The Milky Way has long fascinated humanity, covering the night sky with its familiar constellations and dense streams of stars. The full beauty of our galaxy is hard to see with the naked eye, but with the help of modern cameras, photographers can capture it in vibrant detail.

The annual Milky Way Photographer of the Year competition showcases awe-inspiring images that bring the greatness of our celestial home into view. Here, we explore our breathtaking galaxy through the lens of this year’s winners.

“Lightning lake” — Tom Rae

The bold ribbon of the Milky Way parts the sky as it strikes the peak of Aoraki / Mount Cook, the highest mountain in New Zealand. Tom Rae journeyed through a glacial valley to capture the glowing sky against the cyan-blue lake and icy terrain on a winter night. 

“Lions den” — Lorenzo Ranieri Tenti

Lorenzo Ranieri Tenti took this captivating image of the multicolored hues of the Milky Way in the night sky. This image was taken at a mountain lion reserve in the Atacama Desert in Chile — home to several astronomical telescopes, including the forthcoming Vera C. Rubin Observatory, as well as cougars (Puma concolor).

“Atmospheric fireworks” — Julien Looten 

As if taken in the center of a bubble, this panoramic image captures the entire arc of the Milky Way alongside a stunning airglow that lights up the night sky in the southwest of France.

Julien Looten took and merged panoramic photos of 40 different exposures to capture the multicolored bands. “This natural phenomenon occurs due to a chemical reaction in the upper atmosphere, emitting faint light known as chemiluminescence,” Looten said in a statement.

Related: Some of the oldest stars in the universe found hiding near the Milky Way’s edge — and they may not be alone

“Blooming bottle tree” — Rositsa Dimitrova

This stunning photo captures the Milky Way above a blooming bottle tree (Adenium socotranum) — a tree endemic to Socotra island in Yemen.

Rositsa Dimitrova took advantage of the island’s total lack of light pollution to capture this spectacular photo. “The night sky in Socotra is categorized as Bortle 1 on the dark sky scale — the darkest you can possibly get,” Dimitrova said in the statement. 

“The vanity of life” — Mihail Minkov 

In Jordan’s Wadi Rum Desert, also known as the Valley of the Moon, Mihal Minkov captured a lone figure in an otherworldly landscape. Overhead, the shining stars of the Milky Way shimmer.

“Starry hoodoo wonderland” — Stephanie Thi 

Photographed over Kanab, Utah, the Milky Way covers the sky above a scenic landscape of balanced rock formations, known as hoodoos. These toadstool formations are shaped over millions of years by erosion.

“Starlight therapy” — Kavan Chay

In this stunning photograph, the Milky Way arches gracefully over some campers on the rugged mountain of Aoraki / Mount Cook. Kavan Chay made the ascent to camp under the ethereal glow of the night sky — a scene he described as “breathtaking” in the statement.

“Road to winter paradise” — Andrea Curzi 

Above the high mountain pass of Passo Giau in Italy, the luminous band of the Milky Way shines down on the untouched, snow-covered ground. Andrea Curzi captured this approximately 300-degree field of view of the galaxy while temperatures were at a frigid 17 degrees Fahrenheit (minus 8 degrees Celsius).

“The celestial symphony above a high desert lagoon” — Kerry-Ann Lecky Hepburn 

In this image, taken at about 15,000 feet (4,500 meters) above sea level, a calm lagoon glows under a tapestry of the Milky Way’s stars in the Atacama Desert. Kerry-Ann Lecky Hepburn noticed that during the day the sun’s beams bounced off the pool of water and replicated this by using a flashlight to capture the magical scene at night.

“Milky Way at morning glory pool” — Jerry Zhang 

In this image, dense stars reflect off of the renowned Morning Glory hot spring in Yellowstone National Park. The pool mirrors the constellations Scorpius and Antares.

The hot spring was named for its likeness to a colorful flower. But its famous crystal blue waters have changed to a bright green because of pollution, Zhang said in the statement. 

To see the full list of winners, check out the official Milky Way Photographer of the Year website.

Inspired by Robert Frank’s book “The Americans,” she traveled to China, Russia and the coal mines of Kentucky to capture intimate glimpses of everyday routines.

The images are iconic, unmistakable. The photography of David Alexander is the backdrop of our lives. He shot the album cover for the Eagles’ “Hotel California”. He’s worked with Aretha Franklin, Tina Turner, Tom Petty, James Brown, Steve Miller, the Allman Brothers and so many more.

If you’re not familiar with photographer Daniella Midenge—get familiar. The Swedish image maker, currently based in Los Angeles, was the genius behind the lens of one of our two recent GEN V covers with Tate McRae. However, McRae is only the most recent of a long slue of celebrities Midenge has made look better than ever, including Jennifer Lopez, Kourtney Kardashian, Pamala Anderson, and many (many) more.

Upon the release of her collaboration with GEN V, V magazine spoke with Midenge about other photographers you should know, how she turned a hobby into a career, and balancing paid gigs with more experimental work.

V: Can you remember the first photo you ever took?

Daniella Midenge: I was in the Swedish archipelago on a sailing trip with my family, [and] I was about 9 years old and it was with an analog camera of the sunset. My dad , who was a huge enthusiast, showed me all the settings. We even had a darkroom at home in the wardrobe. I do think there is a limit with what you can learn through school, and I would recommend assisting after a basic course, I think it is more efficient once you know what field of photography you are curious to explore and you don’t have to waste your time shooting vases if you are into long legs.

V: When did photography switch from a hobby to a career? And then to a full-time career?

DM: In about 24 hours when I had my ex-boyfriend’s 16 year old cousin hanging off the balcony, while on Torstrasse in Berlin, while I experimented with photos for my make-up and hair portfolio. I thought to myself, “Wow, this looks quite amazing,” and immediately felt a calling. I was determined to make it a career quite instantly, but it did take about a year of living on barely nothing but optimism before I got busy and started booking jobs. 

V: What was your first paid gig as a photographer?

DM: A South African Marie-Claire cover with Candice Swanepoel in the staircase of a Thai restaurant in New York.

V: How do you balance “paid” gigs with doing photography just for yourself, or for art’s sake?

DM: I’ll admit that I’ve been caught up with advertising jobs for the past few years and I’m now getting back to more [experimenting]—the birth of how a passion turns into a job. I opened a daylight studio in Los Angeles recently since my dream was always to be in a natural light based environment so now there is no excuse not to use it as often as possible. It is also available to other photographers and creatives, it is a huge outdoor space all in stone, [and was] a former tennis court that I painted out, [it’s] also beautiful for events, filming, and exhibitions and completely private for nudes (*laughs*).

V: Who is a (perhaps lesser known) photographer that you think anyone who wants to be a photographer should study? 

DM: Dan Beleiu, I adore! I do think the best study is your own creativity and exploration, trial and error, play and fearlessly trying out everything until you feel a high on what turns you on visually. Your eye will organically seek out the photographers that are compelling to you. For instance, I appreciate a lot of photographers whose styles are very different to mine.

V: What types of art or creativity do you take inspiration from outside of photography itself?

DM: Characters and moments in real life, it can be very random cinematic scenarios, or short moments of something that feels like a surreal dream or a scene from a movie, but in real life. Lots of comedy, [both] accidental and spontaneous. Movies and books are more obvious inspirations and someone else’s fantasy, [but] I am more inspired by where my own mind takes me, triggered by what I see and feel—I often times surprise myself. 

V: Do you find any vast (or general) differences in how Swedes approach photography as opposed to Americans, or perhaps particularly Los Angelites?

DM: Scandinavians have a more melancholic and minimal approach, emphasizing depth while the Angelinos are more about showing something perfect and positive, and this goes for how people communicate also—it is more direct and frank at home, with lots of sarcasm, whilst here I am sometimes uncertain of the authenticity since everything is targeted towards positivity. On another note, it does feel good to get an “OMG!” from a client when they receive the images, instead of “That looks nice.”

V: Can you describe your day shooting the GEN V cover with Tate McRae? 

DM: Tate was phenomenal, we were at my studio in the Hollywood Hills and she was open to all ideas and had a beautiful fearless presence about her. Very confident in-front of the camera and great body control—a natural!

“In love with love” is the signature statement of Daniela Gutierrez, a Guadalajara, Mexico-based destination wedding photographer and one of Rangefinder’s 30 Rising Stars of Wedding Photography of 2024. For Gutierrez, wedding photography is “about capturing love stories through my lens and giving my clients memories that they will always cherish.” Her style is elegant, documentarian, and editorial with an emphasis on storytelling narratives that resonate with her subjects’ personalities. Rangefinder recently asked Gutierrez to share an image that she is most excited about right now along with tips for how other photographers can achieve such a shot. The image she sent is striking and emotional, telling a personal love story for the couple depicted, using architectural wedding photography

Artistic Architecture for a Creative Couple 

The bride and groom were married in a private home with modern architecture that perfectly suits their artistic aesthetic. The bride is a painter, so she wanted creative artistic scenery in her portraits. She and the groom share a love for architecture, so this house was a perfect fit.  

As soon as Gutierrez saw the staircase, she knew she wanted to photograph the couple on them. In fact, she reflected that during this part of the shoot, it felt as if they were playing a game. They went up, down, and around many times so that she could explore angles and focus on different parts of the scene. 

Here are her tips for photographers looking to capture something in the same spirit. 

1. Make the most of the natural light to enhance the beauty of the architectural details. 
2. Incorporate the couple’s interests in the composition. 
3. Experiment with different angles and perspectives; it doesn’t matter if you need the couple to do the same thing several times so you can focus on different parts of the scene. 
4. Ask the couple to do something you have in mind. Don’t be afraid to ask for something they didn’t ask for. Sometimes creativity comes in the moment and the couple has hired you because they love your work. 

She also notes that it is important before starting a sequence like this to scan the scene to make sure nothing distracting is in the shot like bottles, cellphones, or anything else that you’d rather not have to remove later in Photoshop. 

Also, time is always a big challenge in every wedding. Gutierrez notes that just moments after they completed this sequence of images, the family arrived, and of course, she shifted gears to get precious photos of them, too. So, it’s important to always take advantage of the moments you have and make the most of them. 

Follow Daniella Gutierrez on Instagram. View the full 30 Rising Star Winners Gallery.