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Night in Shenandoah
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Night in Shenandoah



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Good Milky Way spots are few and far between on the east coast, it seems. I wanted to get at least one good shot in before Milky Way season ends. Big Meadows is...
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Good Milky Way spots are few and far between on the east coast, it seems. I wanted to get at least one good shot in before Milky Way season ends. Big Meadows is about 3 hours away from me so I decided to make a day trip up to Shenandoah NP via the Blue Ridge Parkway and Skyline drive and get some shots of fall color along the way. I hopped in my car around 10am, meandered my way up to Shenandoah, got a lot of hiking in, and arrived to Shenandoah right as golden hour began. I shot timelapse for about 2 hours and this is one of the shots from the sequence.
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upload_dateOct, 2017

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Awards

Contest Finalist in The Milky Way Photo Contest
Contest Finalist in Image Of The Month Photo Contest Vol 27
Peer Award
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Top Choice
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Absolute Masterpiece
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Outstanding Creativity
Woodworkspics BennyJPhotography newelly bpidala MEDOM AllenHrenyk
Magnificent Capture
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Superb Composition
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Superior Skill
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All Star
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Top Ranks

Color Explorer Photo ContestTop 10 rank
Color Explorer Photo ContestTop 10 rank week 1
Enchanting Landscapes Photo ContestTop 10 rank
Enchanting Landscapes Photo ContestTop 10 rank week 1
Earth Day Every Day Photo ContestTop 10 rank
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Change Of Seasons Photo ContestTop 10 rank
The Wonders of the World Photo ContestTop 10 rank
The Wonders of the World Photo ContestTop 10 rank week 1
Our World At Night Photo ContestTop 10 rank
Everything Nature Photo ContestTop 10 rank
Everything Nature Photo ContestTop 10 rank week 1
The Talent AwardsTop 30 rank
The Milky Way Photo ContestTop 30 rank
The Milky Way Photo ContestTop 20 rank week 1
Nature And The Night Photo ContestTop 10 rank
Nature And The Night Photo ContestTop 10 rank week 2
Nature And The Night Photo ContestTop 10 rank week 1
ViewBug Photography AwardsTop 10 rank
ViewBug Photography AwardsTop 10 rank week 1
Covers Photo Contest Vol 42Top 10 rank
Image Of The Month Photo Contest Vol 27Top 10 rank
Covers Photo Contest Vol 42Top 30 rank week 1
Celebrating Nature Photo Contest Vol 3Top 30 rank
Celebrating Nature Photo Contest Vol 3Top 30 rank week 2
Celebrating Nature Photo Contest Vol 3Top 20 rank week 1

Categories

Submitted to Photo Contests

Tags

#night #Shenandoah National Park #shenandoah #National PArk #tree #stars #nature #landscape #milky way
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Behind The Lens

Location

I took this photo in the big meadows region of Shenandoah National Park in Virginia, U.S.

Time

I got here in the evening to do some scouting around the meadows. There were a couple different compositions I was thinking about but ultimately ended up settling on this one because I knew eventually the milky way would move over the top of the tree here. I set up my tripod and shot a day to night timelapse over the course of 4 hours from 6 to 10PM. This shot was taken just after the timelapse ended.

Lighting

Good Milky Way shooting can be pretty tough with lighting, particularly on the east coast of the United States where light pollution is a little out of control. I waited for a night with a new moon so that the stars and milky way would be much more visible. Additionally, I wanted to get a little light pollution on the horizon to light up the tree in the mid ground and contrast with the blue sky.

Equipment

I shot this with a Nikon D750 and a Rokinon 14mm f/2.8 lens from a tripod.

Inspiration

I really like shooting in National Parks and typically spend some time going through viewbug, flickr, and 500px looking for interesting scenes and compositions. I saw a photographer whose work I admired and loved his shot of the Milky Way above the meadows. I came here with the idea of making my own photo with a different composition.

Editing

A lot of the post-processing I did was fairly straightforward milky way processing. Adding contrast and clarity, dropping the black point and bringing up the whites help bring out the stars. I added a circular ND to increase exposure of the Milky Way and added some blue to the shadows and yellow to the highlights.

In my camera bag

My equipment bag always includes my D750 and Nikkor 24-120mm. If I'm doing night photography I bring my Rokinon lens. Apart from that, I don't usually carry much, just my tripod, a 3 stop ND grad for sunsets, cleaning equipment, and extra SD cards.

Feedback

Milky Way photography is a huge time commitment. You have to meticulously plan ahead and budget a lot of time to drive away from city lights, set up a composition, and wait for the stars to come out. I use https://www.lightpollutionmap.info/ to find places where light pollution is minimal, stellarium to determine where the milky way will be in the sky, and of course the weather channel to make sure I'll have a clear night. Once I'm out in the field I use the PhotoPills app to line up my camera with where the milky way will be later in the day. Even then, you might not get what you are looking for. A night out under the stars is always worthwhile though, even if you don't come back with any pictures you're happy with. Just try again later.

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