This spot is not far from my parents house and I'd been eyeing off this spot as a potential photo location since I bought the O-GPS a couple of years ago. Finally in late May when visiting my parents things (time of year, weather, new moon, remembered tripod, not too much alcohol) finally fell into place and I was able to have a first attempt at photographing the Milky Way. For a first attempt I'm relatively pleased so I thought I would share and invite some C & C.

At ISO 3200 the noise is pretty bad, I've given them a run through Topaz Denoise 6 but I was pretty conservative to avoid loosing too much detail and ending up with a smooth mess.

First is with the Pentax DA*16-50mm @ 16mm f4 30s



Next is with Sigma 8-16mm @ 8mm F4.5 30s



Last also with Sigma 8-16mm @ 8mm F4.5 30s



I learnt a few lessons along the way: don't go into a dark cow paddock at night in canvas shoes; don't point the lens straight up if you want to avoid condensation settling; windmills often have big puddles of water near the base; and it takes a long time to remove thistles and burrs from your trousers.

[SuperSyx]

Nice pictures, I will try to remember the lessons you learned the hard way!

[Ian.morgan]

Very nice. Do you use a dew heater ?

[kadajawi]

wow. I've tried to capture the milky way yesterday, and drove as far from civilization as I could (well, there's a town literally everywhere... ), but there's no way I was able to capture it so clearly.

I'm surprised by the color noise though... Lightroom can fix that pretty easily, and you won't lose much, it also won't look smoothened. Just... more analog, like film grain a bit.

In terms of composition I prefer the first one, but the second and third have the more spectacular sky. My favorite is thus the second Love it. (The sky in the 3rd is amazing though).

Well done!

[Mike L]

Nice pictures, I will try to remember the lessons you learned the hard way!

With a little more planning I could have avoided these mistakes and avoided standing around in wet socks at the start of winter.

Very nice. Do you use a dew heater ?

To be honest I've never heard of a dew heater before. I had to google it. I don't think they come with a power lead long enough for this spot though.

wow. I've tried to capture the milky way yesterday, and drove as far from civilization as I could (well, there's a town literally everywhere... ), but there's no way I was able to capture it so clearly.

I'm surprised by the color noise though... Lightroom can fix that pretty easily, and you won't lose much, it also won't look smoothened. Just... more analog, like film grain a bit.

In terms of composition I prefer the first one, but the second and third have the more spectacular sky. My favorite is thus the second Love it. (The sky in the 3rd is amazing though).

Well done!

I'm not happy with the result out of Topaz denoise, I thought it would do a better job than lightroom but I might revisit these and see.

I'm lucky that this is in a pretty dark location. Except for the town about 15kms away there's not much light pollution on a clear winter's night.

[Unregistered User 8]

don't go into a dark cow paddock at night in canvas shoes;

At least canvas shoes are better than bare feet mate !! Excellent images Mike.

[robgski]

Nice shots, especially the thurd, the foreground windmill has a little more sharpness and that makes a difference to me anyway. The second shot is a great panoramic view.

I could have avoided these mistakes and avoided standing around in wet socks at the start of winter.

Along with a good camera, lenses, and tripod, a photographer should invest in a good pair of boots. I've missed some good shots because my street shoes wouldn't allow me the right footing and protection to go off the paved path, or to stand out in the cold long enough to get the settings right for the shot. I'm pretty patient, but cold and wet feet limit that.

I always take a flashlight out with me when night shooting, mostly so I can see, but also to paly around with lighting objects in the foregound while I wait for shutter to close again.