08/19/2026
"Guardian of the Milky Way"
I'm pretty proud of this one in that I think I created the otherworldly, mystical feel I was going for. The technical stuff I'm still working on.
This was my first solo shoot to capture the Milky Way Galactic Core using the concepts I learned at the workshop by Jae Jarratt Photography. It was quite the effort to plan, prepare, and execute. I got rained out and had to abort my first attempt. I misred my PhotoPills planning app and was setting up my shot from the wrong direction. Jae saved the shoot by letting me know I needed to shoot from the other side of the sculpture. I was already setup, and taking foreground images when it finally clicked what I was doing wrong with PhotoPills. I managed to move my camera setup to the other side, reposition the lights and capture the foreground shot without tripping and falling hurrying around in the dark. I got all this done just in time for the skies to clear and setup my star tracker for the Milky Way long exposures. I made a lot of mistakes, but I learned from all of them and got the shot in the end.
Planning apps: Google Earth Pro, PhotoPills, Astropheric, Weather Channel, Alpenglow, ChatGPT
Gear: Nikon D780, Nikon 14-24mm f2.8, Move Shoot Move Nomad star tracker, Vanguard tripod, 4 variable LED lanterns, and assorted accessories
Processing: Macbook, Adobe Lightroom Classic, DxO PureRAW, Starry Landscape Stacker, Adobe Photoshop 2026
Foreground: 18mm, ISO 800, f4, 30s
Sky: 12 images tracked and stacked. 18mm, ISO 800, f4, 180s
