Discovering My Happy Place
A Journey into Night Sky Photography
Introduction: I grew up in New Jersey approximately 20 miles from the lights and bustle of New York City and directly under a flightpath into Newark Airport. I can honestly say I don’t recall any stargazing taking place at my house. In fact, it took family trips to Maine, Pennsylvania and eventually Montana to open my eyes to the night sky.
The Magic of Montana: On a trip to Montana during my teens I found the peacefulness of the night sky, the never-ending expanse of our galaxy visible from a back porch. It was incredible. There were so many stars. Some twinkled, some were red or blue and I could finally see constellations other than the Big Dipper.
The Pleiades Cluster and Grand Tetons: Fast forward a few years to college and I am working at Jackson Lake Lodge in the Grand Tetons for the summer. The opportunities for star gazing were plentiful. I grew an affinity for the Pleiades cluster Aka: The Seven Sisters or Messier45. I found that, for some reason, when I could see this cluster, I felt at peace…sounds weird…however it’s the truth.
Aurora Borealis in Iceland: A couple of years later I was working for the US Navy at the Naval Air Station Keflavik in Iceland. The stars were good however it was the Aurora Borealis that took me to another level. I would spend hours bundled up and hunkered down behind a snowdrift, to avoid the unending wind, and watch the lights dance across the sky. Again, finding my happy place in the darkness gazing upwards.
Exploring Night Photography: My photographic journey was rudimentary at best at this point and I had no idea I could photograph these glorious celestial vistas. It wasn’t until I moved to the Shenandoah Valley of Virginia and began to adventure out at night with the camera. I had seen some photographers speak on photographing the night sky however I had yet to try it myself.
The Milky Way Photography Challenge: My first documented (by documented, I mean I still have the shot) foray into shooting the Milky Way was a night shoot at Big Meadows in the Shenandoah National Park. I took a friend who had no clue what we were going to do but was interested in my unbridled excitement. 2
Tools for Success: I brought the list of needed and recommended gear necessary for a successful shoot. Tripod, camera, remote trigger, red headlamp, chair, wide lens (14-24mm Nikkor) and snacks. It was mid-August and there was a clear sky. We trekked away from the buildings out into the field and found the composition I liked. I set up the camera and proceeded to photograph with every possible setting under the stars. I had, at that time, heard a variety of methods to capture a clean night sky image. My results were mixed. Most of the images had either no detail and minimal stars or a blown-out horizon due to the light pollution from the Charlottesville area. However, one proved to be successful: 14mm lens manual focused to infinite and then a slight turn back, 20 seconds, f/2.8, ISO1600 using the remote trigger to eliminate any camera shake. After optimizing the image in Lightroom later this was the result. The Milky Way centered between the trees with Saturn and Jupiter as sentinels in the sky.
Capturing the Beauty of the Night: Is it Hard? This is usually one of the questions I’m asked about the Milky Way photography. “Is it hard?” Well…it’s not hard. It’s time consuming, weather dependent, location dependent and soul crushing at times. The actual capture is the easiest part of the whole process. Set the camera to the appropriate settings and trigger the shutter. Simple. Now what’s the hard part? Planning, preparation, patience and the weather. To help with this process I utilize the app PhotoPills (Link) this app is a godsend. It allows you to time and plan any night shoot anywhere in the world. My favorite aspect is the Augmented Reality capability to show me where the sun, moon, meteor showers and Milky Way will be at any time. Specifically speaking, I can stand at a location and compose a shot with the preferred foreground and “see” where the Milky Way will be. See below.
Spruce Knob: The Dark Sky Haven: This is a screenshot from my phone from Spruce Knob in West Virginia. I knew that at 11:42pm that evening this is exactly where the Milky Way would be positioned. I had all of the necessary gear, our campsite was a short drive away and we had a plan to return at sunset to get foreground images and then wait for the night sky to come alive. Planning complete. Prep done. Patience…working on it. Now all we needed was the weather to cooperate. Mother Nature can be a finicky thing.
Perfect sky during the day, on the left and then a storm came in at sunset and clouded over the entire valley. In fact, it became a raging storm that required us to shelter in the truck for almost an hour. Needless to say, the Planning, Preparation and Patience did not result in a Milky Way photo on this night. However, on other occasions these things have worked out fabulously.
For those who don’t mind a couple of hours in the car, primitive-esque camping and a couple of days without signal then Spruce Knob is the place to go. It is the darkest sky east of the Mississippi River. Below is the PhotoPills planning screenshot and the final exposure. Note there’s minimal light pollution on the horizon and none on the sides.
Preserving Our Dark Skies: We are lucky to have a dark sky location so close to us here on the east coast. As light pollution is wreaking havoc on the nocturnal creatures and our circadian rhythm. If you have the patience to plan properly and can prepare yourself for the environment then photographing the night sky is a rewarding experience. It is therapeutic doing it alone however it is an amazing thing to share with other like-minded photographers.