PHOTOGRAPHY | INSPIRATION | ILLUMINATION
On the Road to the Galactic Center
Adventures photographing the Milky Way. And it’s not what you think.
Half past midnight not long ago, I watched the dreaded glow of headlights appear from beyond the hill in front of me, then blast my night vision. I waggled my flashlight to make sure the driver saw me. Expecting the car to slow — or not — and pass, I was surprised when it came to a stop, and a sheriff’s deputy leaned over to peer at me through the open front passenger window.
“Good evening, officer,” I said, hopefully, and quickly explained what I was doing barely off the side of a dark road dressed in dark clothing in the middle of the night.
Anxious to “get out” with the camera, I had decided to photograph the Milky Way. While I had done a bit of night sky photography, including a few attempts at the Milky Way, I was still learning.
I knew I needed a dark site, or at least relatively dark, and within a two to three-hour drive. Something different from my usual go-to of Joshua Tree National Park. My home south of Los Angeles is not exactly known for dark skies.
On an earlier trip to the Santa Ynez area (yes, for wine tasting!), I found good locations that promised images with pleasing compositions. One comprised an oak tree on a small hill, behind which a two-lane road lined with a barbed-wire fence descended toward the south.
My Star Walk app showed the Milky Way, specifically the galactic center, would rise above the tree and the vanishing road. I thought the silhouettes of the trees against the stars would be compelling. Perfect.
Of course, not getting hit by a car in the dark of night was on my mind. Right behind not having car headlights washing out the shot. Hey, getting the shot is the priority, right? Flashlight at the ready in my pocket, no worries. Who drives these roads late at night or very, very early in the morning, anyway?
“No problem,” the deputy said. “Hey, have you seen a cow wandering around?”
That was a new one. I had no idea what I would do if I encountered the wandering bovine.
I said I had not. The fugitive had apparently escaped from a nearby ranch.
“Okay. Keep an eye out. Have a good night,” the deputy said and drove off.
I got back to shooting, which is a bit of trial and error for this kind of photography, with different compositions and diverse settings. Here’s the original image and settings.
Some post-processing of the RAW image on the computer in Adobe Lightroom helped to fine-tune the image to what I wanted (the first image above): White Balance 4000 K, Exposure +0.30, Clarity +20, Dehaze +94, Saturation +12.
I have since learned better camera settings and workflow promising to dial in the best image more quickly. That will be another story with new and better images, hopefully.
Overall, I am pleased with the end result of this attempt. I hope you are, too.
I wonder what the cow thinks, or if it made it down the road to center of the galaxy.
