Milky way over east San Jose, CA
May, 2016Views
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Behind The Lens
Location
This photo was taken on Mt. Hamilton in San Jose CA. I had just moved to the city and was trying to find a place to take my first ever Milky Way photo.Time
I left my house in the late afternoon but ended up having to drive for several hours to escape the light pollution of the city. All of that driving brought me to this lovely spot on the side of the mountain though. I got there around 11:00pm and started to shoot immediately. I had never taken a long exposure of the Milky Way so it was a daunting process of trial and error (during which time my fiañce patiently slept in the car).Lighting
The rising moon created a lovely orange glow on the horizon. It came up rather quickly though and once it did the Milky Way was gone for the night.Equipment
This was shot using my friends Pentax K200D, 25-120mm F4 lens @ 25mm. My ISO was set At 5000 and the exposure was 30 seconds.Inspiration
I had never done astrophotgraphy before this night and now I'm hooked. The day before I went I was looking up star charts figuring out we're the milky way would be at what time. Then I was comparing those to light pollution maps. The last step was get in the car and find a good subject to put in the foreground. When it was all said and done I was very happy with my first Milky Way experience!Editing
I downloaded Adobe Lightroom the day after I took this photo. I watched a few tutorials and went to work. I used the RAW photo and started with a graduated filter to boost the exposure in the foreground. I then used the paint brush feature to boost the saturation and exposure of the Milky Way itself. Reduced a little bit of noise and that was it!In my camera bag
I now carry a Nikon D750 with a 24-120mm and a 85mm portrait lens. I also use a Pacsafe antitheft backpack as well as a sturdy tripod.Feedback
My advice to other photographers is to get out of your comfort zone and capture something beautiful along the way.
