Reaching for the Stars

So what do I do when I should be relaxing at the cottage? Stay up all night taking pictures!

Light pollution prevents me from seeing the stars to this degree from home, so I take advantage of every opportunity to photograph the night sky like this. The milky way was stretching overhead, landing in a small group of trees near the horizon. Not quite pointing the way to a pot of gold, but at least a spectacular view.

This image is a panorama, with my tripod struggling to make the vertical transition I had to “pivot” around the sky and crop in to the framing you see here. It was a challenge to capture, but it’s one of those moments where you’re so excited to see what’s revealed on the back of the camera.

Hours went by this night, just photographing the stars. I woke up to photograph the sunrise a few hours later.