After getting my feet well and truly soaked photographing the sea at sunset, it seemed like a good idea to go and stand in near-freezing temperatures for a couple of hours, just up the coast at Porteau Cove Provincial Park.

With a strong wind blowing it was extremely cold, but the first clear night we’ve had in weeks provided an incredible view.

This is a 5 photo panorama stitched using Hugin, each image taken at ISO 8000, 16mm, for 45 seconds. Due to the projection I had to use to get this to be displayed on a flat screen, it’s not as high resolution as that might suggest — only about 35 megapixels. The projection is also responsible for the slightly curved 'spires’ on the right hand side.

This is my first attempt at a night sky panorama, and as expected, it’s somewhat tricky due to the stars moving and the ground not!

I was extremely pleased with how the Milky Way turned out, and the Big Dipper is clearly visible near the horizon just to the right of centre. Light domes are from the cities of Nanaimo (I think) on the left and Squamish on the right.