Capture the Dark 2025: Winning photographs

DarkSky International is proud to announce the winners of the 2025 Capture the Dark photography contest.

They say a photograph is worth a thousand words. With over 2,200 entries, from over 22 countries, together we’ve created a powerful story of the night: revealing its wonder, exploring its mysteries, and inviting others to join us in our journey to protect it.

Thank you to all who participated in this year’s contest.

Category Winners

SPECIAL AWARD WINNERS

People’s Choice Award | Visit Utah Location Award | Visit Tucson Location Award

Press Release

Read the official press release: Capture the Dark 2025 winners announced

Capture the Dark

First Place

The Watchers
by JJ Rao

“Rare red sprites dancing over the tidal flats of Western Australia. A large sprite like this exists for 10 milliseconds, up to 40x faster than an eye blink. This makes photographing them challenging and requires very dark skies. The central sprite is unusual. It’s known as a ‘jellyfish’ sprite, the largest and fastest of all sprites.”

Award
First place | Capture the Dark

Location
Derby, Australia

Technical details
Stacked | Sony a7IV | Lens: Sigma 35mm f1.4 Art | Aperture: f/1.4 | Shutter speed: 3.2s | ISO: 4000

Social media
Instagram: @nature.by.jj

Second Place

Whispers of the Dancing Auroras
by Mónica Mesa

Third Place

Land of Ice
by Kavan Chay

Award
Third place | Capture the Dark

Location
Te Papa-Kura-o-Taranaki, New Zealand

Technical details
Tracked Panorama | Nikon Z7, astromodified | Lens: Sigma Art 40mm f1.4| Aperture: Sky: f/1.8; Foreground: f/6.3 | Shutter speed: Sky: 30s; Foreground: 30s | ISO: Sky: ISO1250; Foreground: ISO2000

International Dark Sky Places

First Place

Starlight Highway
by Tom Rae

“The Starlight Highway sign is definitely one of the cooler signs to find on the road, and there is a good reason for it, as you can see! The sign marks the entrance to the Aoraki Mackenzie International Dark Sky Reserve—one of the most significant dark sky reserves on earth.”

Award
First place | International Dark Sky Places

Location
Aoraki Mackenzie International Dark Sky Reserve, Canterbury, New Zealand

Technical details
Tracked Panorama | Nikon Z6a | Lens: Sigma 28mm F1.4 Art | Aperture: F2.5 Sky – F8 Foreground | Shutter Speed: 30s Sky / 10s Foreground| ISO: 3200 Sky / 800 Foreground

Social media
Instagram: @txmrae

Second Place

Double Arch
by Dan Zafra

Award
Second place | International Dark Sky Places

Location
Death Valley International Dark Sky Park, California, United States

Technical details
Tracked Panorama | Sony A7III | Lens: Sony 20 mm f/1.8 | Aperture: f/2.5 | Shutter Speed: 60 sec. | ISO: 1600

Social media
Instagram: @danzafra

Third Place

Celestial Dance Over Lupine Fields
by Lucy Yunxi Hu

Award
Third place | International Dark Sky Places

Location
Aoraki Mackenzie International Dark Sky Reserve, Canterbury, New Zealand

Technical details
Stacked | Canon EOS R5 | Lens: Sigma 20mm lens at 20mm | Aperture: f/1.6 | Shutter Speed: 15s × 174, 15s × 3 | ISO: 100

Social media
Instagram: @astrolucyhu

Dark Sky Friendly Lighting and Design

First Place

Paris, Asleep In The Pre-Dawn Hours
by Gwenael Blanck

“Paris is known as the “City of Lights,” but after midnight, many iconic landmarks like the Eiffel Tower and Sacré-Cœur are turned off to save energy and reduce light pollution. I took advantage of the darker, less light-polluted sky to capture the Pleiades above the city, from a beautiful viewpoint in Sèvres, just 8 km from the Eiffel Tower.”

