We may not always think about it, but every day the International Space Station (ISS) travels across our sky as it orbits Earth about every 90 minutes. This past Saturday photographer, painter and muisician Raymond Klassen was able to capture that trek as it crossed in front of the sun, leading to a spectacular time lapse picture.

"I've wanted to capture this for a while, because I've watched the ISS pass overhead for years, and it's fascinating to think that there are people inside," said Klassen when asked why he wanted to capture this event. "I've done a few other photos of eclipses and stars, but mostly focus on shooting to gather photo and video material for my landscape and wildlife paintings and YouTube channel."

As you can imagine, this wasn't as simple as pulling out a phone, and pointing it at the sky. There was a lot of thought and preparation before the shoot.

"I used a mirrorless camera with a long lens on a tripod, as well as a strong neutral density filter to darken the sun," he explained. "I knew the exact time and location to setup, thanks to a website that tracks when the space station will transit the sun and moon, down to the second."

Klassen noted he's always loved nature, and began photographing and painting when he was in school. 

"Recently, I've chosen to mostly paint it, but there are some things, like this, that I can't resist capturing with a camera."

Successfully photographing this was a rewarding experience for Klassen.

"The most rewarding thing about preparing for, and capturing scenes like this, is realizing how amazing it is," he shared. "I just captured a man-made object the size of a football field in space with people inside, traveling at over 7km per second! And it was 558km away!"

You can see more of Raymond's work at raymondklassen.com