Skip navigation

Category Archives: milky way

Night Light

The stars put on a good show too. I had hoped to make a blue hour blend but the app I had in hand, gave me incorrect information. It said the Milky Way would rise over the lone pine tree looking west across the lake but that is not how it happened. It appeared almost due south instead. I started making images around 8:00 and continued til 11:00 pm when the Milky Way was getting dimmer and air glow was increasing. Still lovely. And I had a warm campfire I shared with Luna. Sky prefers to go to bed early.

I probably need lessons in learning the night sky apps. They are not intuitive for me. Most night sky photos you see are blends or composites well planned out with the help of an app. Maybe I am too spontaneous to ever use one effectively.

Milky Way Panorama

I have been working on my night photography skills for a couple of years now and finally, have made my first successful panorama of the full Milky Way arch! I’ve watched videos, gone to classes, read articles and ebooks, trying to learn as much as possible. Many things I learned meant I needed another piece of equipment but I think now, I have it all put together. This is not perfect, that’s for sure but it makes me happy.

And I did it from my own home. I did not have to drive somewhere a long ways away to find the needed dark skies that makes seeing the stars possible. Of course, the foreground is not all that attractive. There are all the lights on the hills from the ever increasing populations of our valley, the local airport, some cars on the dirt roads after midnight, lights from the nearby church and a power pole. It is where I live and I am happy to be here.

This image is made from eight images stitched together and represents about 180° to capture the entire arc of the Milky Way.

I have more to learn but I feel like this is a big step forward!

Out in the Dark

The girls and I recently returned from an adventurous fifteen-day roadtrip to Nevada and Utah. Did you know that eastern Nevada has LOTS of really high mountains? Like 10,000 feet and higher? Really an amazing landscape. And it’s so large, we barely saw any of it. And it’s remote. Really remote. Sky had a medical emergency on a Sunday and I managed to get a large animal veterinarian on the phone and he said, ‘Lady, you are in the middle of nowhere. No one here can take care of your dog. You need to go to Vegas or Salt Lake City.’ We ended up going to Elko, but that’s another story. Thanks to the wonders of modern veterinary medicine, Sky is fine now.

Our destination was the Nightscaper Conference in Kanab, Utah. Ken flew down to explore the sights and wrangle the dogs while I was filling my brain with more information than it could ever hold.

Here are a few images from the trip down there.

Night Sky

I may have stayed up too late the night before last. I had read about noctilucent clouds and went outside to look for them. It seemed like something I could see and not stay up TOO late. I don’t think I saw any but it was a lovely end to the daylight with long lingering dusk light over Winthrop. Also, some strange rosy light over Mount Robinson, north-north-west of here. It didn’t last long and I can’t tell you what caused it. I have lots to learn.

The weather forecast said partly to mostly cloudy so I was surprised when the clouds completely went away and the stars began to show themselves. I think this is the first time in two months when there was no moonlight and no clouds and I could see the core of the Milky Way! I was surprised by the weather. I did have enough camera gear to make some images of the night sky. I wished I had a more accurate forecast so I could have tried some new stuff I am trying to learn. It is always mesmerizing to watch the pageant of stars as they flow across the night sky, changing with each passing minute.

I am lucky to live in a place where I can walk out my door and see the stars. However, I am looking forward to going other places to practice photographing the night sky.

Lingering light to the north after 10 pm
Can you see the rosy glow behind Mount Robinson?

%d bloggers like this: