Capturing the Milky Way in the off-season

At least at my latitude, the Galactic Center of the Milky Way has gone the way of all good things. Absent until the next hunting season begins. But that doesn’t mean you can’t photograph the Milky Way until it returns.

Photograph the Milky Way

The Galactic Center sneaks above the horizon for a brief time but the light from the setting sun keeps it from view. I suggest that the Milky Way is more than the Galactic Center. The Milky Way stretches from horizon to horizon across the entire sky. While the Galactic Center is the star of the show when it’s gone we can still create images.

Face northeast

Turn to the opposite direction of the Galactic Center and you can still make wondrous Milky Way images. Even with a half-moon in the sky, the galaxy pattern is visible. It’s great practice for the next hunting season when the Galactic Center next graces our vision.

Find a solid foreground

Learning to find and properly expose interesting foregrounds is an important part of making beautiful starscapes that hold a viewers attention. This can be a great time to practice getting the galaxy lined up in a nice composition.

Post-production

You’ll find it’s also good post-production practice in teasing the Milky Way out of the scene. Keeping your star processing chops sharp means you’ll make stronger images when the star of the night sky returns. I’ll share my processing of this image photographing the Milky Way in another post.

Yours in Creative Photography, Bob