Elan Valley Spring Milky Way Arch & Aurora | Photography Print

We had travelled to Wales specifically to photograph a particular reservoir in the Elan Valley. However, when we arrived we discovered it had been drained for construction work at the dam. Damn.

Fortunately, Elan Valley is not short of alternative scenic locations. One of the best places in the UK to experience the night sky, it is incredibly dark — and with its spectacular scenery of grand Victorian reservoirs, dams, and steep rugged hills, it is a wonderful place to truly immerse yourself in the cosmos. The landscape is wild and beautiful, filled with wildlife and sheep, and the darkness of the skies above is matched only by the drama of the landscape below.

The following evening after our first reservoir photo attempt we made our way to Garreg Ddu reservoir.

We arrived in time to watch the Moon set behind the surrounding hills, its soft lunar light reflected perfectly in the still water below. Once the Moon had gone and the sky darkened fully, we began shooting. The Milky Way rose and arched itself around one of the hills in front of us as if it had been placed there deliberately — following the line of the hillside exactly as we had hoped when we planned the composition. Its light shimmered in the glassy surface of the reservoir below. On the northern horizon, an aurora display added its red and golden glow to the scene, dancing quietly at the edge of the frame.

Everything fell into place at once. The still water giving perfect reflections of the stars, the Milky Way, and the aurora. The sweeping shoreline drawing the eye into the landscape. The dam and the elegant Victorian waterworks building standing quietly at the water's edge. The rugged hills rising on all sides. It is one of our favourite photographs we have ever taken — not just because of the planning that went into it, but because of how completely the scene exceeded what we had imagined.

Look closely and the image rewards you. Within the Milky Way arch you can spot open star clusters, the pinks of distant emission nebulae, and the faint smudge of the Andromeda Galaxy. The reflected colours of the aurora, the stars, and the Milky Way in the water below are dreamlike.

This image is a panorama composite assembled from 16 individual photographs, combined to capture the full sweep of the Milky Way arch, the aurora, and the valley in a single frame. This print is a crop of the full panorama to fit standard 3:2 ratio mounts and frames — the complete uncropped image is available to purchase by contacting us directly.

Printed on premium fine art paper with professional inks, every detail — from the Milky Way's delicate star clouds to the aurora's glow reflected in the reservoir — is preserved with gallery-quality clarity.

• All prints available in A4, A3, and A2
• A4 prints supplied with a 12" × 16" card mount (black or white)
• A3 prints supplied with a 20" × 16" card mount (black or white)
• A2 prints supplied unmounted
• All photographic print orders are printed and hand-mounted to order
• All photographic print orders shipped in specialist protective art packaging