Vršič Pass is a high mountain pass across the Julian Alps in northwestern Slovenia. It is the highest pass in Slovenia, as well as the highest in the Eastern Julian Alps. It connects Upper Carniola with the Trenta Valley in the Slovene Littoral. The road across the pass, now known as Russian Road (Ruska cesta), was originally built for military purposes in the early 19th century and followed an earlier trade route. Vršič Pass is considered an excellent starting point for excursions to surrounding peaks.
And one of those peaks is Prednje robičje (1941m), where this image was taken from. On Sunday afternoon me and a friend of mine were still quite undecided where to go - I just knew I wanted to capture probably the last winter Milky way arch of the season above snow covered peaks and this location was sort of a last minute idea while we were driving towards Vršič pass. Sometimes it pays off to be a bit more spontaneous.

The hike itself (if you don't count my bad physical performance) was not demanding - in fact it was way easier compared to summer.

Big thanks to Sigma Slovenia for letting me try out the new Sigma 20mm f1.4 DG DN lens with Megadap TZE21 adapter. My go-to lens for this kind of panoramas is Sigma 28mm f1.4 ART and if I had to choose one brand new between these two, it would be a difficult one. For Sigma 20mm I can say it is a SUPERB lens for astrophotography, without any doubt. Compared to 28mm, the image quality is on top. And to add more positive things, it is very light, very compact and small (and then you have Megadap TZE21 adapter, which is almost invisible compared to FTZ adapter), you end up with a very neat setup. Also, the focus lock button is just icing on the cake. So, why would I have a difficult time deciding between Sigma 28mm and 20mm? Well, the ONLY reason is that I like to shoot my panos a bit more tightly due to details, so it is a very personal preference.

CATEGORY:
H-alpha + RGB panorama / tracked / blend

GEAR:
H-alpha modified Nikon Z6 & Sigma 20mm f1.4 DG DN lens + Megadap TZE21 adapter
Sky Watcher Star Adventurer
Astronomik 12nm H-alpha clip in filter
FocusOnStars focusing filter

EXIF:
Landscape: panorama, 1 row, 12 images.
Single image settings: 20mm, ISO 1000, f2, 90sec (+30sec and 15sec for the light of a house in bottom left)Sky

RGB: panorama, 1 row, 12 images
Single image settings: 20mm, ISO 1000, f2, 90secSky

Ha: panorama, 1 row, 12 images
Single image settings: 20mm, ISO 6400, f1.4, 120sec