Seth Lazar, Tinderry Range (May theme: The night sky)

I think this is my most accomplished shot of the galactic centre. Last month I found a very obscure road, tucked away (I won't say where). It's apparently public, but has only two farms on it, so the landowners reasonably enough think of it as private. It had a great view of the mountains from the north—just right to catch the galactic centre rising over the main part of the range. I met the landowners, who stopped for a chat and were happy to indulge me (though initially suspicious! Fair enough, there are some dodgy folks out and about in the middle of the night in country NSW). Tried last month but thwarted by clouds. Back again this month—thwarted again by clouds (as well as the fact that I had forgotten my battery...). Back out the next night, and it was just perfect. Chilly conditions, zero light pollution. Thought I'd experiment with a longer exposure to draw out more of the h-alpha light. Super-pleased with how it came out. I love these mountains, and want to do them justice! EXIF Mosaic and blend Foreground 3 shots 600s at f3.2 ISO 800 Sky four shots 180s f3.2 ISO 400 Skywatcher Star Adventurer Tracking Mount Sigma 50mm f1.4 ART Nikon d750

Images have been resized for web display, which may cause some loss of image quality. Note: Original high-resolution images are used for judging.