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Mark Wierda

@mark_wierda

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Landscape | Travel | Night Sky
📍 | The Netherlands
🖼 | Prints Available 👇🏻

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The Milky Way above Badwater Basin 🌌

I recently took this photo during my trip to the United States. I really wanted to visit Death Valley at night as it is one of the darkest places on earth. Very little to no light pollution. We stayed one night at an oasis in Furnace Creek. During the day it was 46°C and even at night it was still above 40 degrees 🥵

I planned this location and composition before going on vacation and I'm very happy with the photos I came home with.

It was amazing to see and photograph such dark skies for the first time. More photos to follow. Let me know what you think of it! 🙌🏻

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#badwaterbasin #deathvalley #deathvalleynationalpark #darkskypark #melkweg #milkywaychasers #milkywaypics #long_exposure #milkywaychaser #nightskyphotography #milkyway_nightscapes #longexposure_world #milkywayphotography #longexposureshots #longexposurephotography #milkyway #milkywaygalaxy #milkywayshooters #witns #samyang14mm #melkwegstelsel #nachtfotografie #samyang #iamskywatcher #bestdarkphoto The Milky Way above Badwater Basin in Death Valley taken in Badwater Basin by @mark_wierda

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3 years ago

She said YES!

I had been thinking about proposing under the northern lights for a while. Last night was the day! Before we went on vacation, I researched many potential locations. These beautiful colorful houses with a small beach were one of them.

I had set up my camera and then I had to wait for the northern lights. Initially the northern lights were not very strong. Until within a minute it suddenly became very present. It was all over the sky. I asked my girlfriend to look at the northern lights above the houses. I quickly grabbed the ring from my pocket and got down on my knees.

I couldn't have imagined a better engagement than this. Under the beautiful northern lights and November's full beaver moon.

I love you, @beaparisi ❤️💍

27 November 2023
Sommarøy, Norway
69.6416° N, 17.9931° E

#engagement #northernlights #aurora #auroraborealis #norway Engagement under the northern lights taken in Sommarøy by @mark_wierda

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3 years ago

Noctilucent clouds before sunrise ☁️

Recently I saw noctilucent clouds for the first time. This was very cool! This happened when I went out to photograph the planet alignment from one of my previous posts.

Before that, I had already been on the road twice to photograph this phenomenon. Unfortunately, they were not visibly present at the time.

Noctilucent clouds (glowing night clouds) are a type of clouds that occur at heights between 75 and 85 kilometers, much higher than regular clouds. Because these clouds are at extremely high altitudes, they reflect sunlight after sunset or before sunrise. These clouds are only visible in some parts of the Northern Hemisphere during the months of June and July.

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#noctilucentclouds #nightshiningclouds #nlc #nlcs #loves_netherlands #mooinederland #nederlandopzijnmooist #dutchcaptures #hollandismooi #bestofnetherlands #thisisholland #nightskyphotography #nachtfotografie #nederlandismooi #witns #visitnetherlands #dutch_shooters #nosindebuurt #mooiholland #igersholland #netherlands_captured #visitholland taken in Overijssel by @mark_wierda

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4 years ago

Perseids Meteor Shower 2026 ☄️

After the amazing partial solar eclipse, I also went out to photograph the shooting stars. I drove to this beautiful windmill in Friesland and stood there for about three hours.

Just enjoying the shooting stars while the camera continuously took pictures. In total, I counted 73 shooting stars, of which 29 were captured. I combined the most beautiful and brightest ones into a single photo.

This is also the first night I used my new lens for astrophotography. It was time for an upgrade. I was able to acquire a Sigma 20mm f/1.4 from someone for a good price. This lens is much sharper and lets four times more light through than the Samyang 14mm f/2.8. So, super handy for astrophotography.

#perseids #meteorshower #milkywaychasers #milkyway #astrophotography taken in Cornwerd by @mark_wierda

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2 months ago

Partial Solar Eclipse 2026 🌞

Here is my result from yesterday. I tried to align the sun with a church tower. I knew the sun would be too high to appear behind the church tower. With the solar filter on the lens, the tower wasn't even visible. When the sun was already a bit lower at the end of the eclipse, I briefly removed the filter from the lens anyway.

Compared to last year's partial solar eclipse, this one was absolutely a lot more impressive. Last year's was covered by the moon by a maximum of about 24%. This year, the eclipse received a lot of media attention. There were several people on the dike near Kampen. A number of them did not have eclipse glasses. I let some people look through my glasses. It was nice to see those happy faces when they were able to experience the eclipse as well.

