Long-exposure sky studies / Maren Vale

Light that arrives late.

Astrophotography from high desert stations, quiet rooftops, and the edge of the atmosphere.

Enter the archive

Image archive / 2019—26

Selected signals

Field notes / working method

A patient instrument.

Every frame begins with a weather window and ends with a careful stack. I return to the same dark sites to make small changes visible: a veil of hydrogen, a moving shadow, the colour held inside dust.

01

Collect

Untracked exposures from 30 seconds to 8 minutes, gathered over several hours.

02

Calibrate

Dark, flat, and bias frames keep the final image honest to the instrument.

03

Resolve

Colour is balanced by star temperature, never by a preset or borrowed sky.

Instrument log / print desk

Made for close looking.

Archival pigment prints and location-led collaborations, produced in small editions.

01

Field rig

William Optics Zenithstar 73, cooled monochrome camera, and a hand-built dew shield.

Portable / 7.4 kg
02

Edition print

Hahnemühle cotton paper, signed and numbered. Available at 40 × 60 cm.

From $240 / edition of 18
03

Sky commission

A site-specific night study for observatories, hotels, studios, and patient brands.

From $1,850 / proposal

Inquiry / 01

Name the sky you need.

For print orders, licensing, or a commissioned field study, send a few coordinates.

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