Milky Way taken in Rocky Mountain National Park, taken 6/18/20, about 2:40am. Single 30 second exposure. Looking south at Eagle Cliff Mnt. The glow is from Denver metro.
Backstory: Took the grandkids to Estes Park for the week. I hadn't really planned to do a Milky Way shoot. Woke up the first night about 2:00 for a nature call. I decided to go out to look at the stars. Wow! Clear sky. MW was visible to the naked eye, but too many porch lights and business signs for a long exposure, so I went back to bed. Next night I was too tired to stay up, but decided that if I woke up I'd give it a try. Sure enough I woke up at 1:53, got dressed in the dark, loaded up my gear and headed into RMNP. I knew where I wanted to set up with a view over Moraine Valley looking at Long's Peak. About a 1/4 mile past the entrance gates I was foiled by an all-night road construction crew that had closed the road. Klieg lights bared in my face. Oh well, I turned around and slowly headed back, looking for a possible spot. Now a "happy accident" is that the klieg lights lit up the right (west) side of the mountain. So instead of a silhouette, I got some tree detail. I used hand held lights for some of the foreground trees. I didn't get the shot I wanted, but maybe I got something better? Within an hour I was back in bed.
Excellent! Broken eggs to perfect omelette!
How quickly from awshit to wow.
Thanks for sharing.
Mark
wdross
Loc: Castle Rock, Colorado
OneShot1 wrote:
Milky Way taken in Rocky Mountain National Park, taken 6/18/20, about 2:40am. Single 30 second exposure. Looking south at Eagle Cliff Mnt. The glow is from Denver metro.
Backstory: Took the grandkids to Estes Park for the week. I hadn't really planned to do a Milky Way shoot. Woke up the first night about 2:00 for a nature call. I decided to go out to look at the stars. Wow! Clear sky. MW was visible to the naked eye, but too many porch lights and business signs for a long exposure, so I went back to bed. Next night I was too tired to stay up, but decided that if I woke up I'd give it a try. Sure enough I woke up at 1:53, got dressed in the dark, loaded up my gear and headed into RMNP. I knew where I wanted to set up with a view over Moraine Valley looking at Long's Peak. About a 1/4 mile past the entrance gates I was foiled by an all-night road construction crew that had closed the road. Klieg lights bared in my face. Oh well, I turned around and slowly headed back, looking for a possible spot. Now a "happy accident" is that the klieg lights lit up the right (west) side of the mountain. So instead of a silhouette, I got some tree detail. I used hand held lights for some of the foreground trees. I didn't get the shot I wanted, but maybe I got something better? Within an hour I was back in bed.
Milky Way taken in Rocky Mountain National Park, t... (
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Your shot is quite good for not being in a truely dark area of the country. Love Estes Park, too. Sometimes the deer and elk wandering through town make for a unique and different photo.
I would be delighted with that image. Thanks for sharing.
That photograph is very impressive. I’m speaking of the download!
Sometimes it's better to be lucky than good.
Excellent shot.. i live in Estes about 5 miles from your shot locale. I woke up very early one May Sat morning and shot the upper core (from my driveway) as the MW was setting. It was an amazing shot (not as nice as yours) but, still happy with it. Thanks for sharing
DougS
Loc: Central Arkansas
Wow! Nice Shot! Agree, the download is outstanding!
Fantastic shot. I hope, in my summer here in the south and without covid19 go to someplace in the north of Chile to take some MW shots.
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