Due to light pollution, it’s hard to find a place where a person can see the Milky Way. According to Dark Sky International, “light pollution is the human-made alteration of outdoor light levels from those occurring naturally. Light pollution disrupts wildlife, impacts human health, wastes money and energy, contributes to climate change, and blocks our view of the universe.”
I am lucky. I don’t have to travel far to see the Milky Way. Here are a few images from the past week.
There are not too many places in Washington where you can tow a trailer to above 6000′ elevation for a boondocking camping adventure. I found one and invited two friends who I knew were familiar with that area of the central Cascades. So, four dogs, three women and two cats traveled a long bumpety bump road to enjoy two nights on a mountain top. Somehow, I didn’t get any photos of the dogs and cats. They all got along wonderfully. The cats were mostly confined to their trailer unless they got out for leashed walks. Willow made a new best friend, Addie, a long legged doodle dog, almost one year old.
We had terrific views of two of Washington’s volcanoes – Tahoma and Pahto, otherwise known as Rainier and Adams. Like many other places in the west, much of the forest has burned leaving behind stands of silver snags. The snow had only recently melted and the tiny wildflowers were in full bloom. I was surprised by the lack of birds. Maybe that was due to the wind which nearly never quit blowing up there.
Night photography was a challenge due to light pollution from the closest towns and also, the tiny crescent moon was still up when the Milky Way was at its best. It’s amazing how much light it provides. Timing is everything!
There are few places in the world where we can truly see the night sky anymore. I returned to this place in eastern Oregon knowing that I could really see and photograph the milky way, assuming the weather cooperated. And it did for two nights when it was calm and clear.
We got up early for sunrise, looking west at the Sierras and also east to the Great Basin. We had a long walk in the younger bristlecone pine trees and we stayed outside in the dark to photograph the Milky Way over the Sierras. We were high enough in the White Mountains that we could see the light pollution of southern California spilling over the Sierras and my milky way disappeared into some low clouds. Still beautiful.
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.
My Everyday Photos 