Bird Skull Rock and Milky Way

 Have you ever tried to take pictures of the Milky Way? I lost interest in Milky Way photography a number of years ago. It always seemed like a lot of work for not much return. It requires you to pack a lot of gear (camera, tripod, lights, and sometimes a sleeping bag, tent, ground pad, etc., etc.). Lots of water because the Milky Way is best seen in the hot summer months. You end up with a really heavy pack. And it requires a lot of careful planning: A new moon night so the light from the moon doesn't mess up Milky Way visibility, position of the Milky Way and galactic center, and most importantly, picking an interesting foreground (a photo of the MW in the sky without an interesting foreground is pretty boring!). Your view of said foreground must be to the south (location of the MW). You can use an app like PhotoPills to see where the MW will be in relation to your foreground on your planned date. Sometimes you get lucky and the optimal position of the MW/galactic center is around 11PM or so. But other nights, the optimal time to photograph the MW might be 3:30 or 4AM. Since I like to get to my shooting location late in the day to get set up, and photograph my foreground after sunset, it makes for a long night! So after all this careful planning and hiking out to what you have selected as your perfect foreground with a really heavy pack, you should be good to go, right? Nope, not necessarily. Winds can kick up and ruin things, skies get hazy, or the MW photographers worst enemy, clouds fill the sky and you can't even see the MW. Talk about frustrating! Your very best case scenario is none of this happens and you get a wonderful photo of the MW and foreground. Maybe one or two good, usable photos. See what I mean about a low return on investment?

 

So why my renewed interest in MW photography? Blame it on the Big Eyes rock formation that I came across recently. I took one look at it, with it's perfect view to the south, and immediately thought it would make an ideal MW foreground.

 

I decided back in April that I wanted to do a practice run at MW photography before heading out to Big Eyes. I knew of another rock formation (Bird Skull Rock) that might make a good foreground, and the best view is SE (good for viewing the MW in April). The optimal time would be about 2:30AM, so my plan was to hike out while still light, get some photos of my foreground just after sunset, and then try to get a few hours sleep before shooting the MW. Unfortunately, that would mean packing a sleeping bag and pad along with all my other gear, so a very heavy pack!

Elephant??

It was a little over a one mile hike out to Bird Skull Rock. Not too far, but with a super-heavy pack on a hot afternoon, far enough! I passed by a couple interesting rock formations on the hike out.

Interesting "two story" lower level shelter (left) and upper level alcove. 

 

Ah, there it is! Bird Skull Rock is what I want to use as my foregound. My plan is to take a photo after sunset while there is still enough light to see the rocks, and focus the camera on the rocks. I've also packed two LED lights to help light up the rocks. Then, without moving my camera from the tripod, I'll come back some hours later, change my camera focus and other settings for the MW night sky. If successful, I'll combine the two images and everything should be in focus and have a reasonably good exposure.

 

 

View from inside the rock formation. Bonus points if you can spot my tripod!

 

My sleeping pad is orange. That's where I'll be sleeping tonight.

 

Here I am, camera and tripod are set up, and waiting for the sun to go down. I splurged and bought an ultra-light backpacking chair. There's a lot of waiting around with MW photography, and it really helps to have a comfortable place to sit!
 

Screenshot of my PhotoPills app. It's showing where the Milky Way will be at 2:23AM. The MW moves across the sky (to the right) as the night progresses, and also goes from horizontal to vertical. The orange circle is the galactic center, which is the brightest part of the MW. It's a great tool to help you plan how to compose your photo and the optimal time to take your photo. I'm hoping to get the MW in a diagonal position to the left of the "eyes", and it looks like 2:30-3:00AM will give me my best outcome.

 

I really love this part of the desert. There are no trails out here, and few visitors. The sense of solitude and quite is wonderful, and spending the night out here enhances the experience even more.

 

Here's the foreground photo I will be using. Just enough light to make out the rocky detail, and (hopefully) sharp focus on the "eyes". If I make it too light, it will look unnatural when I add the dark MW sky. I can always make some minor edits in Photoshop later if needed.

Here's the same photo, but using LCD lights to light up the rock formation. I don't think I like this as much... looks unnatural, but you never know what it will look like when you add the night sky later. Now it's time to set my phone alarm for about 2:30AM and hope I can get a little sleep! 💤

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Beep Beep Beep. 2:30AM and time to get up. I don't think I got much, if any, sleep. Very uncomfortable sleeping on these rocks! But luck was with me and no clouds moved in.

Version #1: Milky Way over a Bird Skull Rock using LCD lights. I'm happy with this one. The lights add drama and pull your eye to the rock formation. The focus is good on both the foreground and the sky. 
 

Version #2: Milky Way over Bird Skull Rock, no LCD lights. The sky is a little lighter. Focus is good (both foreground and Milky Way). I'm happy with this one as well. I'm curious: Do you have a favorite??

 

I finished up around 3:30AM. Since I had no luck earlier trying to fall asleep, I decided to pack up all my geat and stumble back to my car, just using a headlamp for light and my GPS for direction. The surrounding mountains and rock formations that are my usual landmarks are covered in darkness. Hiking off-trail across the open desert on a moonless night is a strange and wild experience!

 

Thanks for stopping by, and I appreciate your comments!

Linking with Skywatch Friday.