Photo: A starry sky on a perfectly clear night above Black Rock in West Maui.

Another reminiscing photo from my first ever attempt of shooting the skies back in ‘07. Call it beginner’s luck, or having the perfect canvas to work with.

We’ll be heading back up north to Wisconsin later this week, and I’m starting to think of some of the shots I want to work on this trip.  We have seen some great night skies that far north in previous visits, and especially in the winter if the skies are completely clear.  Sure, there’s about a 60-70 °F difference between this image and anything I see this weekend, but layers just aren’t for Photoshop, you know. 😉

Into the Night

Maybe not as favorable for stargazing, we’ll be staying right near downtown of the biggest city in Door County, WI (that’s Sturgeon Bay for anyone playing along at home).  Still, I’ve been getting more socially active on Flickr lately and some of the night shots I’m seeing in the Night Images group pool have me itching to stay up late and shoot.

I mentioned that a little bit back in September when I said the night was my new golden hour, so it won’t be too far out of my norm.  Plus, we’ll be staying right on the bay, walking distance from where I attempted this shot in Sept. ‘08.

As I like to think that both my field skills and my talents in the digital darkroom are now much improved since this shot, I get excited about the new possibilities this trip.

And, seeing as it’s the middle of January, I don’t think I’ll be worried about getting washed out this time, either.

Back to the Stars

Getting back to the original photo, if you’d like to see more of my night shots of the heavens, click through to my Astrophotography Portfolio. The one of me and the Milky Way is starting a little bit of chatter on Flickr, at least compared to my other images in the past.