#solareclipse #partialsolareclipse #solareclipse2026 taken in Kampen, Netherlands by @mark_wierda

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2 months ago

Yesterday I did my very first storm chase 🌩️

After checking the weather models and radar images late in the afternoon, the best chance at that moment seemed to lie along the coast and in Northeast Friesland. That is why I drove from Hoogeveen towards Leek to intercept the line of clouds – and hopefully a shelf cloud. Leek was a good base to be able to quickly head in any direction as soon as new clouds formed.

But things turned out completely differently. Just when I thought the chance was gone, a new thunderstorm cell suddenly formed... over Hoogeveen, exactly where I came from 😅

Changed position one more time and finally managed to take this lightning photo near Gieten. Maybe not the shelf cloud I had been hoping for all afternoon, but for a first storm chase, I am happy that I was able to take my very first lightning photo.

Together with @beaparisi ❤️

#thunderstorm #lightning #stormchasers #onweer #stormclouds taken in Gieten by @mark_wierda

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4 months ago

Blooming Rhododendrons 🌸

This is the first time I’ve photographed rhododendrons since I started taking up photography. This year, I largely missed the tulip season due to a wonderful vacation in Brazil. I did, however, drive the Drenthe tulip route. Unfortunately, I didn't find the weather conditions good enough for beautiful photos. I was looking for an alternative for this spring and found beautiful photos of rhododendrons.

Coincidentally, I came across this location yesterday in a reel by @eemoppad. In the evening, I decided to go to sleep early and drive to Pinetum Ter Borgh around sunrise the next day. After taking photos, I walked the yellow trail in the Evertsbos.

#rhododendrons #pinetumterborgh #spring #netherlands #drenthe taken in Pinetum Ter Borgh by @mark_wierda

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5 months ago

Milky Way in Brazil 🌌🇧🇷

Last month, I photographed the Milky Way in the Southern Hemisphere for the first time during my vacation in Brazil. We spent a short week on Ilhabela, and the first evening immediately proved to be the best opportunity: partly cloudy, with enough clear spells.

Around midnight, we drove to a viewpoint on the east side of the island. The beach was barely visible due to the vegetation, but the Milky Way stood beautifully above the landscape.

This is also my first Milky Way photo with the @moveshootmove Nomad star tracker, which I bought because it is more compact than the Sky-Watcher Star Adventurer 2i. Due to the cloud cover, I couldn't take a stack of 20 photos, but I am still very satisfied with the result. The clouds actually give the photo something extra.

Exif:
Canon 6D (Astro modified)
Samyang 14mm f/2.8
Move Shoot Move Nomad

Sky: 60 sec, ISO 3200, f/4
Foreground: 30 sec, ISO 3200, f/4
Cropped to 4:5 format

#milkyway #astrophotography #nightsky #brazil #ilhabela taken in Ilhabela -Praia Jabaquara by @mark_wierda

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5 months ago

Genieten... 🤩

📸: @mark_wierda

#lauwersmeer #nplauwersmeer #darkskypark #darkskyparklauwersmeer #night taken in Dark Sky Park NP Lauwersmeer by @mark_wierda

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5 months ago

Extreme Northern Lights in May 2024 🤩

Some photos from the night of May 10 to 11, 2024. Exactly two years ago, so the perfect moment to share these photos that I haven't posted before.

This night was absolutely unforgettable! Especially because I was able to capture it just 15 minutes from home.

#northernlights #auroraborealis #aurora #astrophotography #nightsky taken in Nationaal Park Dwingelderveld by @mark_wierda

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5 months ago

The Orion Nebula 🔭

My first deep sky image! Not perfect, but I'm proud of it. I intended to capture an hour's worth of data, but in the end, I only got 15 good 1 minute exposures. Many of the exposures were ruined by clouds or periodic tracking errors. I pushed my star tracker to its limits with a large and heavy 150-600mm lens.

The Orion Nebula, also known as Messier 42, is a huge and remarkably bright nebula about 1300–1500 light-years away. You can see it with the naked eye in Orion's "sword." It's an active site where new stars are forming, with the young Trapezium Cluster at its heart.

Photo details:
15 x 60 seconds – f/6.3 – ISO 1600 - 600mm
Darks, flats and bias calibration frames

Canon 6D Astro-modified
Sigma 150-600mm F/5-6.3 DG OS HSM Contemporary
Sky-Watcher Star Adventurer 2i Pro

Processed with Siril and Photoshop

#astrophotography #deepskyphotography #orionnebula #orion #nebula by @mark_wierda

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7 months ago

Snowy Dwingelderveld ❄️

All week I'd been looking forward to the snow that was coming this weekend. This morning my alarm went off early, and out the window, a layer of snow was visible!

Just before sunrise, I drove to the Dwingelderveld. I had a lovely walk and took these photos. Which one do you like most?

#snowylandscape #winterscape #winterphotography #dwingelderveld #netherlands taken in Nationaal Park Dwingelderveld by @mark_wierda

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9 months ago