Image description
The Hotel Bellevue at Mount Pilatus in front of a massive rock face at night. The clear starry sky covers the mountain landscape of Central Switzerland.
- Date taken
- September 20, 2025
- Resolution
- 4'636 × 3'477 px (16.1 MP)
- Shutter speed
- 8 s
- Aperture
- f/2
- ISO
- 1600
- Focal length
- 12 mm
Photography tips
How this image was taken
To capture clear stars while retaining the structure of the hotel and rock face at night, an aperture of f/2 and an ISO of 1600 were used. An exposure time of 8 seconds allows for sufficient light capture at a 12 mm focal length without causing significant star trails due to the earth's rotation.
- Use a wide aperture like f/2 to let as much light as possible reach the sensor in low-light conditions.
- Select a fast shutter speed to keep stars as sharp points rather than trails, especially when using a wide-angle focal length.
- Adjust the ISO sensitivity to manually control the exposure for night shots while balancing the image noise.