Two weeks ago I visited upstate Pennsylvania for a cousin’s wedding. Before I left, I had a thought: I’ll be in the middle of nowhere, with no service, surrounded by woods. After a bit of research, I found that the area of Pennsylvania where I was headed was one of the darkest areas in the state. I was beyond excited to try my hand at shooting the Milky Way. I’d tried my hand at star photography in Iceland and Morocco, but hadn’t quite figured it out, so I was bound and determined this time. After stopping to buy my third tripod (I always forget I’m missing a part that connects the camera to the tripod until I actually need a tripod and don’t have time to order a part), I waited for the sun to go down, set up, and was grateful that the moon wasn’t going to be anywhere in sight that night. The sky was mostly clear and I could see the Milky Way with my naked eye, so I was hopeful my photos would turn out. After my first couple of shots, I was thrilled to see the images even before post-processing.
This was one of my four favorite shots from that evening. It took a bit of editing to get it exactly how I wanted it, but I am so happy with the way it turned out and cannot wait to try my hand at it again! What do you think?
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Beautiful shot! I tried the same thing, dragging my tripod to Zion National Park and then trying to take some night shots. Let’s just say I wasn’t successful. Yours turned out great! Let me know if you have any other helpful tips for capturing a star-filled night sky.
What part of Pennsylvania were you in? I’ve always wanted to try my hand at astro photography, but just can’t seem to get the hang of it. Need to try again!
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Upstate–Sullivan County. I was in Forksville, close to Worlds End Park. It’s supposed to be one of the darkest areas in the whole state, making it ideal for astro-photography!
What setting do you have it on?
I am interested in doing something similar one day but not sure where to begin…other than a tripod. I need to get one!
Would you use the same setting for the Northern Lights?
I think I’ll write posts about how to shoot both! :) I’ve gotten lots of questions, so that should answer everything from equipment to settings to editing.