Astrotecture - Apostolos Kyriazis Photography

05/06/2026

Desert decay IV

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No matter how familiar you already are with a place, it never ceases surprising you. I have been driving and exploring those dunes of Rub Al Khali (aka the Empty Quarter) 100km south of Abu Dhabi for the last decade. But it was 2 weeks ago, that a friend of mine asked me to join their astronight at a spot i kept overlooking.
A massive surprise.
An abandoned labor village in the middle of nowhere, possibly to become a farm, was at our disposal for the night! I ended up having a milky way photography party that night using that surreal finding as a massive frontstage.

This is a small playground right at the edge of the camp! There were two metal swing bars (but without the swings themselves) and a half-buried see-saw bar! A totally surreal finding, even for the standards of a workers accommodation! For a moment i thought of the possibility of them having their families with them, but on such a remote and harsch environment this is almost impossible.

This is a startrail stacked image of almost 100 images combined.
Canon 6DmII and Canon EF 16-35mm f/2.8 II USM.
At 30sec, f/2.8, iso1600.
Post production with: LrC, Starstax, Ps.

03/06/2026

Pinakates village

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Some samples of old house vernacular architecture from one of the most traditional villages of Mt. Pelion (and Greece in general), Pinakates.
Stone bearing walls, cane-weaved plasterboard, wooden window sills and shaders, chestnut belts with metal bindings, slate slab roofings, wide masonry jointings, narrow cobblestone alleys are just a few out of a massive palette of morphological elements and materials used in traditional mountainous architecture in central and northern Greece.

31/05/2026

The swan takes off

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I last visited that beautiful Ghaf tree four years ago, when my gear was not that sophisticated. So this time, i was able to picture it with the Milky Way core slowly rising over it from various angles.
It's almost June. The magnificent core of our Milky Way is back in the sky (and so is the arabian heat!) and spans from Scorpio to Cygnus, the swan.
This is a 14mm frame focusing on the northern tip of the arc, the Swan. Its massive hydrogen nebulosity starts emerging and firing up the sky!

Canon Ra² (astromodded) and Sigma Art 14mm f/1.8
Land: single frame: 0.6sec, f/3.5, iso1600 (blue hour).
Sky: single, tracked frame at 300sec, f/2, iso6400, IDAS NBZ-II DRE filter.
Mount used: iOptron Skyguider pro.
Post work at LrC, Sequator, PI, Ps.

29/05/2026

Desert decay III

Www.instagram.com/akyriaz

No matter how familiar you already are with a place, it never ceases surprising you. I have been driving and exploring those dunes of Rub Al Khali (aka the Empty Quarter) 100km south of Abu Dhabi for the last decade. But it was only 2 days ago, that a friend of mine asked me to join their astronight at a spot i kept overlooking.
A massive surprise.
An abandoned labor village in the middle of nowhere, possibly to become a farm, was at our disposal for the night! I ended up having a milky way photography party that night using that surreal finding as a massive frontstage.
The backstage was already lit by the rising milky way core.

This is a 180° panorama. I set the tripod just 10m from this small Mosque, made out from a container, with two small beautiful minarets on the corners. So I dedicate this to my muslim friends, wishing them Eid mubarak.

Canon Ra² (full spectrum) and Sigma Art 14mm f/1.8.
Land: 5 single vertical frames. 20sec, f/1.8, f3200.
Sky: 5 single vertical frames: 3 min, f/2, iso6400.
Tracked with iOptron Skyguider Pro
Post production with: LrC, PtGui, Ps.

27/05/2026

Bloemenmarkt

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This is Bloemenmarkt, the flower market of Amsterdam, on the south bank of the channel Singel.
Taken last December, 2 days after Christmas, on a -3°C evening!

25/05/2026

Desert decay II

Www.instagram.com/akyriaz

No matter how familiar you already are with a place, it never ceases surprising you. I have been driving and exploring those dunes of Rub Al Khali (aka the Empty Quarter) 100km south of Abu Dhabi for the last decade. But it was only 2 days ago, that a friend of mine asked me to join their astronight at a spot i kept overlooking.
A massive surprise.
An abandoned labor village in the middle of nowhere, possibly to become a farm, was at our disposal for the night! I ended up having a milky way photography party that night using that surreal finding as a massive frontstage.
The backstage was already lit by the rising milky way core.

This is the Mosque of the camp. It is in fact a modified container with two small but beautiful minarets, set up on a literal bedrock!
This is a startrail stacked image of almost 100 images combined. What seems to be a rogue meteor was captured lighting up the sky, passing very close to Polaris.

Canon 6DmII and Canon EF 16-35mm f/2.8 II USM.
At 30sec, f/2.8, iso1600.
Post production with: LrC, Starstax, Ps.

22/05/2026

So happy that my image "Double Arch" was voted as a "Top Pick" at Astrobin. Thank you all. Clear skies.

It is a trend, alright, albeit a trend I had in mind for quite some time now.During Spring, the Winter Milky Way arch slowly dives in the western horizon early at night, and the entire sky seems empty...

22/05/2026

The Snake and the Scorpion

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This is a fast dive into the very central bulge of our Milky Way, at the boundary of Ophiuchus and Sagittarius. The filed is bathed in starlight. This overall shine is not clouds of gas, but immensely dense starlight. Millions of stars packed together, creating this milky feeling.
Sometimes, clouds of cold, dark dust move in front of them, blocking their light from reaching us. Those clouds, moved by solar winds, get weird shapes and eventually break, compress to small globules and reignite from within, to form new solar systems.
In here, i depicted two famous ones: the Snake (Barnard 72 and friends) on the right and the Scorpio (or the butt, B262 and B75) on the left.

Telescope: Radian61,
Camera: Zwo Asi533MCpro,
Guiding: Zwo Asi120mini on a Lacerta 130mm guidescope.
Management: AA+
Mount: Zwo AM5
24 frames, 300sec, gain101 with a UvIr filter.
Total integration time: 2 hours.
Manual Focusing.
Post-Software: PI, Ps.

21/05/2026

Sevanavank

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This is a throwback to one of my finest travels, Armenia, back in December of 2019.
We visited Sevan lake on a freezingly cold morning. The landscape was just breathtaking. The dark stoned churches complex on the Sevan "island" was contrasting the sky. Despite the cold (-2°C) i managed to get some long exposure images.

19/05/2026

Desert decay

Www.instagram.com/akyriaz

No matter how familiar you already are with a place, it never ceases surprising you. I have been driving and exploring those dunes of Rub Al Khali (aka the Empty Quarter) 100km south of Abu Dhabi for the last decade. But it was only 2 days ago, that a friend of mine asked me to join their astronight at a spot i kept overlooking.
A massive surprise.
An abandoned labor village in the middle of nowhere, possibly to become a farm, was at our disposal for the night! I ended up having a milky way photography party that night using that surreal finding as a massive frontstage.
The backstage was already lit by the rising milky way core.

I will be working on those fine specimens of decay i was able to photograph for some time. And i will definitely revisit.

This is a 180° panorama.
Canon Ra² (astromodded by ) and Sigma Art 14mm f/1.8.
Land: 5 single vertical frames. 20sec, f/1.8, f3200.
Sky: 5 single vertical frames: 3 min, f/2, iso6400.
Tracked with iOptron Skyguider Pro
Post production with: LrC, PtGui, Ps.