Finally, I was able the capture it! My lonely sleeping place in the Swiss mountains. SEE DETAILS | BUY PRINT
674 | Wonders of Chli Aubrig | Vorderthal, Switzerland Click the image to take a closer look.		Mount Chli Aubrig (1642m) might seem for most of the people unremarkable, but this mountain remembers me a lot of my childhood. In this night it was part of a special constellation in the universe. The zodiac sign Scorpius with its orange star Antares placed itself above the summit. SEE DETAILS | BUY PRINT
529 | Starburn | Staniel Cay, Bahamas Click the image to take a closer look.		The island Staniel Cay is located in the Bahamas and it is very quiet at night. It is unlikely to meet one of the 81 inhabitants nor one of the few tourists. Therefore, I went to the beach to capture the night sky. I was surprised that the sea shines turquoise even during the night. When I’ve seen these two beach chairs I asked myself, if the sun was not present and I would lay here long enough, would I get a starburn? SEE DETAILS | BUY PRINT
536 | Alpine Legacy | Vals, Switzerland Click the image to take a closer look.		For more than thousand years Antares with its neighbor stars is setting behind Mount Güferhorn (3379m) and its glacier in Vals. Our children will not see this happening in the next decades. The glacier is melting fast! The stony spots of the mountain were still under ice in the middle of the last century. Sad that so much beauty of our country will soon be lost. SEE DETAILS | BUY PRINT
538 | Playground of my Brothers | Vals, Switzerland Click the image to take a closer look.		The valley of Vals is without a doubt a paradise for nature lovers and you will be psyched about the panoramic view of the mountains. Nevertheless, the highlight for me are the locals. Rarely, I was welcomed so warm and felt just like home within minutes. When we went up to the mountains that night with the stargazers of Vals they were able to tell us all the facts about every peak we saw. Mount Guraletschhorn (2908m) which you can see in this picture was one of them. The center of the Milky Way was setting behind the summit. In the picture you can easily spot the colorful lagoon nebula on the left and the bright shining planet Saturn in the top right. Luckily the mountain scape was eliminated by the rising moon giving the picture more depth. SEE DETAILS | BUY PRINT
625 | Road to Infinity | Mauna Kea, Hawaii Click the image to take a closer look.		In this night, I was wandering around in absolute darkness all by myself at an altitude of 3000m a.s.l. What in Switzerland would be life threatening is at some places on Hawaii possible without any danger. I’ve found countless interesting subjects but no one was as meaningful as this manmade road heading towards the center of the Milky Way. Maybe we will be able to travel to faraway places in our home galaxy in a distant future. SEE DETAILS | BUY PRINT
626 | Calling Home | South Point, Hawaii Click the image to take a closer look.		I’ve seen the two 13m parabolic antennas of the Swedish Space Corporation for the first time in 2011 when I was visiting the Big Island of Hawaii. It fascinated me from the very beginning. Each time I travelled to Hawaii I was trying to take this photo but the weather and the high barbwire made it impossible. Finally, 2017 should be the year. This time I had the right gear with me, so I was able to capture the picture from the distance. It looks like somebody is calling the center of the Milky Way galaxy. SEE DETAILS | BUY PRINT
667 | Family in Space | Schönenberg, Switzerland Click the image to take a closer look.		The daylight vanishes, sounds become silent, a hike through a snowy fairytale. It seems the time has stopped, nevertheless earth is moving through space with an unbelievable speed. Most of these trees were planted when my family moved to this region of Switzerland. A couple of times already I was standing here and admired the fine branches of trees. Later I found out that Polaris is located directly above. This view is taking my breath over and over again. SEE DETAILS | BUY PRINT
672 | Listening to Silence | Mauna Kea, Hawaii Click the image to take a closer look.		The James Clerk Maxwell Telescope (JCMT) is a submillimetre-wavelength telescope located on the Big Island of Hawaii. Its primary mirror is 15 metres across. After spending seven hours at 4000m capturing my huge panorama of the Milky Way it was time of the final ascent to the summit of Mauna Kea. The JCMT was already waiting for me to capture it beautiful aligned with our home galaxy. SEE DETAILS | BUY PRINT
138 | Pilatus Startrails | Luzern, Switzerland Click the image to take a closer look.		In this picture you can see star trails above the summit of Mount Pilatus (2128m). In total the image contains 211 photos with an exposure time of 105min. The night was frosty but when I've seen the photos on the back of my camera I did not feel cold anymore. SEE DETAILS | BUY PRINT