Award
First place | Dark Sky Friendly Lighting and Design

Location
Paris, Île-de-France, France

Technical details
Single exposure | Nikon Z6 | Lens: Nikkor Z 180-600mm f/5.6-6.3 VR | Aperture: f/6.3 | Shutter speed: 1s | ISO: 1600

Social media
Instagram: @gwen.blanck

Second Place

High Frontier
by Stephen Hummel

Award
Second place | Dark Sky Friendly Lighting and Design

Location
Aoraki Mackenzie International Dark Sky Reserve, Canterbury, New Zealand

Technical details
Single exposure | Nikon Z7ii | Lens: Nikon 24-70 F/4 S | Aperture: 4 | Shutter speed: 6s | ISO: 800

Social media
Instagram: @hummel_stephen

Third Place

Celestial Equator Above the Vimy Trenches
by Louis Leroux-Gere

The Impact of Light Pollution

First Place

Requiem for a Dream
by Ambre de l’AIPe

“January, a few years ago, in the northern Alps, France. The tent is pitched in the snow, and a sea of clouds filters the light from the town of Chamonix. An incredible atmosphere… and it’s even more incredible to realize that the town, despite the clouds obscuring the light, shines right up to the summit of Mont-Blanc (on the far right of the photo)!”

Award
First place | The Impact of Light Pollution

Location
Chamonix-Mont-Blanc, Haute-Savoie, France

Technical details
Single exposure | Canon EOS 5D Mark II | Lens: Canon 17-40 mm f/4 | Aperture: f/4 | Shutter speed: 30s | ISO: 1250

Social media
Instagram: @ambredelalpe

Second Place

Traces of the Stars
by Xin Wang

Third Place

Interstellar Dock
by Shi Pu

Creatures of the Night

First Place

Scorpion and Scorpio
by Oscar Leonardo Chavez Torres

“Scorpions use the darkness to hunt in the desert, these organisms thrive in the dark nights of the desert, and even the moon can be enough light to drop their activity.“

Award
First place | Creatures of the Night

Location
Hermosillo, Sonora, México

Technical details
Single exposure | Lens: Nikon 24-70 2.8 Z | Aperture: 2.8 | Shutter speed: 15s | ISO: 5000

Social media
Instagram: @biologandopormexico

Second Place

The Perfect Ghost
by Will Hudson

Third Place

Buck Moon Owl
by Kevin O’Donnell

Deep Sky Observations

First Place

Breathing Vela Supernova Remnant Mosaic
by Alpha Zhang

“This is the most breathtaking nebula I’ve ever captured. The Vela Supernova Remnant is a target that no astrophotographer should miss in a lifetime. A four-panel mosaic covers the primary emission signals of the nebula. The OIII outer shell wraps around the ionized Ha and SII, forming a complex, layered structure that is beyond words.”

Award
First place | Deep Sky Observations

Location
Vela Supernova Remnant, a supernova remnant in the southern constellation Vela

Technical details
Stacked | Moravian G4-16000 Mark I | Lens: Takahashi FSQ-106ED | Filter: Astrodon LRGB Ha SII OIII | Telescope: Takahashi FSQ-106ED | Mount: Planewave L500 | Frame: 1310 | Exposure: 109hr | Software: Voyager/Pixinsight

Second Place

Furnace of Life
by Rod Prazeres

Third Place

Under Dark Skies: The Horsehead Revealed
by Tiffany Effinger

Mobile Nighttime Photography

First Place

A Gateway to the Universe
by Sadeq Hayati

“On my last trip to Iceland, we followed the northern lights. There was a huge storm of aurora and I decided to record it with my phone for the first time! It was interesting that, with a small device in my hand, I could see the beauty happening in the sky in more detail and beauty.”

Award
First place | Mobile Nighttime Photography

Location
Raufarhöfn, Iceland

Technical details
Single exposure | Samsung Galaxy S23 Ultra 1x Lens | Aperture: f/1.7 | Shutter speed: 8s | ISO: 3200

Social media
Instagram: @sadeqhayati

Second Place

Milky Way Over Quiver Tree
by Jilanfeng Dai

Third Place

Salt Flats and Solar Winds in Death Valley
by Katrina Brown

Young Astrophotographers

First Place

Gems of Jizerka
by Oldřich Špůrek

“In May, I visited Jizerka, which is located in a dark Bortle 4 zone (and sometimes even reaching Bortle 3). This valley transforms completely after sunset. A few scattered huts, fleeting fog, and a lively yet peaceful atmosphere under the stars made this night unforgettable.”

Award
First place | Young Astrophotographers

Location
Jizerka, Liberecký kraj, Czech Republic

Technical details
Panorama | Canon 6D mod | Lens: Sigma 35mm f/1.4 | Aperture: f/2.2 | Shutter speed: 49x20s | ISO: 5000

Social media
Instagram: @oldaphotographer

Second Place

Aurora at 38°N
by Haohan Sun

Third Place

A Dolphins Head
by Michael Telesco

People’s Choice Award

First Place

Milky Way with Comet C/2023 A3
by Siddharth Patel

“I took this photo using my mother’s Samsung S21. I had to leave the city because I couldn’t see the comet at all, so I convinced my family to drive out with me. Under the darker Fingal sky, the comet and the Milky Way were both visible to the naked eye, and seeing them together blew my mind.”

