Planning for Monthly Milky Way Movement

This alignment of the Milky Way over the Grand Tetons, from the Snake River Overlook, required me to wait until mid-September.

I waited until mid-September so the Milk Way would align with the Grand Teton peak, which faces almost due West from the Snake River Overlook. Although the bright core of the Milky Way is just below the horizon, “The Great Rift” (where the MW splits and forms the “Sea of Darkness”) rises dramatically over the Tetons. It was taken with my Canon 5D Mark III, using a Rokinon 24mm f/1.4 @ f/2 • 13 sec • ISO 6400 for the sky. I blended the sky exposure with a second exposure for the foreground @ f/2.8 for 240 sec • ISO 3200 (using the camera’s “Long Exposure Noise Reduction” function).

Planning your Milky Way alignment: I was required to wait until September in order to align the Milky Way with the Tetons. Although the core of the Milky Way moves nightly from East to West at about 15º per hour, the seasonal movement adds another 30º per month —moving the MW almost 150 degrees to the West, going from April to September. You can forecast your alignment using apps like Photopills and SkyGuide.

Click image to enlarge

In the above chart I’ve taken six Milky Way images from the Sky Guide app, all captured at 2:00am on the same day of each month (the time and date I ended up taking the top photo) and pasted them into one composite photo to illustrate the monthly movement of the Milky Way; and, I’ve added a real silhouette of the Teton Range on the West side to show the actual perspective from the Snake River Overlook. Using this illustration, it's easy to see how the seasons not only affect the westerly move of the Milky Way, but the height the Central Bulge, as it rises above or sinks below the horizon.

Behind the Scenes... Finding Ansel Adams' Tripod Holes: Compare my NightScape photo with Ansel Adams’ famous 1941 “Tetons and the Snake River”. Both images were taken from the same vista (now called the Snake River Overlook), but new tree growth now blocks much of the classic “S” curve from the Snake River:

Tree Trimming Needed? Despite all my planning and the impact of the Milky Way, my photo lacks the beautiful snow pack that disappears from the mountains by August. But even more noticeable is the growth of the trees that has occurred since Adams took his photograph in 1941. This new grow has obscured much of the Snake River.

Some Grand Teton park visitors have wondered if the park should trim these trees similar to what is being done in Yosemite. Under Yosemite’s “Scenic Vista Management Plan” young trees are being removed that block the historic views that John Muir and Ansel Adams rhapsodized about when they first saw Yosemite in the nineteenth and early twentieth centuries. What’s your opinion?

Popular Links: How to Shoot the Milky Way • Post Processing NightScapes • Workshops and PhotoWalks • Tutorials and Tips • Overcoming Lens Coma • Video Hangout with my Friends

Finding Ansel's Tripod Holes in Grand Teton

Teton Range and Milky Way from the Snake River Overlook, Grand Teton Nat'l Park ~ © Royce Bair [click on image to enlarge]

Aligning the Milky Way with the Grand Teton: For years I've dreamed of taking a Milky Way "NightScape" over the Grand Teton peak —especially one from Ansel Adams' viewpoint that he used to make his famous Tetons and the Snake River. That view, including a visitor's information plaque about Ansel's photo is located at the Snake River Overlook just off Highway 26/89/191.

Ansel Adam's famous 1941 B/W photo, Teton and the Snake River was taken from a position that is now a park pullout called the Snake River Overlook.

To make that Teton alignment with the Milky Way required that I wait until September when the brightest portion or core of the Milky Way rotates into almost a due West position. Although the core moves from East to West about 15º per hour during each night, it still doesn't move far enough to the West without the additional rotation provided by the seasons (averaging about 30º East to West movement per month). Planning for Milky Way alignment can be accomplished with applications i.e. Photopills, Sky Guide or Stellarium.

Even though the bright core of the Milky Way is just below the horizon, “The Great Rift” (where the MW splits and forms the “Sea of Darkness”) rises dramatically over the Tetons. This photo was taken with my Canon 5DM3, using a Rokinon 24mm f/1.4 @ f/2 • 13 sec • ISO 6400 for the sky • blended with a 2nd exposure for the foreground @ f/2.8 for 240 sec • ISO 3200 (using the camera’s “Long Exposure Noise Reduction” function to prevent noise build up during exposures that last over 30 seconds).

Note the silhouette of the Tetons on the horizon —shown from the perspective of the Snake River Overlook [click on image to enlarge].