104 | Stars on Mars | Maui, Hawaii Click the image to take a closer look.		On top of the extinct volcano Haleakala (3055m) on the island of Maui the nights are very dark. In fact, that dark that I was able to shoot the galactic core with relatively low ISO. Therefore, the foreground was a bit a problem. It was pitch black and not very nice to have in the photo. I had to be ingenious! I mounted my camera on the tripod, triggered the shot with the remote and then stepped for 2 seconds on the break of my rental car. The red breaking lights gave the surrounding the Martian look. SEE DETAILS | BUY PRINT
711 | Bridge to Asgard | Innerthal, Switzerland Click the image to take a closer look.		This is how I imagine it, the Rainbow Bridge to the kingdom of the Nordic Gods at Asgard. The sky was mystical and crystal clear, as I have seldom seen it, in this summer night above the Schwyz mountains. In this 20 minutes exposure, Jupiter is brightly shining in the middle of the picture, currently outshining the brightest stars. The lower part shows the Milky Way including Lagoon Nebula and the upper part shows Rho Ophiuchi with Antares. The play of colours between the yellow light pollution and the green airglow made it possible to take a particularly colourful picture. SEE DETAILS | BUY PRINT
185 | Into the Galaxy | Braunwald, Switzerland Click the image to take a closer look.		Nothing beats a midnight hike to observe the Milky Way galaxy. Dark places are not as far as you might think in Switzerland. For example the Glarus Alps are very easy to reach and the sight is fantastic. This location I reached within 1,5h by train from Zurich. After a 2 hours hike was the sky perfect for a galactic self-portrait. SEE DETAILS | BUY PRINT
187 | Vrenelis Milky Way | Braunwald, Switzerland Click the image to take a closer look.		This picture shows a panoramic view of the Milky Way containing 12 images, taken at Lake Oberblegisee at 1422m. This is a magical place for me because it was one of the first times I was able to take a picture of the Milky Way in the Swiss Alps. My only companion in the dark was a lonely frog. Before the sky was clear I had to wait for about one hour. Only the top of Mount Glärnisch with its glacier Vrenelisgärtli was covered in clouds. A bit to the right the light pollution of Glarus was shining from below and the bright part on the right hand side is the city of Chur in a distance of 50km with the galactic center above. SEE DETAILS | BUY PRINT
190 | The Messenger | Braunwald, Switzerland Click the image to take a closer look.		Never leave your flashlight at home! I always take three flashlights with me in case of a breakdown of one or more. For the Milky Way astrophotography the darkest places are the best, but hiking without any light is not recommended in the Swiss Alps. In my case here there wasn't even any cell phone reception. I hiked for two hours through the dark of the Glarus Alps mostly in the woods. It can be a bit frightening from time to time, because you have to get used to the silence. SEE DETAILS | BUY PRINT
203 | Vertical Milky Way | Glarus, Switzerland Click the image to take a closer look.		New moon August is one of the last possibilities to observe the center of the Milky Way in Switzerland. After a two hours hike I reached the Hüttenkopf (1100m) at 23:00. At this time a year the Milky Way is already almost vertical in the sky and is moving from south to west. I captured this picture at 00:45. The bright city of Glarus with its more than 12’000 inhabitants had to be taken with two exposures to get the overall exposure correct. For the Milky Way above the Glärnisch and the Vrenelisgärtli the ISO had to be pumped up to 6400 to see all the detail of our galaxy. SEE DETAILS | BUY PRINT
236 | Teide Moon | Tenerife, Spain Click the image to take a closer look.		This picture has been taken at November 24th just after sunset when the moon was at 6% luminance. It shows the volcano Teide 3718m on Tenerife seen from the road TF-21 at kilometer 28. After parking my car along-side the road and I hiked up the slope to wait for the sunset. I had no idea that the moon would be in this perfect aligning with the mountain therefore I was very happy with my shot. SEE DETAILS | BUY PRINT
312 | Orbit | Vorderthal, Switzerland Click the image to take a closer look.		This is the galactic core of our home galaxy, the Milky Way. This image has been taken on March 19th at 04:58 AM just when the moon had set. In the past I wasn't aware that the center of the Milky Way is already visible in March, therefore I was very excited to start the astronomy summer a bit earlier this time. I haven't taken astro shots in the snow so far, so I got colder feet than usual. To capture the Milky Way at 50mm in this detail I used a star tracker which was following the stars. Due to this, you can see the movement of the ground. I left this slightly blurred landscape to show that our solar system is orbiting the galactic core and not the other way around. Saturn (in the middle) and Mars (upper right corner) are also visible in this picture. SEE DETAILS | BUY PRINT
