Tanja Schmitz

Tanja Schmitz Contact information, map and directions, contact form, opening hours, services, ratings, photos, videos and announcements from Tanja Schmitz, Photographer, Orange City, IA.

‘We have been dying since we got here, and forgot to enjoy the view. Live fully. ‘ ✨🌟⭐️📷 Spending a night atop the Amphi...
04/15/2026

‘We have been dying since we got here, and forgot to enjoy the view.

Live fully. ‘

✨🌟⭐️

📷 Spending a night atop the Amphitheater- Drakensberg - South Africa 🇿🇦

04/12/2026

A graceful curve of galaxies within the Virgo Cluster, with Markarian’s Chain quietly waiting for you to catch its photons.

Captured over 2h45 of RGB.

ZWO2600MM Duo 📷
William Optics RedCat 61 🔭
Celestron AVX

Adventure dreams busy loading …..
03/29/2026

Adventure dreams busy loading …..

03/17/2026

Here’s the light you don’t normally see… 🔭

Hydrogen-alpha (Hα) is a very specific wavelength of red light (656.3 nm) that glowing hydrogen gas emits in space. Many nebulae are full of hydrogen, so when stars energise that gas, it shines strongly in this colour. But, your average camera can’t capture that light.
That’s why astrophotographers use a Hydrogen-alpha filter, which only lets that exact wavelength through while blocking most other light.

The result?
• Better contrast
• Darker backgrounds
• Nebula details that would otherwise disappear

That’s why we use Hα filters to reveal those dramatic cosmic clouds you see in space images. ✨🔭

🫶👌😎

The plan always starts with the idea of capturing more data on the Rosette Nebula, but astro rarely unfolds exactly as p...
03/16/2026

The plan always starts with the idea of capturing more data on the Rosette Nebula, but astro rarely unfolds exactly as planned, right? 💫☄️

With a forecast of heavy cloud and incoming snow blizzards, I rushed to gather enough exposures to assemble something close to a complete dataset. Despite the challenging conditions, this image of the Rosette Nebula came together.

Image deets (as always - check it on Astrobin)

William Optics Redcat 61
3h40 ⏱️
Astrodon 5nm S:60 min H:90 min O:60min
Celestron AVX
ASI2600MM duo

Noobs: The Rosette Nebula is a vast emission nebula and stellar nursery located about 5,000 light-years from Earth in the constellation Monoceros. No, it doesn’t look like this through your telescope …

The Running Man. The Orion Nebula sidekick - legit. I feel it doesn’t get enough recognition. ⭐️This is a reflection neb...
03/13/2026

The Running Man. The Orion Nebula sidekick - legit.
I feel it doesn’t get enough recognition. ⭐️

This is a reflection nebula, meaning it doesn’t glow from ionised gas like the Orion Nebula. Instead, it reflects the light of nearby young stars, giving it a soft blue colour similar to the Pleiades…

Dug out the old archives and still loving this shot. Took the SonyA7iv out for a spin at 50mm on the star tracker. ⭐️ 5...
03/10/2026

Dug out the old archives and still loving this shot. Took the SonyA7iv out for a spin at 50mm on the star tracker. ⭐️ 5 exposure stack of 30sec each. Just for fun.

Galactic core. Milky Way, here we come!

1️⃣Carina In HaLRGB2️⃣Carina in LRGBCarina is a giant, chaotic stellar nursery full of massive stars and dramatic gas st...
03/10/2026

1️⃣Carina In HaLRGB
2️⃣Carina in LRGB

Carina is a giant, chaotic stellar nursery full of massive stars and dramatic gas structures, making it one of the most spectacular nebulae in the Milky Way. 🤩

🔭This was a challenge to edit. The extremely rich star field in the Carina region made it harder to extract the level of detail I was hoping for. After many attempts, I have reached a point where I can honestly say I teased out as much Ha as I was able to.

I travelled to South Africa to photograph this and wish I had more time under the pristine Bortle 1 skies in Sutherland. This was an adventure both to capture and to process. I loved the challenge and hope that those of us in the northern hemisphere consider taking an astro trip someday to chase southern targets.

This was one of my first serious imaging sessions with the William Optics RedCat 61.

Image details on
📷 ASI2600MM duo / EAF / ASIair / EFW
🔭

6hr integration. 🌟

M42 - images 12 years apart. Hmm, imagine I didn’t have an almost 10year break from the hobby 🤦‍♀️Same 🔭 Officina Stella...
03/02/2026

M42 - images 12 years apart.

Hmm, imagine I didn’t have an almost 10year break from the hobby 🤦‍♀️

Same 🔭 Officina Stellare HiperAPO105
2013: Bottom 📷 Canon60Da (and this made the Astrophotographer of the year shortlist!) 😆
2025: Top 📷 ASI2600MMduo
(With 0 Ha added)

03/01/2026

Timelapse of the Milky Way and Moon rising over the horizon. Watching the night sky move in real time is surreal, but the number of satellites streaking across the stars is striking. Space is getting crowded.

Address

Orange City, IA
51041

Website

Alerts

Be the first to know and let us send you an email when Tanja Schmitz posts news and promotions. Your email address will not be used for any other purpose, and you can unsubscribe at any time.

Contact The Business

Send a message to Tanja Schmitz:

Shortcuts

Share

Category