The view from my front porch.
This last Saturday morning I got my chance. It wasn't ideal, but it was good enough. The Moon was a few days shy of full, but was going to set a little after 4 AM. With the time change that gave me a bit over 2 hours before twilight. Being mid-March the core of the Milky Way would be rising about the time the Moon was setting.
I've talked before about the need for dark skies when doing astrophotography. How dark you need depends on what you are trying to do. We are only a few miles from Tulsa, and we certainly have plenty of light pollution, but there are still lots of possibilities in these conditions.
The Moon Setting over Lake Keystone
The Moon was still up, so I headed a few miles down the road to a small Corps of Engineers park named Cowskin Bay to get a photo of the moon setting over the lake.
Highway 412 Bridge and Keystone Dam
Highway 412 Bridge and Keystone Dam
If you look closely you can just make out the Milky Way rising over the bridge, but it's mostly lost in the light pollution.
The light trails from the traffic add a nice touch.
The Milky Way Rising in my Front Yard
This was going to be a challenging shot. There is a lot of light outside our trailer, and it was going to be difficult to get enough light to image the Milky Way without overexposing the lights in the yard. Fortunaly there are tools to help with this.
I took a total of six photos exposed to avoid overexposing the landscape. Then I loaded them into some free Windows software called Sequator. If you are going to do astrophotography, then you want Sequator. I told it which parts were sky and which were land, then set it to align the stars in the sky, to reduce light pollution, and automatically adjust light levels. Essentially it stacked all six photos, giving me an effective exposure of about 2 minutes for the sky, but only added enough of the landscape to reach the proper exposure. It also reduced noise in the photos to produce a much sharper image. By stacking photos and aligning the stars, Sequator lets you do much longer exposures using an ordinary tripod than you could without it. And it's Free.
Don't Forget: Get Travel Health Insurance!
To make your trip a worry-free experience, TravelFeed recommends SafetyWing Nomad Insurance. It provides comprehensive health coverage while you travel, so you can focus on exploring, not the unexpected. Get a quote here
Thank you for taking the time to read this. We really appreciate it.
()
Thank you @penderis for this artwork!
Thank you @enginewitty for this artwork!
Travel Resources for your trip to United States
Recommended by TravelFeed
Flights: We recommend checking Kiwi.com to find the best and cheapest flights to United States.
Accomodation: Explore the best places to stay in United States on Booking.com, Agoda and Hostelworld.
Travel Insurance: Medical emergencies abroad can be pricey, but travel health insurance is not. We always use SafetyWing for affordable and reliable coverage.
Car Rental: For hassle-free car hiring, DiscoverCars is our trusted choice with a wide selection of vehicles.
Internet: Got an eSIM compatible phone? Airalo is perfect for reliable internet access during your trip. Just install it before you go, and you're set!
Day Trips & Tours: We recommend GetYourGuide for a variety of well-organized and enjoyable activities.
Travel Planner: Need a hand planning? Our free travel planner chatbot is your personal guide to United States. Chat now.
Disclosure: Posts on TravelFeed may contain affiliate links. See affiliate disclosure.