Seasonal Changes: This graphic also shows the seasonal changes to the "posture" of the Milky Way in much of the Northern Hemisphere. In the early Spring, the Milky Way is very horizontal during most of the Astronomical Dusk (the darkest part of the night). By mid Summer it is in its most vertical position during most of the night. In mid June, the core is in its highest position. By Fall, it's posture is leaning more to the West and its core dipping below the horizon by mid evening. By mid December, the core or Central Bulge of the Milky Way will never make it above the horizon (during the Astronomical Dusk) until late February.

Tree Trimming Needed? Despite all my planning and the impact of the Milky Way, my photo lacks the beautiful snow pack that disappears from the mountains by August. But even more noticeable is the growth of the trees that has occurred since Adams took his photograph in 1941. This new grow has obscured much of the Snake River.

Some Grand Teton park visitors have wondered if the park should trim these trees similar to what is being done in Yosemite. Under Yosemite’s “Scenic Vista Management Plan” young trees are being removed that block the historic views that John Muir and Ansel Adams rhapsodized about when they first saw Yosemite in the nineteenth and early twentieth centuries. What’s your opinion?

Ansel Adams' beautiful "S" curve composition with the Snake River is almost completely obscured in my photo due to recent tree growth [click on image to enlarge]. 

 

Holiday Greetings Jackson Hole Style

Stylized John Moulton barn photo ~ © Mike R. Jackson

This is the photo my friend, Mike Jackson, posted on his blog this morning. It's part of his "December Daily Updates for Grand Teton National Park and Jackson Hole." In case you're wondering, it was 22ºF in Jackson when he posted this photo at 7:00 AM, and the High Temp Forecast is for 24°F (Sunrise 7:54 AM, Sunset 4:51 PM).

Snowman and the Teton Range ~ © Mike R. Jackson

Mike has had a great website since 2011, Teton Images, that is used as a gallery for his professional photos of the Grand Teton area. However, great images don't always guarantee an audience. It wasn't until this summer, when Mike decided to finally add his blog, Best of the Tetons, that traffic began to pick up. Mike tries to offer information every month from his blog that will provide a service to his readers, with the hopes that it will also lead them to the images on his website. That service is "Photography and Travel Tips for Grand Teton National Park." Every one of the following nightscapes was taken from Mike's "December Daily Updates for Grand Teton National Park and Jackson Hole":

Grand to Mt. Moran panorama ~ © Mike R. Jackson

Long before first light at Shane Cabin, with light painting ~ © Mike R. Jackson

Antler Arches with Christmas lights at Town Square ~ © Mike R. Jackson

"Best of the Tetons" is a great resource for anyone traveling to the area, especially photographers. Not only does Mike have travel information and points of interest about the area, but he regularly posts wildlife sitings. Naturally, one of my favorite posts is his Night Time In the Tetons (or "Iconic locations in the Tetons—long after the sun sets"):

Stars Over Jenny Lake from Mike's "Night Time In the Tetons" post

Royce's 2014 Workshop, Lecture & Video Conference Schedule: NightScapeEvents.com
Featured Post: Shooting Stars eBook Review — How to Photograph the Stars and the Moon

Royce Bair's 2016 Photography Workshop Schedule

Photographers at our 2013 Bryce "NightScape" Workshop
shooting a midnight moonrise next to the light painted "Fortress" formation. 

Milky Way above the Grand Canyon (this workshop location is offered in Sept. 2016).

2016 NightScape Photography Workshop Schedule  is available here.

2015 Lecture and Seminar Tour: My free NightScape lectures (12 cities) and half-day advanced seminars (3 cities) can be found on Meetup.com.

2015 Workshop Schedule: All of my workshops are being produced and co-sponsored by IMAGE10 Photography Workshops. Some of my workshop attendees have returned multiple times and their testimonials speak for themselves. Click on the dates for more details about each workshop:

• Arches National Park: April 21-24  SOLD OUT and Aug 11-14 SOLD OUT
• Escalante: May 19-22 (Grand Staircase-Escalante National Monument) SOLD OUT
• Grand Teton National Park: July 14-17 SOLD OUT and July 20-23 SOLD OUT
• Bryce Canyon National Park: Aug 17-21 SOLD OUT

NEW eBook: You can review and purchase a copy of my new Milky Way NightScapes ebook, "A Guide to Photographing Starry Night Skies".

Podcast interview with Royce Bair: You can listen to a podcast interview with Royce and BlackRapid founder, Ron Henry, starting February 27th.


