This was the first time I had visited the Park.  I’d driven past this area 41 years ago but that was it.  Last summer (2020), my wife and I were heading to Nestor Falls to meet up with friends from out west.  As part of our adventure, we decided to camp midway at Pancake Bay Provincial Park and then for a few nights at Quetico. 

The night I captured these images was likely the “stariest” night I’d ever seen. No moon and an air mass that was cold, dry, and wind-free. Perfect for astrophotography.  At the time, Quetico P.P. was becoming a designated dark sky park. In fact, it officially became one this very day (February 23, 2021).

I used my various lenses on a Sony A6300 to capture the night sky (Sigma 16mm, 30mm, and 56mm). As well, all of the images are composites; I created panoramas using 5 to 11 images each, vertically and horizontally oriented, to capture a larger portion of the sky at high resolution.  As a treat for me, I used one of the panoramas to create a poster and had it printed on 24″ x 36 gloss paper.  It’s absolutely stunning.