Joshua Tree - Crowning Glory

JimFox

JimFox

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Staff member
Last weekend as I was out in Joshua Tree I had scouted around a bit before sunset and had found this area that is close to Arch Rock but a bit higher up. I liked the leading lines, and took some sunset shots from here, but also wanted to get back and shoot this with the Milky Way if possible. So after shooting at Arch Rock, I ran up to this area and sure enough the Milky Way had risen high enough to line up nicely with what kind of looks like a crown of rocks in the distance.

I believe the bright light is Mars. All comments are welcome,

Jim

PS. Like Arch Rock this is a single shot. The small moon we had that weekend was perfect moon for shooting stars, giving just enough light to light up the foreground but still dim enough to not wash out the Milky Way. I prefer it over a new Moon which to me presents too dark of a ground layer and causes extra issues with blending, etc and makes it much hard to do single shot star shots.

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AlanLichty

AlanLichty

Moderator
I like the moon fill light here - a nice balance of foreground light and a pretty neat formation for an anchor. I like the notion of single shot MW images like this.
 
Roger Bailey

Roger Bailey

Well-Known Member
(Most of us want curly hair if ours is straight.) I love these types of photographs as I have no talent when it comes to astrophotography. Absolutely Beautiful
 
Jim Dockery

Jim Dockery

Well-Known Member
Another fantastic image from that night! You hit the perfect mid-point of moon illumination - the rocks and distant mountains really lend a great terrestrial base and sense of place to the gorgeous Milky Way.
 
Ben Egbert

Ben Egbert

Forum Helper
Staff member
Great image Jim, really great, had I not seen your other, I would say this was one of teh best MW shots I have seen. And you are doing it without a tracker.
 
JimFox

JimFox

Moderator
Staff member
Jim Dockery said:
Another fantastic image from that night! You hit the perfect mid-point of moon illumination - the rocks and distant mountains really lend a great terrestrial base and sense of place to the gorgeous Milky Way.
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Thanks so much for the kind words Jim! I have found through the years that the best Milky Way shots are pretty much like most things in life, it's all about the timing. And while a lot of people push for the idea of Milky Way shots to be taken on a New Moon, for as long as I can remember I have instead preferred 5 or 6 days after and sometimes before the New Moon. The Crescent moon is my friend. :)
 
JimFox

JimFox

Moderator
Staff member
Ben Egbert said:
Great image Jim, really great, had I not seen your other, I would say this was one of teh best MW shots I have seen. And you are doing it without a tracker.
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Thanks Ben! Yep, no Star Tracker. :)

For a long time while I have admired some of the quality of the star shots taken with a Star Tracker, but I never cared for the idea that so many people using Star Trackers were shooting the ground layer in one locations, and then they were taking using and image from the Star Tracker that wasn't only shot hours later, often it could be a shot taken days later and from a location that could be miles away from where the ground layer was taken.

So I have been on a mission if you will for a few years to get my single shot Milky Way shots to rival those shots taken with Star Trackers, and I have gotten pretty happy with my results. I do think that many of my Milky Way shots can come close to rivaling the quality done with a Star Tracker and it's all done with a single shot. :)

The Sigma 14mm f1.8 as Kyle alludes to, is definitely a key to helping make it easier, also the Nikon D850 which has great High ISO performance is helpful too.
 
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