Under the Milky Way: May Photo of the Month

Written & Photographed by Aaron Frank, Northwest Photographer

Spring was in the air, the Milky Way season had started and our search for stars after the grey season was at an all time high. It was a 70 degree day so we loaded up the car and were flowing with excitement for our starry adventure. We arrived to an empty parking lot, loaded up our camera gear and got on our sun filled trail with stars on the brain. 

After fourteen miles of traversing hills, chasing sunsets and star gazing with amazing friends the darkness fully set in. This is when our hike truly began. I had never been on this side of Mount St. Helens before so we took full advantage of the scenery. Scoping out various locations for astrophotography and Milky Way angles we happened to stumble upon a location I fell in love with. I took out my phone and searched for the moon rise location knowing I had struck my form of gold. 

The anxiousness of pushing a button, have life stop for 30 seconds and get goosebumps as the display lights up was endless. I had found the spot I have been searching years for and wanted to practice my new love of time lapses out. I popped a new battery in, set up my tripod up, set my camera to endless photos and watched the night pass us by. 

Nature keeps me in a state of happiness and gives me an appreciation of how blessed I am to experience it. It has inspired my work by allowing me to show how powerful a sunset, purifying a waterfall and raw a Milky Way filled night can feel. At the end of the day my true passion is to inspire others to start an adventure and fall in love with nature like myself. 

Home grown in beautiful Washington State. Aaron Frank is an aspiring landscape and astrophotographer with nonstop adventure in his blood. Follow along his Instagram: @PNW_WAnderer_

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October Photo of the Month: A Spectacular Night Sky

Photo taken from Table Mountain, Artist's Point, Mt Baker, WA
Canon 70D with Canon 10-22mm lens
F/3.5 ,  30 sec,  ISO 2000

Written and Photographed by Erin Cunningham, Northwest Photographer

As a young child, I was always fascinated by the night sky and went to sleep every night under a blanket of neon green glow in the dark stars on my ceiling. Growing older, my curiosity heightened and I spent warm summer Minnesota nights laying on the wooden dock watching twinkling stars, pointing out constellations and waking up at odd hours to watch meteor showers and lunar eclipses. In high school, a friend's Dad had a telescope and would set up viewing sessions at a local park for us to identify stars, constellations and planets. Luckily, growing up in a small suburban town in Minnesota, I was able to enjoy the vast mystery of the night sky by escaping any light pollution.

When I was about 12 years old, I saw the bright neon green of northern lights for the first time, illuminating rows of corn in a neighboring farmer's field. Little did I know, years later, I would be watching a ribbons of green and purple dance across the sky over layers of mountains in Washington state.

Life changes brought me to beautiful Washington state where I have since been in a love affair with the mountains. They have drawn me to them and I enjoy hiking and climbing their peaks, jumping in alpine lakes, and capturing as much of their beauty as I can through my love of photography. It has been so refreshing to escape the hustle and bustle of the city and light pollution to explore the beauty of varying landscapes of this unique state.

The recent purchase of an updated DSLR camera, specifically the Canon 70D with a wide angle 10-22mm lens has broadened the scope of what I can capture of this incredible place I now call home. Linking up with a few adventurous photographer friends, I've gotten hooked on astrophotography and I'm learning how to timelapse the milky way in various places in the North Cascades. It is humbling to realize that no matter where we are in the world and how old we grow, the vast night sky is always present for generations to enjoy.

After hearing of the solar flare predicted on June 22nd with the possibility of seeing the northern lights as far south as Washington, a group of friends and I headed up to Artist's point near Mt. Baker and Shuksan. Remembering Table Mountain was an exceptional viewing point, I suggested set up there to get 360 degree views of the night sky. We set up our tents for a short nap later and had some dinner. Around 1am with multiple cameras set toward the northern sky, all of a sudden, beams of purple light started to shoot up from the tops of the mountains and soon after, ribbons of green light danced across the sky for over 2 hours. Our group was in complete awe, jaws to the ground, whooping and hollering at the light show before us. I think we all could agree we saw a piece of Heaven that night.

Memories like these are ones we will remember forever. I am so thankful to have witnessed the natural wonder of the northern lights in one of the most stunning venues in Washington.

Nights Amongst the Stars

Wilderness photography and capturing the night sky

Written and Photographed by Andy Porter, Northwest Photographer

The only thing that captures my imagination more than images of stark, forbidding mountains deep in the wilderness is images of the Milky Way.

The sense of wonder looking at a star filled sky…there is nothing like it. All of the themes evoked by such a sight: distance, space, infinity, the unknown, God, space travel, alien races, vastness, our insignificance…I mean, where else do you get such a mélange of emotions?

And when you add to the starry night sky the strip of the Milky Way, with its mottled colors of gaseous clouds, you are exponentially multiplying the element of coolness.

Combining wilderness photography with starry sky imaging is a natural. You need to escape from the lights of civilization to get clear shots at night and any wilderness; mountains, ocean, desert all provide spectacular foregrounds for the Milky Way.  

Capturing Night Sky Images

The equipment list is rather meager. You need a decent DSLR (a full frame body is best, but not mandatory) a wide angle lens ( 10 to 20mm is best, 24mm is fine) a tripod and a cable release (or electronic shutter release) and that’s really all you need, equipment wise.

Once you get out to your spot and get set up set the camera on manual exposure mode and open your aperture up all the way (use the lowest f/stop number) and then, using the chart here, set your shutter speed.

As for ISO, that is really the only variable. Depending upon your camera I would suggest starting at a relatively low ISO, say, 1,000 and then work your way up, checking the images as you go. Each camera will have its own ISO sweet spot, often it’s the midpoint between the lowest and highest ISO setting on the camera.

One more important item is focus. You must set your lens on Manual Focus. Auto focus will not work at night and so, before you head out, take some time and figure out how to manually set the focus ring on your lens to infinity.

There are several way to do this, one is look up your lens on line, looking for the manual, or advice as to how to set that lens to infinity. Or another way is to sit with your camera (set the aperture open all the way when doing this) and take test shots of something at least 50 feet away and then review the image on your camera, using the zoom function and keep testing until you find that exact spot for your lens where its set for infinity, then make some mark or note or whatever so that when you’re out in the field at night you know where to set it.

That’s it! Then you can leisurely move about, composing shots and have fun (make sure to check your focus ring from time to time, moving your rig about can often change the focus setting!)

Here in Washington there are many fantastic places to go for night sky images. Mount Rainier, the Pacific Coast, along a wild river really the list is endless. Happy Shooting!

Andy is a nature photographer lured to Washington State by the glorious vistas. He lives along the North Cascades Highway, where he teaches photography and leads photo tours. You can see more of his work at: www.AndyPorterImages.com