It’s happy dance time! I’m so excited because I’m finally able to hold my dream astrophotography lens (the Rokinon 14mm) in my hot little hands! But I’m still terrified of the dark… Go figure…
THE STORY BEHIND MY EXCITEMENT
I’ve been researching this Rokinon 14mm Lens ever since I discovered Mark Gee’s incredible astrophotography. If I ever had the pleasure of meeting this amazing guy, I would give him a great big hug and thank him for sharing such awe-inspiring images. The first time I experienced one of his photos, little tears started welling up in my eyes. I couldn’t help but be overwhelmed by what I was seeing – the heart of our Milky Way Galaxy. Here’s the photo that absolutely took my breath away.
Needless to say, I was hooked, and a new little dream was born! I would love to experience the excitement of capturing such a moment in time. After all, that’s what photography is about right? Freezing moments in time… Capturing the light traveling 27 thousand light years from the heart of our Milky Way Galaxy to reach my lens would truly be a jaw dropping moment for this bear.
THE ADVENTURE
A LITTLE BIT OF PREP GOES A LONG WAY
Before attempting the shoot, I had researched all the settings for my camera that I could prepare ahead of time. I snapped on my beautiful new lens, locked up my mirror and set my exposure. I also researched the shooting location as well as the time of day where the heart of the Milky Way would be highest in the sky. I’ll share my notes on the prep I did to get ready for this Milky Way shot in a future post so that anyone can give this a try, because it was so much fun! Scary, but fun!
Once I was packed and ready to go, I set my alarm for 3:45am… I wish this was a joke, but it’s not. I really had to get up at 3:45 in the morning, and I’m totally a bear in the morning. Let me just say, there was lots of coffee involved.
Luckily, my Dad had agreed to go with me on this adventure. We grabbed our freshly brewed coffee, threw on our warm jackets and headed out the door.
REACHING THE DESTINATION
Okay so to be honest, the first destination was a complete failure. The Milky Way simply couldn’t be seen because of the tall trees. On top of it, I was shaking in my boots because although we had brought the headlamps, we forgot to check the batteries – hand slap to the forehead. And even on top of that, to get to this location we had to hike through the forest! Sure, it was only about 200 feet but man oh man, when the headlamps are dying and all you can hear is the rush of a massive waterfall, your imagination starts running wild! I was thinking a dragon was going to jump out at me at any moment. And there’s no such thing as dragons!
Here’s the photo I took before booking it back to the car as fast as my little legs could go:
Good thing we had a backup plan. Option two took us to the Marina and by the time we reached this destination, it was about 5:00am. I shot for half an hour, taking a 16 image pano with my little handy-dandy remote. One thing I forgot to calculate was the moon phase – second hand slap to the forehead.
Although the sky was incredibly clear, the moon was in it’s third quarter so it was pretty darn bright, and it sat smack dab on the heart of the Milky Way. I’m definitely adding that little note to my prep list – check moon phases!
THE PHOTO
Even though the moon had drown out the Milky Way, I’m still happy with this first attempt. Check it out, you can see Saturn to the right of the moon, just to the left of the single spruce tree, and then Mars, just to the right of the single spruce tree. Pretty neat hey?
Well, that’s enough excitement for me! I’ll get out and attempt another shot as soon as I muster the courage, and when the sky is clear, but mostly muster the courage…