My family and I love to vacation in Colorado. As many of you are aware it is HOT in Texas in August and September, so this vacation was more of a break from the heat and mosquitoes (yes they have them in CO, just a lot less, and they are slow). Anyhow, my wife is an astronomy enthusiast, and we always enjoy the clear beautiful view if the milky way. I tried my hand at photographing it a bit. This first image is of the cabin in the foreground and that cool circular effect you get when pointing the camera at the North Star. I try and take some shots of the cabin when we are there, because the cabin has a web site and needs photos, etc…

The second is a image created with trees in the foreground. I think the celestial shots with elements that ground us back on earth in the foreground, are really interesting. For me, it helps place the viewer in the space of the photograph.

The third image is a shot for just 30 seconds (rather than 15 or 30 minutes), straight at the zenith. The milky way is so intense out there at night. There is a learning curve that I think I will enjoy progressing on the next time I am out there.

This last image was shot in the opposite direction of the North Star. The streaking effect is the result. The room for experimentation is fun. I think I would have tried much more while at the cabin, but I caught a bit of a cold and decided it was best to not spend too much time outside at night.