The Milky Way Above a Field of Poppies | Our Celestial Adventure | 3rd–4th June 2026Â
We've been dreaming of photographing poppies under the stars for a long time. So when we discovered a south-facing field full of them during a recent trip away, we knew we just had to head back and capture that scene.
Our Celestial Adventure
A little while ago, whilst we were out travelling on a business trip, we noticed a field full of beautiful red poppy flowers. We have been desperately wanting to photograph poppies along with the night sky for a while now, and so when we discovered this field of beautiful flowers and that the view of the field was facing towards South, we were incredibly excited and we just knew that this field would make a perfect foreground for the Milky Way.
Once we got back home from our business trip we began thinking of how we would go about capturing the poppies, and as we were forecast clear skies that night we decided to head to the poppies to scout the field and possibly get some shots.
When we arrived it was quite late and it was very quiet, apart from the odd car going past on the nearby main road. It was also quite windy and the poppies were dancing in the warm breeze with the Milky Way rising up in the sky above them. It looked amazing! There was however quite a bit of light pollution on the horizon, but as the foreground looked so pretty we thought it was definitely worth trying for a shot. And so we set up our camera gear to get some test shots.
We knew that the Milky Way core would be rising up above the horizon very soon and so we quickly found a composition that we liked and started shooting.
We initially tried to shoot several photographs all at different focus distances to stack together into what is known as a focus stack in order to have the entire frame in focus front to back. However the constant wind was causing the paper thin poppies to dance side to side, making a focus stack impossible. And so we decided to instead just shoot a timelapse to see if we could catch a moment where there was a lull in the wind.
Fortunately, we did manage to catch a few minutes where the wind died down a little, allowing the poppies to be seen properly in the photographs.
Just after getting the foreground shots we were after, the Milky Way core began to rise above the horizon and so we turned our attention to our home galaxy. We knew that the Moon would be rising very soon afterwards making it harder to capture detail in the Milky Way and so we quickly aimed upwards to capture more of the sky.
Typically when shooting the Milky Way we would use a star tracker to allow extended shutter speeds to gather more detail from the Milky Way, however as it was quite windy and we knew that we didn't have much time before the Moon was rising we decided to shoot a series of photographs to stack together.
Unfortunately the light pollution was having a strong effect on the Milky Way and we could only make out a hint of the Milky Way in the shots we were getting. However, we decided to persevere and see if we could get some more detail from the stack of photos we captured. Even if there wasn't much detail in the Milky Way, we thought that the scene of the stars along with the poppies would still look nice.
Not long after the Milky Way core had risen, right on cue, the Moon began to peek above the horizon and we knew our Milky Way core shoot was finished. The Moonlight looked amazing washing across the poppy field and so we decided to shoot some photos of the Moon and the poppies too. Maybe when we have a little spare time we will look at processing some of these images too.
After a little while of shooting the Moon with the poppies, we decided to pack up our gear and take our canine companions, Luna and her little sister Selena, to a nearby area of grass where they could run around and play. Luna and Selena had a wonderful time running and playing in the moonlight, and after a little while we decided to head back home.
All in all it was an amazing night and we were so happy to have finally got some photographs of poppy flowers along with the night sky.
We captured lots of photographs on this evening and thought it would be nice to share our favourite of them with all of you. 😊
Our Photograph of the Milky Way Above a Field of Poppies
In this photograph, you can see a field full of beautiful poppy flowers and despite the glow of nearby light pollution plus the rising Moon, in the sky above the poppies you can see the spring Milky Way. The core of the Milky Way can be seen shining through a band of orangey/yellow light pollution, and just above the orange band of light there is a faint hint of some green airglow too! We actually quite like how the light pollution adds another layer of colour to this image with the greens and reds of the field below and the sky gradually transitioning from orangey/yellow, to faint green, to a deep blue.
We hope you like our photograph! 😊
📷 Camera – Nikon Z8 astro modded
🔠Lens – Sigma Art 24mm f/1.4
🔲 Filter – Kase Neutral Night
🎛 Settings – sky – 9 x 8s exposures stacked for noise reduction, ISO 2000, f/1.6
🎛 Settings – foreground – 9 x 8s exposures stacked for noise reduction, ISO 1000, f/1.6
What Else Is in the Night Sky Throughout June?
If you would like to know more about the rest of the celestial treats that can be seen in the skies throughout this June, please watch our Night Sky Guide video for June 2026 on our Facebook and or on our YouTube channel @Astrodoguk. If you head over to YouTube, please subscribe to our channel to make sure you never miss any celestial events.
Share Your Experiences and Photographs!
We always love hearing about your celestial adventures and seeing your photographs! If you headed out to witness or capture photos of this special celestial event or any other sights in the night sky, please feel free to share your stories and photos in the comments below. 😊
Wishing You All Starry Skies!
We hope you enjoy the photograph we captured, and as always — if you head out to enjoy the night sky any time soon, we wish you good luck and clear skies! 💖✨🌌