270 | Destiny | Filzbach, Switzerland Click the image to take a closer look.		At the peak of the Perseid Meteor Shower it was time for another stargazing night in the Glarus Alps. Due to the perfect alignment at new moon the Milky Way was shining across the narrow valley. I waited until I was able to capture our galaxy without any meteors and airplanes. With the camera almost vertical mounted to the tripod the Alps framed the galactic disk. SEE DETAILS | BUY PRINT
317 | Galactic Castle | Rapperswil, Switzerland Click the image to take a closer look.		I would have been able to see the Milky Way many years earlier when I grew up in this region. In this picture you can see the Rapperswil Castle, which is almost 800 years old and the bright bridge to Pfäffikon. Imagine how this photo would have looked like when the castle was built in 1220. Luckily the city of Rapperswil is not able to outshine our home galaxy. The idea for this photo I had in mind for a while now. But there's just one spot between Stäfa and Rapperswil without any disturbing lights. Just in April the Milky Way is aligned as wanted. Therefore, I had to wait for almost a year for this moment. SEE DETAILS | BUY PRINT
336 | Lake Jupiter | Grabs, Switzerland Click the image to take a closer look.		A night at Lake Voralpsee at 1123m is very special. At the end of this day fog was moving into the valley and covered the lake. A couple of minutes earlier the moon had set behind the mountains and the brightest object in the sky was Jupiter. Due to the hazy sight the planet seemed to be so big like the half-moon. When the naked eye wasn't able to see the surrounding anymore the camera captured even the details on the lakes surface. SEE DETAILS | BUY PRINT
337 | Ancient Stardust | Lozari, Korsika Click the image to take a closer look.		In early summer there's a spectacle to watch on Corsica. The Milky Way is visible in all its glory in the Mediterranean night sky. In this picture our galaxy stretches across 13 photos above the Genoese tower of Lozari. The Genoese towers in Corsica are a series of coastal defenses constructed by the Republic of Genoa between 1530 and 1620 to stem the attacks by Barbary pirates. I asked myself if the architects of these towers had been mesmerized by the sparkling stars as well? This night was like a movie. When we planned to leave our house at 01:00 three horses were blocking the road in front of the entrance gate. The neighbor had to catch them before we could leave and that took a while. Afterwards we were the only ones on the street until a wild rabbit crossed the street and forced us to a hard stop. The way to the tower we had already scouted at daylight, that we could spend calm hours in the nature of Corsica. SEE DETAILS | BUY PRINT
422 | The Dragon | Luzern, Switzerland Click the image to take a closer look.		After the Dragon Mountain (Pilatus) had spit smoke and fire over the landscape, it swallowed the sun in a minute as well. From a safe distance of 64km we witnessed this spectacle. What a mesmerizing moment! SEE DETAILS | BUY PRINT
356 | Billion Stars Hotel | Vorderthal, Switzerland Click the image to take a closer look.		On Wednesday Evening I reached the summit of this mountain in the canton of Schwyz after a short hike through the night. In the dark my accommodation was set up very quickly and I was able to observe a breathtaking panorama of the mountain scape. Personally I prefer these 5 Billion stars rather than any 5 stars hotel. On top of that I witnessed a cloudless sunrise out of the tent. What a great moment! SEE DETAILS | BUY PRINT
360 | The Wanderer | Vorderthal, Switzerland Click the image to take a closer look.		A lot of places I visit I see for the first time at night. The orientation is not always easy and it is possible to lose the path. Luckily orientating according to the stars never fails, like ancient civilizations already had realized. Finally reaching the summit and gazing at the universe, this is my dream. SEE DETAILS | BUY PRINT
369 | What If? | Männedorf, Switzerland Click the image to take a closer look.		Sometimes I ask myself how the world would look like if there weren’t any people on earth. At new moon there must have been an astonishing darkness. Not only in the middle of the Pacific Ocean, everywhere! This tree, which my girlfriend and I visit frequently, I wanted to show with a composing for once. How would it look like without humans? The Milky Way is aligned like this but the light pollution blocks this magical spectacle. SEE DETAILS | BUY PRINT
432 | Interstellar | Braunwald, Switzerland Click the image to take a closer look.		20 years ago I planted a tree which will outlive me for sure. It will observe the clear night sky for me even when I’m gone. On my hikes sometimes I ask myself what would be a great place for my friend? When I was standing in front of this rock I had the feeling that someone else had exactly the same idea. It was mother nature. The universe, just fantastic. This was my first photo of the Milky Way in the Swiss Alps, until today nobody had ever seen this picture. I tried to reach this magical place again but severe weather changes and snow made it impossible. SEE DETAILS | BUY PRINT
