Milky Way over "Big Eyes" Rock Formation

 Thanks so much for all your comments last week. It's encouraging, and also it provided me with some excellent feedback: The majority liked the darker Milky Way with the LED-lit rocks (top photo, below).

The above outing (during the April new moon on 4/20/23) provided me with some badly needed practice at Milky Way photography. After this solo outing was completed, I talked my friend Mitch into joining me for the May new moon (5/21). Our goal was to photograph the Milky Way over the "Big Eyes" rock formation I had come across on a recent hike. It looked like optimal Milky Way position would be about 11PM, but we decided to "go heavy" with sleeping bags, tents, and all the other gear needed in case we needed to spend the night. It would turn out to be a good decision.

  

Big Eyes is such an interesting and unusual-looking rock formation, and I was really looking forward to trying to get a good Milky Way photo with this as the foreground! We trudged out to the location with our heavy backpacks, getting there about 45 minutes before sunset. We set up our tripods, used the PhotoPills app to determine the position of the MW so we could compose our photos, and set up our tents.

 

This is the view looking out from inside the right "eye" of "Big Eyes." That's Mitch on the right, probably consulting his PhotoPills app, and you might be able to spot my tent (behind him and toward the center). 

 

I'm adjusting lights so we can get a "glowing eyes" shot later. Note the clear skies.

 

So there's nothing much to do now but wait for the Milky Way to be in optimal position. With Milky Way photography, there's a lot of waiting around. We decide to try for a couple hours sleep while waiting, and set our phone alarms for about 11PM. 

Nice view from inside my tent. Good night!

  

Beep... beep... beep... Time to get up, which is fine with me because I couldn't fall asleep. Mitch and I immediately notice that clouds have moved in. Nooooooooooooooooooooo!!😟

Not only have the clouds moved in, but they are perfectly obscuring the Milky Way. Instead of a nice MW sky shot, I now have "Clouds blocking the Milky Way" sky shot!! Very ominous looking, but not what I'm after.

 

Glowing eyes version of "Clouds blocking the Milky Way."

 
The clouds kind of come and go, and there are a couple times when we think we may get a good clear shot, but then the clouds move in again and snatch it away! We discuss the option of calling it a night and hiking back to the car.

The rest of the night is kind of a blur. At some point we decided to go back to our tents and try for sleep, but we agreed to get up every couple hours to see if the clouds had cleared. This photo was taken at 1:32AM.  Partial clearing, and at least you get a small glimpse of the Milky Way!
 

And then, at 3:11AM, we finally had clearing!! Notice how the MW moves across the sky from SE to SW, and from a diagonal position to a nearly vertical position. It means, flip your camera on the tripod to a portrait orientation. We were both so very close to giving up and crawling into our tent for the rest of the night or hiking back to the car. So glad we didn't!

 

My favorite of the night.

 
I think we finally got back to bed about 4AM, tired and elated at the same time. I nearly ran right into this Black Widow (in the process of eating a moth) on my way to my tent. Fortunately my head lamp lit her up just in time, and I was able to go around her. I'm pretty sure she didn't want to share her meal with me!

 

After sleeping a couple hours, we were back up with first light, taking down our tents and stumbling back in the general direction of the car, totally sleep deprived. It's rare that I get to see sunrise and first light out in this part of the desert, so a real treat!

So there you have it. Another night out on the desert, under the stars (and clouds), chasing a sometimes elusive Milky Way! I count this as a successful outing, and so happy the clouds eventually cleared. At some point, I'll share my attempts at June and July Milky Way outings, and hoping to get out in August as well. Stay tuned!

 

Thanks for stopping by!!

Linking with Skywatch Friday.