Milky Ways From Coast to Coast

In case you didn't know, I absolutely love the Milky Way. Our home galaxy is a spectacular sight to see and deserves to be seen by every one of its inhabitants at least once. I've met so many people though whom have never seen it; not even once! That just blows my mind. I guess it's to be expected, as not everyone has the opportunity to go out, the abilities/gear to camp, or dark enough skies to see it. But I hope that one day, everyone gets the chance to see it in their lifetime. But for now, please enjoy these photos of it:

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f/1.6 | 6s | 24mm | ISO 3200 - I captured this out in Alabama Hills in California. It was an incredible evening with an even more incredible sky. We could see the entire band from edge to edge, so I decided to take a series of 10 images and compile them together to form this panorama. You may notice a vertical band of stars just off to the left of the center. I never quite figured out what I did here, but I was still happy with the results nonetheless and I'll just have room for improvement in the future!

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July 25th, 2015 - It was a late, dewy evening and I was nearly 70 miles outside of Huntsville, Alabama trying to shoot the stars. I had always been fascinated by the stars ever since I was a little kid and now that I had what I considered a "real" camera, I was ready to capture them for myself. It was upon this very night that I had captured my first image of the Milky Way.

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f/3.5 | 30s | 18mm | ISO unknown - This was the best image I captured from my first night shooting the Milky Way when I was visiting Alabama. I was so excited to have finally captured an image of it. As you can see from my other images, I've come a long way. It took lots of time, effort, and practice, but it was always well worth it.

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Rewind to August of 2008, we were camping in the backwoods of Superior National Forest. It was the first time that I was ever in skies dark enough to see the Milky Way. I had no idea that you could even witness such a beautiful display of stars with the naked eye. The feeling was overcoming and immense. I was so immersed in what I was viewing and I only wanted more. However, I wouldn't get the chance to see it again until two years later. It was the summer of 2016 and we found ourselves laying on the roof of a small, decrepit building in Les Cayes, Haiti. We were there visiting an orphanage after the earthquake had wrecked most of the nation. The children showed us a beautiful spot to lay and view the stars from. At night, the electricity would be shut off, providing almost deafening darkness. Once our eyes adjusted though, it was unforgettable. You could lay there for hours watching the Milky Way glide along the sky as the Earth rotated beneath it. Meteores could be seen shooting across the sky in every which direction. From then on, my dream to travel to the darkest spots of the country to find beautiful stars was born.

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f/1.4 | 8s | 24mm | ISO 4000 - Driving through Kings Canyon late at night was a treat and I would recommend it to everyone passing through the area.

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f/1.4 | 3.2s | 24mm | ISO 6400 - My girlfriend was an excellent participant when I asked her over and over to stand still for seconds on end for me to get this shot just right. We were ecstatic over the beauty of the night skies in Death Valley National Park.

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Back to a more recent time in my life: over the past couple of summers, I've traveled as much as I could around the southwestern part of the US. Visiting as many dark sky areas as I could afford myself time for. We could view the Milky Way nearly every night! The views were just getting better and better.

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f/1.6 | 10s | 24mm | ISO1000 - And with enough practice, I was able to learn how to shoot the galaxy over the blinding lights of a bright city.

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As you may already know though, I live in Alaska. This can make it quite challenging to see the Milky Way. In the summers we have nearly 22 hours of daylight, so we barely see the stars for months on end. Then, in the winters, the thicker, creamier part of our galaxy is visible to the otherside of the planet and not us. This results in our only chance to see the band from the back side. Where it is faint and the number of stars is greatly diminished. However, on a dark enough evening, you can see it nonetheless, if you know what you're looking for!

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f/1.6 | 20s | 24mm | ISO 1250 - This was one of the best Milky Way shots I've captured this far north. It's quite incredible what you can see on a dark enough night with a wide-open lens. This is how the backside of the band looks from Eklutna Lake, Alaska.

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f/1.7 | 6s | 24mm | ISO 2000 - And last, but certainly not least, a shot of the Milky Way with the Northern Lights dancing right beneath it. It was one of those moments that you know can never be replicated quite the same ever again. I'm happy to know that I was lucky enough to bear witness to the awesome beauty of the galaxy we live in.

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I hope you enjoyed my collection of Milky Way images. I have much, much more of course, but I just wanted to give you a taste. Hopefully with these in mind, you'll be hungry for more and you can go see it for yourself, in person! If you have any questions on where, when, or how to find and shoot the Milky Way, just let me know!

Thanks for following along.

Your fellow home galaxy inhabitant,
Dimitri