[MossyRocks]

I would love to learn more about the how and where you took these great shots. Thank you!

Unfortunately I will not give up the location of my astro shooting spot in the twin cities however since you are over on the west side of things I suggest heading further west and making use of the WPAs or WMAs out there. I have used them before from time to time and if you find one with a grass parking lot it is a great spot to setup and shoot from.

As far as the how it is lots of practice and experience with total exposure time measured in the hours. After that it is just stacking and editing. I gave a brief write-up of my editing process over in the astro group when I first posted that shot of M45 (the Pleiades). the biggest things is it takes a lot of patience to get shots like those. I also tend to throw gear at the problem as the lens I used for all those shots is the SMC A* 400mm F/2.8 ED [IF].

[loyalt]

Unfortunately I will not give up the location of my astro shooting spot in the twin cities however since you are over on the west side of things I suggest heading further west and making use of the WPAs or WMAs out there. I have used them before from time to time and if you find one with a grass parking lot it is a great spot to setup and shoot from.

As far as the how it is lots of practice and experience with total exposure time measured in the hours. After that it is just stacking and editing. I gave a brief write-up of my editing process over in the astro group when I first posted that shot of M45 (the Pleiades). the biggest things is it takes a lot of patience to get shots like those. I also tend to throw gear at the problem as the lens I used for all those shots is the SMC A* 400mm F/2.8 ED [IF].

Thank you for your help and answers. I get the secrecy. Probably dumb question, but what are WPAs and WMAs?

You have a Pentax 40mm f2.8? How old is it? I would love to get my hands on one for my sports photography, as well as astrophotography!

[MossyRocks]

but what are WPAs and WMAs?

WPA - Waterfowl Production Area - Federal land that is waterfowl habitat that is open to hunting and other recreational activities
WMA - Wildlife Management Area - State land that is open to public hunting and other recreational activities

Neither allows camping so you can't stay all night even photographing the sky, I have asked, but you can be there late into the night or early in the morning without issue. If it is a hunting season be sure to have blaze orange to avoid early morning late afternoon hunters.

You have a Pentax 40mm f2.8? How old is it?

Yes I am one of the few that owns a copy of the SMC A* 400/2.8. They were designed in like '88 and I think they remained a special order item through like '04. They are manual focus and massive and can be found if one spends time looking for one. It took me about a year to find mine.

[loyalt]

WPA - Waterfowl Production Area - Federal land that is waterfowl habitat that is open to hunting and other recreational activities
WMA - Wildlife Management Area - State land that is open to public hunting and other recreational activities

Neither allows camping so you can't stay all night even photographing the sky, I have asked, but you can be there late into the night or early in the morning without issue. If it is a hunting season be sure to have blaze orange to avoid early morning late afternoon hunters.


Yes I am one of the few that owns a copy of the SMC A* 400/2.8. They were designed in like '88 and I think they remained a special order item through like '04. They are manual focus and massive and can be found if one spends time looking for one. It took me about a year to find mine.

Thank you for your help and all the good info.!

[MossyRocks]

I get the secrecy.

I want to keep others out as once a spot gets somewhat well known for astro or night shooting it becomes overrun with people who have no idea wha they are doing or how to manage their light. Earlier this year when we were supposedly going to possibly have some nice northern lights (it was a big flop) I went out to the Frank Schott Old Stone Barn west of Chokio, MN in an attempt to capture them over the barn. As this is a fairly well known location for night shots, the barn is awesome, there were tons of people who just suck with astro shooting. I think I was the only one who could actually operate my stuff in the dark and was the only one who kept all the lights off. Here is a timelapse showing what I am talking about.

Youtu.be

Youtu.be

So to keep my spot to myself I don't want to publicize it but with some effort one could figure it out as it is the darkest spot in the 7 county metro area with very favorable geography. Others thought that there might be some light painting going on but that was not the case it was people moving floods while they were on and trespassing. I've light painted the barn and been out with others who were doing it unsuccessfully with a LED light array and I've found using my old Vivitar 285HV flash at 1/4 power worked and with the diffuser on worked really well. In that case it was just me and another party of 2 who were experienced so there weren't problem with managing light and we worked together to not wreck each other's shots.