May 2, 2018
It’s Milky Way Season Again!
Yes, the Milky Way has a season, it’s roughly April through October here in the northern hemisphere that you can see the galactic center of the Milky Way. I’ve fired up the Prius and headed to some familiar places(Lockwood Valley in the mountains) and some new places(on the coast). I attempted to shoot at the coast a few years ago when I had no clue what I was doing and actually managed to get a shot of the galactic center, but also the moon next to the galactic center. This time I avoided the moon by shooting after it had set and since the Milky Way doesn’t really rise until about 1:30-2:00am, this wasn’t overly difficult. One thing I acquired in the off-season(a Christmas present) was a sky tracker that moves the camera to track the stars as the earth moves. This allows for a cleaner picture since I can shoot a really long exposure at a low ISO setting.
Read MoreYes, the Milky Way has a season, it’s roughly April through October here in the northern hemisphere that you can see the galactic center of the Milky Way. I’ve fired up the Prius and headed to some familiar places(Lockwood Valley in the mountains) and some new places(on the coast). I attempted to shoot at the coast a few years ago when I had no clue what I was doing and actually managed to get a shot of the galactic center, but also the moon next to the galactic center. This time I avoided the moon by shooting after it had set and since the Milky Way doesn’t really rise until about 1:30-2:00am, this wasn’t overly difficult. One thing I acquired in the off-season(a Christmas present) was a sky tracker that moves the camera to track the stars as the earth moves. This allows for a cleaner picture since I can shoot a really long exposure at a low ISO setting.
Milky Way from Point Mugu.
This was shot with a sky tracker, so the sky and the foreground of the rocks and traffic trail in the distance were shot later the same night. This was shot in a parking area right next to Mugu Rock. On this outing I moved a few miles further up the coast to attempt to avoid the LA light pollution, I’m not sure it was overly effective and I actually liked the coastline at Twin Bush better. I did a little light painting for this one, illuminating the rocks at the edge of the parking area(to keep folk from driving into the ocean).