Award
First place | People’s Choice Award

Location
Fingal, Ontario, Canada

Technical details
Stacked | Samsung S21 | Aperture: f/1.5 | Shutter speed: 30s | ISO: 800

Social media
Instagram: @astrosidspace

Second Place

Clash In Winter Sky: A Legend Tupi – Guaran
by Rodrigo Guerra

Third Place

Ancient Beauty
by Therese Iknoian

Visit Utah Location Award

First Place

Kids and Comets
by Carly Stocks

“Chasing Comet C/2023 A3 (Tsuchinshan-ATLAS) with these two is one of my favorite memories of 2024. While it makes photography tricky, I love sharing moments under the stars with my children. They patiently waited for me to capture this comet for three consecutive nights. They asked questions, watched the comet through binoculars, and even posed for pictures.”

Award
First place | Visit Utah Location Award

Location
Tooele County, Utah, United States

Technical details
Single exposure | Canon 80D | Lens: Tamron SP 15-30mm F2.8 Di VC USD | Aperture: f/3.2 | Shutter speed: 1.3s | ISO: 1250

Social media
Instagram: @darkskyutah

Second Place

Moonstruck
by Michelle Bragg

Third Place

Always Open!
by Neal Lightfeld

Visit Tucson Location Award

First Place

Tumacacor’s Secret
by Celeste Boudreaux

“Every summer, Tumacacori hosts a small visitor that most don’t even know exists in Arizona: the southwest synchronous firefly! And every year, they welcome visitors to photograph them.”

Award
First place | Visit Tucson Location Award

Location
Tumacacori, Arizona, United States

Technical details
Single exposure | Canon 5D Mark III | Lens: Rokinon 24mm | Aperture: f/2.8 | Shutter speed: 20s | ISO: 3200

Social media
Instagram: @celeste.boudreaux1

Second Place

Two Lovers Watching The Moonrise
by Kevin O’Donnell

Third Place

Ad Astra
by Maggie Machinsky

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Capture the Dark 2025: Winning photographs

Category Winners

SPECIAL AWARD WINNERS

Press Release

Capture the Dark

First Place

The Watchersby JJ Rao

Second Place

Whispers of the Dancing Aurorasby Mónica Mesa

Third Place

Land of Iceby Kavan Chay

International Dark Sky Places

First Place

Starlight Highwayby Tom Rae

Second Place

Double Archby Dan Zafra

Third Place

Celestial Dance Over Lupine Fieldsby Lucy Yunxi Hu

Dark Sky Friendly Lighting and Design

First Place

Paris, Asleep In The Pre-Dawn Hoursby Gwenael Blanck

Second Place

High Frontierby Stephen Hummel

Third Place

Celestial Equator Above the Vimy Trenchesby Louis Leroux-Gere

The Impact of Light Pollution

First Place

Requiem for a Dreamby Ambre de l’AIPe

Second Place

Traces of the Starsby Xin Wang

Third Place

Interstellar Dockby Shi Pu

Creatures of the Night

First Place

Scorpion and Scorpioby Oscar Leonardo Chavez Torres

Second Place

The Perfect Ghostby Will Hudson

Third Place

Buck Moon Owlby Kevin O’Donnell

Deep Sky Observations

First Place

Breathing Vela Supernova Remnant Mosaicby Alpha Zhang

Second Place

Furnace of Lifeby Rod Prazeres

Third Place

The Watchers
by JJ Rao

Whispers of the Dancing Auroras
by Mónica Mesa

Land of Ice
by Kavan Chay

Starlight Highway
by Tom Rae

Double Arch
by Dan Zafra

Celestial Dance Over Lupine Fields
by Lucy Yunxi Hu

Paris, Asleep In The Pre-Dawn Hours
by Gwenael Blanck

High Frontier
by Stephen Hummel

Celestial Equator Above the Vimy Trenches
by Louis Leroux-Gere

Requiem for a Dream
by Ambre de l’AIPe

Traces of the Stars
by Xin Wang

Interstellar Dock
by Shi Pu

Scorpion and Scorpio
by Oscar Leonardo Chavez Torres

The Perfect Ghost
by Will Hudson

Buck Moon Owl
by Kevin O’Donnell

Breathing Vela Supernova Remnant Mosaic
by Alpha Zhang

Furnace of Life
by Rod Prazeres