480 | Fate | Vorderthal, Switzerland Click the image to take a closer look.		When I was sitting here alone in the dark I thought: “It is incredible how life goes.” I have the feeling that I’ve visited this place a thousand times. With my parents, I was walking through this landscape at very young age already. I even learned skiing on these hills. The road to this place I would remember blindfolded, every curve an old friend. Nevertheless, today I see this place in another light. The stars waited for me for all these years. To cap it all, a deer visited me with no fear in darkness. It seems like I am a part of the landscape up here on the Sattelegg. SEE DETAILS | BUY PRINT
510 | My Name is Jupiter | Neuheim, Switzerland Click the image to take a closer look.		Sometimes the universe surprises you with a nice constellation. Like this solitary tree right under the largest planet in our solar system. It takes Jupiter with its more than 60 moons 12 earth years to orbit the sun once. Therefore, we felt blessed to observe this happening. SEE DETAILS | BUY PRINT
534 | The Lava House | Kalapana, Hawaii Click the image to take a closer look.		Bevor the lava 1986 was flowing through the village of Kalapana there were standing more than 100 houses. In the meantime, just a few has been newly built. So was this house, erected in the middle of the lava field. We were standing on the balcony for hours observing the lava flowing down the hill heading down the ocean. When I was wandering on the lava that night the sky cleared and the center of the Milky Way was visible directly above the house. Capturing the ancient light when feeling the new land under my feet made me feel connected to heaven and earth. SEE DETAILS | BUY PRINT
537 | M31 | Vals, Switzerland Click the image to take a closer look.		When we visited our friends in Vals I was able to mount my camera on a telescope for the first time. At 50% illumination of the moon I captured our neighbor galaxy for about 30 minutes. The Andromeda Galaxy will be merging with the Milky Way in a couple of billion years. But until then this wonderful sight will be in our night sky. SEE DETAILS | BUY PRINT
553 | Signs of the Times | Sustenpass, Switzerland Click the image to take a closer look.		Photos of glaciers are documentary reports of time. According to newest studies, 80 to 90 percent of the Swiss glaciers will be gone by the year of 2100. 30 years ago the Steinglacier was reaching Lake Steinsee. What’s left are bleak stony landscapes with unstable slopes. Due to global warming, new natural hazards emerge and hopefully our population and alpine landscape will not suffer too much. SEE DETAILS | BUY PRINT
563 | Heart of the Scorpion | Mauna Kea, Hawaii Click the image to take a closer look.		The star Antares with its neighborhood is one of my favorite celestial objects. On Mauna Kea on the Big Island of Hawaii I was able to capture these intense colors only with a few exposures. The yellow star in the picture is Antares, which is the brightest star in the constellation of Scorpius. A fascinating piece of art painted with ancient star dust. SEE DETAILS | BUY PRINT
661 | Frozen Passion | Alt St.Johann, Switzerland Click the image to take a closer look.		At the beginning of the year my pulse is rising. The passion to see the core of our home galaxy again is guiding me into the Swiss nature no matter how cold the nights are. Like this night in the snowy region called Toggenbrug. The snow was deep as the temperature, which was -10°C. After the exhausting hike through the darkness I was standing there once again, the Milky Way shining in my eyes, almost forgetting to press the shutter of my camera. SEE DETAILS | BUY PRINT
669 | Into the Light | South Point, Hawaii Click the image to take a closer look.		The gate to the afterlife, this is how I imagine it. The way under the bow of the Milky Way into the light. No one knows what is waiting for us at the end of our journey. For a long time, I was looking for a street like this. During past five years even the smallest tracks I was checking out in the south of the Big Island of Hawaii. When I was standing here, in this crystal-clear night, the moon was rising at the perfect spot and illuminated the landscape. In this moment, I truly felt like a gate had just opened to a supernatural dimension. SEE DETAILS | BUY PRINT
673 | Never Forgotten | Vorderthal, Switzerland Click the image to take a closer look.		When Saturn rose over the Gross Aubrig that night, I knew I would never forget this moment. The center of the Milky Way between the peaks of Mount Gross Aubrig and Mount Chli Aubrig as well as Saturn, Mars and Jupiter above the horizon, a very special moment for me. Exactly one year before I already stood here, the landscape completely green. But for my picture, which I wished for, it needed a dreamy white. Because I wanted to capture this place of my childhood with the one ski lift at icy temperatures. It's amazing what a fascination the same places can have for different reasons. SEE DETAILS | BUY PRINT
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Astro Photography by Gianni Krattli