"I spent 10 days traveling through Botswana, living out of my car and moving through remote desert landscapes in complete isolation, focused entirely on photographing the night sky"

Person holding light near large baobab trees under a star-filled night sky with the Milky Way visible.

An ancient island rising from the middle of Botswana's vast salt pans became the stunning backdrop for this 16-exposure image of the Milky Way, above towering boabab trees, captured by award-winning astrophotographer Stefano Pellegrini.

But reaching the remote location was far from easy. After struggling to find the route through the desert landscape, Pellegrini nearly gave up on the journey altogether. Everything changed when he spotted two Jeeps crossing the salt pan in the distance, and he decided to follow them.

Three intense hours later, Pellegrini found himself across the vast white landscape. The resulting image, Botswana Baobabs by Night, has now been selected for Capture the Atlas' 2026 Milky Way Photographer of the Year collection, which highlights 25 of the world's most striking astrophotography images.

How 'Botswana Baobabs by Night' was captured

Pellegrini captured the images with an astro-modified Nikon D850 and 15mm wide-angle lens (Image credit: Digital Camera World)

Gear: Nikon D850 astro-modified, Irix 15mm
Accessories: Innorel KT254C tripod, MSM Nomad star-tracker
Exposure: Sky: Stacking of 4 tracked at 2min, f/4, ISO 800

Pelligrini explains: "I spent ten days traveling through Botswana, living out of my car and moving through remote desert landscapes in complete isolation, focused entirely on photographing the night sky.

"This location became the highlight of the trip: a small, ancient island rising from the middle of a vast salt pan.

"The island itself was covered with baobab trees, scattered in small groups or standing alone, each one offering a striking subject under the night sky. Many were naturally positioned beneath the Milky Way core early in the night, while others lent themselves to different compositions, including star trails.

"This particular group stood out to me the most. Alone in the darkness, I took my time shaping the scene, using a torch to carefully light-paint the foreground.

"The final image is a blend of one exposure for the landscape, eleven for the light painting, and a stack of four tracked exposures for the sky, combined to balance detail and atmosphere."

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