Milky Way Photography

This is a high level behind the scenes look at planning, execution and post process of a few Milky Way photos. The intent is to give a feeling for how all of this comes together to make compelling images

Foreground

In May of 2024, while visiting Northern Michigan, I took the opportunity to shoot the Milky Way over on of my favourite subjects; the D H Day Barn. The plan for this picture was to put the Milky Way arching over barn, ensuring the Dark Horse and the core were hovering over the top of the barn. Setting up the tracker, ensuring it was level and aligned with the North Star, the camera was focused, and set. Putting the ISO to 256,000, aperture at 1.8 (wide open) and the shutter speed at 4 seconds, several test shots ensured the composition was what I was looking for and the lens was in focus. Turning the tracker on, resetting ISO to 250, shutter speed to 240 seconds and shutter delay to 2 seconds. Many shots later, the Milky Way was perfect. Turning the tracker off, not moving the camera, keeping the settings the same, yielded a clean image of the barn for the foreground. These two images were then edited for contrast and white balance, and the blended together in Photoshop.

Notice at four minutes, how far the stars have travelled with the camera stationary. The objective is to get the exposures to balance and to highlight the details in the Milky Way core.

May 4, 2024, 2AM Lens, 35mm F1.8, ISO 250, shutter speed 240 seconds. Bottle 2 skies, with a small town in the background

Another early season image, April of 2024. This time the plan was to capture the entire Milky Way Arch over the Little Sable Point Lighthouse. One of the challenges with this plan was the light pollution shooting back over the land (south east) versus shooting out over Lake Michigan. Additionally challenging was tracking 7 individual images and stitching them together for the foreground and then again for the tracked sky. Critical for success is the level of the tracker, and the level of the base that the camera rotates on.

April 10th, 2024 4AM, Lens 14-24 F2.8, @14mm, ISO 400, Shutter Speed 180 seconds. Bottle 3 to 4 skies, looking back into Sliver Lake.

Later in the year, September this time, the Milky Way is nearly vertical and passes overhead. A small beach nearby with a huge stairway to access Lake Michigan was inspiration for the Milky Way shot. Triangles are strong compositional elements and there are many in this image. A tracked image for the sky and a foreground shot stationary. The challenge with this shot was shooting from the top of the sand dune and keeping everything stable and level.

Sept 1st, 2024, 10:30 PM Sky, tracked at 120 seconds, F1.8, 20mm lens, ISO 250. Foreground 90 seconds, F1.8, 20mm and ISO 1600.

Every month from March through October, when the moon is small and or not spending too much time in the night sky, there is an opportunity to see and shoot the Milky Way. I typically plan for 5 days before and after the new moon. Checking for clear skies and the time the core is visible. The available time to shoot gets longer and the Milky Way moves from South East to South West through the summer months.

North End of Milky Way plus Aurora May

It is amazing how fast the time goes when I am out shooting the night sky. So much to accomplish with so little time. If you are interested in the experience, I would be happy to have you join me on a night sky adventure. Even with all the planning, these are somewhat spur of the moment, due to the potential of cloudy skies. Patience, perseverance are the key.

If you enjoyed this, or didn’t, please drop me a note in the contacts below. This got a little technical. If you have any questions whatsoever, just let me know.

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