After arriving at the cabin at about one thirty on a Saturday morning after a long day at work, and having just finished unpacking the car I looked out over the lake to see the Milky Way and very faintly the northern lights. Promising my wife I just wanted to take one picture, I grabbed my camera and my tripod and ran down to the beach. The one picture I took was a combination of twelve thirty second exposures stitched together but I'd say I'm right on a technicality. The shooting star was a lucky accident, there was actually a second one right through the Milky Way, but it got lost somewhere in all the layers.

I did learn a couple of lessons with this picture, which was my second attempt at the Milky Way and my second attempt at a DIY panorama.

1. Don't go overboard with the ballhead. It can have some really weird effects, especially with wide angles. I wound up with a wonkily curved horizon and ludicrous distortion. Next time I'll try figure out some kind of slider maybe.

2. Turn the lights off in the house. Duh.

3. Auto panorama isn't as easy as it sounds.

[Aaron28]

nice!

[stingx]

That's an awesome shot!

[FozzFoster]

After arriving at the cabin at about one thirty on a Saturday morning after a long day at work, and having just finished unpacking the car I looked out over the lake to see the Milky Way and very faintly the northern lights. Promising my wife I just wanted to take one picture, I grabbed my camera and my tripod and ran down to the beach. The one picture I took was a combination of twelve thirty second exposures stitched together but I'd say I'm right on a technicality. The shooting star was a lucky accident, there was actually a second one right through the Milky Way, but it got lost somewhere in all the layers.

I did learn a couple of lessons with this picture, which was my second attempt at the Milky Way and my second attempt at a DIY panorama.

1. Don't go overboard with the ballhead. It can have some really weird effects, especially with wide angles. I wound up with a wonkily curved horizon and ludicrous distortion. Next time I'll try figure out some kind of slider maybe.

2. Turn the lights off in the house. Duh.

3. Auto panorama isn't as easy as it sounds.

Nice shot! So hard to do milky way shots with city lights nearby! Good work!