2014 Workshop History: My NightScape workshops will teach you how to photograph the starry night sky with stunning landscape features. Click on each workshop title for more information:

 Milky Way over 3 Sisters and Moonrise between the Mittens in Monument Valley ~ © Royce Bair

Starry Nights in Monument Valley Workshop

Produced by IMAGE10 - Instructed/Directed by Royce Bair
4 Day Workshop ~ March 26-29, 2014 ~ $1,195 COMPLETED

FREE NightScape Technical Workshop - hosted by the
Wasatch Camera Club - Register HERE
2-Hour Workshop ~ April 8, 2014 ~ FREE COMPLETED

Light painting Cyclops Arch with the Milky Way - Alabama Hills ~ © Royce Bair

Milky Way Over Alabama Hills and Eastern Sierras Workshop
3 Day Workshop ~ April 22-25, 2014 ~ $899 COMPLETED

Milky Way over The Watchman - Zion N.P. ~ © Royce Bair

Milky Way Zion Workshop (Zion National Park)
2 Day Workshop ~ May 27-29, 2014 ~ $599 COMPLETED

Milky Way over the light-painted John Moulton homestead - Grand Teton N.P.  ~ © Royce Bair

Milky Way Tetons Workshop #1 (Grand Teton National Park)
NOTE: All four Teton workshops have a similar venue of locations and instruction.
3 Day Workshop ~ June 24-27, 2014 ~ $899 COMPLETED

Milky Way over Teton Range from Cascade Canyon Overlook ~ © Royce Bair

Milky Way Tetons Workshop #2 (Grand Teton National Park)
3 Day Workshop ~ July 22-25, 2014 ~ $899 COMPLETED

 Milky Way views over Teton Range, Jenny Lake and String Lake ~ © Royce Bair

Milky Way Tetons Workshop #3 (Grand Teton National Park)
3 Day Workshop ~ July 28-31, 2014 ~ $899 COMPLETED

Milky Way over "Wall Street" in Bryce Canyon N.P. ~ © Royce Bair

Milky Way Bryce Workshop #1 (Bryce Canyon National Park)
3 Day Workshop ~ August 19-22, 2014 ~ $899 COMPLETED

Stars over light painted Thor's Hammer - Bryce Canyon N.P. ~ © Royce Bair

Milky Way Bryce Workshop #2 (Bryce Canyon National Park)
3 Day Workshop ~ August 25-28, 2014 ~ $899 COMPLETED

Milky Way behind light painted Delicate Arch - Arches N.P. ~ © Royce Bair

Milky Way Arches Workshop (Arches National Park)
3 Day Workshop ~ September 16-19, 2014 ~ $899 1 SPOT LEFT

Sparkling Eiffel Tower, Paris, from opposite bank of Seine River ~ © Moyan Brenn

Two Nights in Paris (France)
Produced by Italy Workshops - Instructed by Drake Busath & Royce Bair
2 Day Workshop ~ September 25-27, 2014 ~ $675 SOLD OUT

Château de Chambord, Chambord, Loir-et-Cher, France

Loire Valley (France)
Produced by Italy Workshops - Instructed by Drake Busath & Royce Bair
7 Days, 6 Nights Workshop ~ September 28 - October 3, 2014 ~ $3250 SOLD OUT

The Italian Lakes Como, Lugano, Orta S.Giulio

The Italian Lakes (Italy)
Produced by Italy Workshops - Instructed by Drake Busath & Royce Bair
7 Days, 6 Nights Workshop ~ October 5-11, 2014 ~ $3250 SOLD OUT

Join my NightScape Photography Meetup Group and you'll automatically be notified of all my NightScape events, i.e. free lectures, free photo walks, video conferences, ebooks, and new workshops.

Photographers from our 2013 Arches Workshop,
waiting for the moon to set and the Milky Way to be revealed.

Photographers from the July 2013 Teton Workshop gathered at the John Moulton homestead outhouse.

Questions? Email Royce: orida70 [AT] gmail [DOT] com

Chapel of The Transfiguration - Grand Teton N.P.

© George Manlove • Canon 6D • Canon 16-35mm f/2.8 @ 33mm • f/2.8, 15 sec, ISO 800 (click to enlarge)

Last week I conducted a NightScape workshop in Grand Teton National Park, and on our last night we light painted the log "Chapel of The Transfiguration" in Grand Teton National Park, that was built in 1925. Normally, I set up all the lights, but this time I wanted everyone to get involved and give their input. It took longer, but it was more fun and a better learning experience for everyone.

