This is a post about how a simple message and the Milky Way saved my photography at least in the short term. I want to start by saying I hope everybody is staying healthy, safe, vigilant, and sane during these bizarre times. I lost my photos from January to March. This occurred when I accidentally dropped my external hard drive just about when COVID-19 changed our lives and all normalcy. This brought about a feeling that was something more of disappointment. It was some combination of disappointment, sadness, and anger mixed with disgust! Would my photographic journey continue? The silver lining in all of this is the fact that all my pre-processed RAW files still exist. A much-needed hiatus to find mental clarity was in order.
There sat my camera the first couple weeks, unused and I could not bring myself to even consider shooting. I sat there in self-pity for that period, thinking of the time and finished photos lost. Spring and summer birds started to return and that burning desire to photograph them got the best of me. I did not take many photos, but it felt great holding the camera in my hand again. During this downtime I had great support, even through disappointment. I owe each of you a “thank you ” for the encouragement and patience during my “self-pity period”. Then my friend Bob changed everything.
A simple message changed everything:
It was a simple, message on Facebook Messenger that said, “Any interest in a MW shoot this Friday night?” It had been months since I shot the Milky Way. That message got me out of my rut. The pandemic would have made shooting hard anyway but for my situation it made no difference. I didn’t care if no shots were worth sharing, just excited to take photos. We met up like before and shot from 11:00pm-2:00am in our “secret” locations.
Shooting the Milky Way was a stark reminder of the difficulty in processing the photos. I have spent many hours over the last 9 days, going back and forth on the shots. Many tweaks were made to the photos. This can be a frustrating process. When the photo is finished to your like, It is incredibly rewarding. One thing that I need to be reminded of frequently is when editing the Milky Way image, it is about your taste, not anybody else’s. I usually share my shot with My friends Dana and Bob to get input, and ultimately decide what my art is and the final image. Bob and Dana have been instrumental in my learning to shoot and edit the Milky Way.
This image is titled, “Cosmic Crossing “, and features the Dark Horse rising above one leg of a split waterway in Maryland. There is a fair amount of light pollution coming from a nearby little town. Clouds also were trying to doom the shot. While clouds and light pollution can spoil a Milky Way image, I like how the colors play on the clouds in this photo. This image is made by stacking 8 photos. I used the Irix 15mm Blackstone lens mounted on my Nikon D750. Cosmic Crossing is available for purchase here. If you would like to purchase a print in a different size or media than offered please contact me directly.
More on Milky Way Shooting and Learning:
I am no expert, and you certainly will not see a “how to” blog on this subject. I can suggest to do research and watch some of the videos on You Tube on the matter. If you are in the DMV and interested in night photography workshops, check out my friend Bob’s workshop pages here (Meetup) and here (Smugmug). Bob is a great, patient teacher and has incredible experiences available, outside the COVID-19 pandemic. For a couple of blog posts on Milky Way shooting, check out my friend Dana’s blogs “An Updated, Comprehensive Guide to Photographing the Milky Way(Part 1) “ and (Part 2).
