Bullseye

Finally got my first shot of this Milky Way season. Currently, Jupiter, is almost directly in the center of the “Dark Horse” and looks like the heart of the...
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Finally got my first shot of this Milky Way season. Currently, Jupiter, is almost directly in the center of the “Dark Horse” and looks like the heart of the Milky Way. This was the first time I’ve ever seen this and it was awesome! Decided to head to the Southern end of DVNP to explore some areas I’ve never been. This is my third visit to the park and still have only scratched the surface as far as seeing all it has to offer. The normally 4 ½ hour drive was turned into an almost 6 hour trek due to accidents and traffic on the freeways. I was able to arrive just before sunset and get some nice golden hour shots, as well as scouting around to find a good composition for when the Milky Way would be visible around 12:30AM. It was quite peaceful being the only one here at night and allowed me to photograph without interruption or concern of others. The amount of stars visible is truly breathtaking. The International Dark-Sky Association has designated Death Valley National Park as a Gold Tier Dark Sky Park, the highest rating of darkness. “Visitors to the park are often amazed by the amount of stars they can see here. Some people have never seen the Milky Way before visiting Death Valley.” When visiting, one may notice a large light glow from the South South East area of the sky. This is light from Las Vegas over 100 miles away. Encroaching city lights are a constant threat to the visibility in these Dark Sky Parks, but hopefully a solution can be found to preserve the view while maintaining convenience in the cities.
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@Nikonusa Z7 * | Nikkor 14-24mm f- 2.8 with adapter FTZ | 24mm (Cropped) | ISO 3200 | 60” for sky with Ioptron Sky Tracker at 1x speed | 120” for foreground with tracker turned off. Blended in Photoshop | Kirk L-Bracket | Manfrotoo 496RC tripod
*Nikon Z7 gifted courtesy of Nikon
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