3 Interpretations: We changed the lighting multiple times during the two hours we were there. Some chose to use only the stationary lights that I set up, Others wanted only hand-held, moving spotlights and lanterns placed inside the chapel, and others wanted a combination of all those things. As the evening progressed, exposures for the sky increased and exposures for the artificial lights decreased in order to maintain a proper balance. We started during the end of the "Blue Hour" and ended well past the astronomical twilight. Here are interpretations from three of the workshop participants.

George Manlove lived in Montana for most of his life and relocated to Park City, Utah a few years ago. As an early adopter, George loves technology and was fortunate to work with Apple during the early Steve Jobs period. Thereafter, he was an entrepreneur in the consumer electronics industry and a pioneer in e-commerce online personal computer, audio/video electronics sales in the late 1990’s. "Photography has always been a part of his adult life," says George. "With the advances in technology, digital imaging is very sophisticated, thereby creating exciting entrepreneurial opportunities. I hope to advance my photographic skills to capture unique professional images for the commercial marketplace."

© Nicole Fernley • Nikon D600 • Nikkor 50mm f/1.4 • f/4.5, 15 sec, ISO 6400 (click to enlarge)

Nicole Fernley is an amateur photographer intrigued by the night sky. She started learning photography on her dad's old Minolta 35mm (circa 1970) with manual light meter and focus. "The first time I took it to a photography workshop in the 1990s, I was laughed out of the class by the instructor because it was so old," said Nicole! She grew up on the Idaho side of the Tetons but rarely spent time on the more popular Wyoming side. "I was thrilled to attend Royce's workshop in Grand Teton National Park—I learned some solid skills and became acquainted with the landscape of a national treasure."

© Jean Thomas • Canon 5D Mark II • Canon 16-35mm f/2.8 @ 30mm • f/2.8, 15 sec, ISO 800 (click to enlarge)

Jean Thomas is a passionate amateur photographer who is always looking for that next sunrise or sunset, and always following the light.  This passion has taken her to many wonderful locations within our beautiful country and park system.  The workshop fulfilled a dream to photograph the Milky Way in the Grand Tetons. "I feel fortunate to have come home with so many amazing images," says Jean.

LED Light Panel

Lighting Equipment Used. Calumet Pro Series Stackable LED Light Panel: This Calumet LED Light Panel is a compact (5 x 1.8 x 3") little powerhouse that has become one of my favorite units for lighting painting and people. It uses 5 AA batteries and runs for hours. It's 96 LEDs produce 800 Lux of 5600ºK light at 1 meter. What I really appreciate is the variable dimmer control that allows stepless brightness output. I often use this a stationary key or fill light, mounted on a tripod or balanced against a rock, and I can set just the exact intensity I want (as I did with this chapel). It also comes with two magnetic filter plates that snap onto the front of the unit. One is a translucent white diffusion filter and the other is a 3200ºK daylight-to-tungsten warming filter. I find myself using both almost 100% of the time. Although the units are stackable, so that you can attach multiple units together (2, 3, 4, 6 or 9 units for one huge light source), I keep one unit in my camera bag at all times. NOTE: There are other brands of this light panel design, some much more expensive, and some very cheaply made. The original, Litepanels, runs about $400 for this design. The Calumet is $199. However, the best value out there is the Vidpro Z-96K for $169, which I think is the exact same unit as the Calumet, but it includes two accessories that Calumet charges $40 extra for: a 7.2V Li-ion battery and charger—which will run the unit for up to 5 hours! The Li-ion battery attaches to the back of the unit, and can be used instead of the five AA batteries that go inside of the unit.

GE Chromalit lantern

GE Chromalit 3D Super Bright White Led Technology. I used two of these Coleman-lantern-style LED lights that I placed inside the chapel to light the interior and the stained glass windows. I'm constantly finding new light painting uses for this lantern because it provides 360º of coverage. It has a yellow filter over the light source, so it's warmer than most LEDs, but I still find it a bit cool. It produces a powerful 260 lumens of light, which can be dimmed down with a low setting. The Chromalit 3D will run for 200 hours on low or 100 hours on high using 8 D batteries, but it will also run 100 hours or 50 hours respectively using just 4 D batteries, which is what I do to keep down the weight. NOTE: I originally bought mine at Costco for $20. General Electric is now producing a smaller, cheaper, and less powerful unit; however the original Chromalit is still available on Amazon and eBay for $25-$30.

