The Best Milky Way I've Ever Seen - Yosemite National Park
August 18, 2015
It was around two in the morning, and I was sleeping soundly in my tent after hiking all day with a heavy pack on. My alarm buzzed quietly by my head. Not loud enough to really wake my two friends who were with me, but enough to annoy me and turn it off. I'm to mentally fighting myself to get up, knowing I'm only here for a few days and I really need to take advantage of the beautiful park that I'm in. After about five minutes I force myself to get up and grab my camera and head out into the cold.
The moment I'm out there and I look around, I'm already happy that I got out of that warm sleepy paradise. It's perfectly quiet, except for the sound of insects chirping and planes flying around. It's just me and the park. It's pretty dark, and the moon isn't out very much. Light pollution from nearby cities barely exists in Yosemite (nearly the size of Rhode Island). It's a clear night, no clouds. A perfect recipe for Milky Way pictures.
I was out there shooting different photos for nearly an hour, but I knew it was getting even later and I had a few big days of hiking coming up. I set up my camera for a time-lapse that would last for a few hours, and headed back to the tent to get some shut-eye. This picture is a constant reminder to me that even when I don't feel like doing something against my nature, incredible opportunities can be missed. I haven't seen a night sky as clear as this one since, but I'm excited for the next opportunity I have and I'll do my best to take advantage of it.
Canon 6D
Rokinon 24mm F/1.4 at f/2
ISO 3200
15 Seconds
Nice Work!
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This is such a beautiful milky way. And if you got chance to being in Himalayas then seriously you will realize that on 5600 meters from sea level, you are standing between the mighty milky way.
Oh my, that sounds amazing! I'd love to go there someday
Following you after seeing your blog and pictures.
Wow beautiful work mate ;-)
Thanks man!
National parks and hiking are fantastic for star gazing. The silhouettes of the trees work beautifully against the Milky Way backdrop
Couldn't agree more, man. Have you been out to Yosemite?
Not yet, last time I was in the USA I had the option of the Grand Canyon and Utah or Yosemite. This was before I was a professional photographer so I need to plan another trip over there.
Trouble is there is so many amazing places still left to see in Australia!
Ha, gotcha. Tell you what, I'll just meet you over at Yosemite.
I'd love to make it out to Australia someday. What are some of your go-to spots to recommend?
My favourite local iconic scene is the Great Ocean Road and the 12 Apostles.
But pretty much any of the photos I'll post on here from Australia will be worth a visit.
Next time I'm in California I'll swing by Yosemite 😉
Just checked out some photos of those. That road looks amazing! Any idea if there are good camping spots along there?
Pretty much all the camping spots near the main sites are holiday parks in towns. Not like real camping. There are some in the Otways National Park, which has nice forests and waterfalls, such as Beauchamp, Hopetoun and Triplet Falls.
I figured. That can be the problem with some of the best nature-based places, is that it can be really touristy. But, I also get that people want to see the places because they are awesome. In the next few years I'm hoping to make it out to Australia, so I'm trying to do my research and figure out the best places now :)
I'll be checking out all your future pictures, hoping I can make it to a few of the nicer places over there.
Rokinon 24mm FTW! Great shot man, this lens simply rocks it for this kind of shots :)
Isn't that lens great? Easily my favorite landscape lens I've used.
Amazing! I love shooting the milky way- it's mind-blowing! How do you like that Rokinon lens? I have been thinking of picking up one of their ultra-wides like a 14 for some landscapes.
I love it! For landscape shots that is. I've used it at a few weddings and other events, and using the manual focus on time-sensitive events is not ideal. For landscape stuff though, it's really sharp. You just have to know exactly where your focus is.
Great shot. I'm a fairly good photographer when it comes to daylight/sunset landscapes and wildlife, but I just cant seem to nail astrophotography.. I bought a lens that allows me to get to maybe F/1.4 or so, but my shots just don't look like yours, or many other similar photos that I see. If retouched, how do you do yours? And do you only go during the times when the moon is new? Hoping you can help me out aha. Thanks :) @aweber
Hey man! Yeah, with astrophotography you really have to be in the right place at the right time to get good results. This is the best I've ever gotten. Other times, either the clouds/light/pollution/moon etc can mess with your stars. Check this out for finding good spots. http://darksitefinder.com/maps/world.html.
As far as the editing goes, the biggest thing I would say is to use your tone curve to accentuate your mids and that helps bring out the stars quite a bit. Hope this helps!
Cool, thank you for the advice :)
Nice fantastic photography
It souldn't be real! so amazing! Thanks for sharing with us..
Beautiful Picture.