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Visual artist J-P Metsavainio has a passion for sharing the beauty of the universe. It’s a love that was sparked nearly 30 years ago looking at the stars in his backyard with a telescope he’d gifted his wife for Christmas. This has led to a long journey into astrophotography, with the Finnish artist spending hundreds, and sometimes thousands, of hours crafting he spectacular imagery.
While he views his work as art and not science, his photographs rival astrophotography released by government space agencies. This type of detailed imagery is a long game, with one image being the fruit of days, months, or even years of data collection. Metsavainio works in long exposures, stacking individual 15- to 20-minute exposures together to result in a final piece with an average exposure time of 35 hours.
To capture the vibrant colors of outer space, he shoots each color channel separately. Shooting the same subject three times to record all of the color channels is painstaking, but ensure that the colorations we see in his photos are from the sky and not the work of editing software. Staying faithful to the colors and shapes of the sky is important to Metsavainio. “Astronomical photography is a form of a nature photography. It is beautiful because it is true.”
This dedication to his craft comes through in his most ambitious project, an enormous mosaic of the Northern Milky Way that took him a decade to complete. With a cumulative exposure time of 1,500 hours, he sees this image as a reflection of his life’s work.
Over the past few years, his health has kept him from publishing new images, but now he is back at work with an even more impressive camera setup. Working with a Celestron EDGE 14″ telescope and MESU Mount MARK II, he’s customized a setup that will allow him to continue his journey to create art with the stars.
But for Metsavainio, the crux of the work isn’t about the equipment. “It’s about patience, know-how, endless practicing, passion for the subject, and curiosity, much more than simply a punch of fancy gears,” he tells My Modern Met.
Scroll down for some of Metsavainio’s recent astrophotography and follow his work on his blog, where he also posts zoomable versions of some of his work.
Visual artist J-P Metsavainio has a passion for sharing the beauty of the universe.
Filaments of supernova remnants in the constellation Cygnus
Pelican nebula
He works with long exposures to create these incredible pieces of astrophotography, imaging each color channel separately.
Tulip nebula in the constellation Cygnus
His most challenging image was an enormous mosaic of the Northern Milky Way that took a decade to complete.
After not sharing new images for a few years, he’s back with an enhanced telescope setup.
“Astronomical photography is a form of a nature photography. It is beautiful because it is true.”
Supernova remnant G65.3+5.7
Methuselah nebula
J-P Metsavainio: Website | Facebook | Instagram
My Modern Met granted permission to feature photos by J-P Metsavainio.
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