Dual Xenon

Brinkmann MaxFire Dual Xenon Spotlight: This compact Brinkmann Dual Xenon Spotlight packs a lot of good color-corrected light. Two of our workshop participants had these units with them, and we used both (one photographer painting on one side of the chapel, and another photographer painting on the other)! The rechargeable unit has the option of using one or two beams for adjustable brightness—we had plenty of light with just the one xenon beam, and we often lighted the chapel for only about five seconds of the average 15-seconds time exposure.

Coast HP17 Flashlight: This 615 lumens focusable LED flashlight was use to highlight the chapel's cross in Jean Thomas' photo, but I could have easily used my less powerful HP14 (339 lumens) flashlight. Both flashlights  (and two others) are reviewed on this Flashlights for Light Painting page.

Vagabond Mini Lithium

Vagabond Portable Power Supply System: The Vagabond Mini Lithium is an on-location power supply that I often use to  to power incandescent lights and large studio strobes. In this case, I used it to power the 150-watt quartz halogen modeling lamp of an AlienBees D1600 Flash unit (variable dimmer brought the output down in this case to about 60 watts). This constant light output is often used on a light stand as a stationary light source in my light painting. It provides a repeatable light source for group 'NightScape' shots, or where I need an un-manned light. The Vagabond is also used to power the same strobe heads when I need a lot of flash power for big landscape light painting.

Special thanks to C.Y. Roby, who also helped on the light painting by manning one of the spotlights; and to Mike R. Jackson, a local professional photographer, who suggested I add the chapel to my workshop schedule.

Featured Post: Shooting Stars eBook Review — How to Photograph the Stars and the Moon

Nightscapes on a Budget

NightScapes by my definition are "starry night skies that include a landscape feature."

"Milky Way over Jackson Lake and Teton Range" in Grand Teton N.P. ~ © Royce Bair

Many photographers look at my NightScapes, like this photo of the Milky Way over Jackson Lake and the Teton Range, and say, "These are awesome photos, but I don't have the equipment to produce this kind of work." That's somewhat true, because starry night skies are about 130 times darker than even a sky lit with a quarter moon!

For the very best nightscape work, expensive, full-frame sensor DSLR cameras such as the Nikon D3, D4, or the Canon 5D Mark III (like I have) are helpful in producing low-noise images of star-filled skies (as points of light) with nighttime landscapes. However, good nightscapes can still be taken with almost any DSLR or point-and-shoot camera that is capable of an ISO setting of 1600 and above. Here are some examples (click on the image to see the full gallery):

The purpose of this gallery is to show that one doesn't have to have the latest and greatest equipment in order to get good Nightscapes. These photographers have spent 1/2 to 1/5 the money and have much to show for their smaller investment. Camera, lens, and exposure information are provided with each image. ENJOY! Now, go out and start taking your own nightscapes --they've proved it can be on done on a budget!

Purpose and Scope of this Night Photography Blog

This blog was created for three reasons:

1. To show the wonders and beauty of the night sky.
2. To share as many varieties of night photography as possible.
3. To share techniques and equipment for nocturnal photography.

Many of my posts will be how-to tutorials on the art of night photography, and I plan to provide many links and references.

To accomplish this goal, I will share not only my images and knowledge of nocturnal photography, but I will bring to this blog the vision and skills of scores of other photographers.

My definition of night photography is fairly broad. They are dusk to twilight photos that require a long exposure, or that require high ISO's for short exposures. They are photos of the the stars, planets, and/or the moon lit sky, with a land feature (i.e. "nightscapes"). They include light-painted objects and cityscapes at night.

I hope you will join me and share this blog with your friends. You can see additional night images on my Flickr group with the same name as this blog: Into the Night Photography.

"Milky Way Dawn over Grand Teton Range" ~ © Royce Bair MMXII

This photo was taken about two hours and 45 minutes before sunrise, from the Elk Ranch Flats Turnout, in Grand Teton National Park. I had several things happening in my favor this night: prismatic colors due to recent wildfire smoke and a considerable amount of airglow in the sky above the smoke. The photo was taken with a Canon 5D Mark III • EF 24mm f1.4L II lens • 15 seconds @ f2.8 • ISO 8,000. This image is part of my NightScape series. You can also watch a video tour of my NightScapes, set to music.

Royce Bair is the editor of this blog and the photographer of the above image. Here is my gallery of NightScape images. My schedule of workshops, tutorials, and other events is available here. 

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