Milky Way Photo Walk with a Weekend Getaway

Free NightScape Photo Walk: Join us on March 11th and 12th, as the bright core of the Milky Way, the Central Bulge, makes its first appearance above the horizon after its long, winter vacation! We'll be spending two evenings of NightScape activities (lecture and workshops), including two FREE Photo Walks at desert locations near Wendover, Nevada —along with some relaxation and nightlife at the Montego Bay Resort.

We will be photographing the Milky Way at a secret desert location near Wendover, on March 11 & 12 (and optionally March 13), between 2:30 AM through 5:20 AM, as it clears the eastern horizon (shown in this Sky Guide forecasting app).

This location is less than 25 miles from Wendover, and is one of the darkest regions in the western USA (our planning also coincides with a moon that remains below the horizon during our shooting period). If we are blessed with clear skies, your photos of the Milky Way sky should be amazing. Our location will also provide a unique and interesting foreground.

There is something magical about the horizontal positioning of an early spring Milky Way, as it moves above the horizon —it's almost like a moonrise of stars. If the skies are clear, you will be some of the few people on earth to see this natural wonder! (Click on image to enlarge.)

Rise of the Milky Way...

Milky Way RISE near the 40th Parallel: During the much of this week (March 9-13), the bright central core of the Milky Way will begin to rise above the eastern horizon. It will start to appear at about 2:30 AM and will rise to its highest point by about 5:20 AM before the impending morning twilight begins to overpower it in brightness (simulations created with Stellarium).  Of course, this is not the first time this year that core of the Milky Way has risen above the horizon in this region, but it will be the first time when conditions (based on twilight and moon cycles) are near perfect for viewing it. If you can't make it to Wendover, Nevada for our Photo Walk, be sure to find a dark sky area in your region and enjoy the show!

Utah West Desert Photo Walk

Part of last night's group "riding" our abandon, graffiti-painted school bus (Robin, Sandy, Audie, Brannon, Heike, Paul and Brian) ~ © Royce Bair

Free NightScape Photo Event: Last night was another one of the free NightScape Photowalk events that I'm trying to do across the country. Although last night's event was limited to just 10 people, other NightScapeWalks venues have had room for up to 100 participants.

Location: This old, abandon bus is located about 50 miles west of Salt Lake City, just off exit 70 of I-80, near the ghost town of Delle, Utah. In this map, you'll see the bus located about 900 feet southeast of the gas station.

Sunset shots: We arrived about an hour before sunset, in order to get our bearings, and took several daytime photos...

Blue Hour: Our main purpose was to do night photography. To maximize our time, we did "Blue Hour" photography during the end of the Civil Twilight period. In order to extend this narrow, 20-minute window (it's really not an "hour"), into 30 minutes of shooting time, we first shot from the west side of the bus, looking east; and, then switched to the east side of the bus, looking west. Lights inside and outside the bus had to be adjusted in their intensity as the twilight dimmed.

Milky Way: By 6:45 PM the Astronomical Dusk had arrived, and the stars were really starting to pop. Although the brightest portion of the Milky Way, the central bulge, has rotated below the horizon at this season of the year, there is still a lot of Milky Way to see, especially the Great Rift or the Dark River, as the ancients used to call it. Once again, the inside lights had to be dimmed even further, to match the intensity of the starlight. We did not use any outside lighting, as we already had plenty of light pollution coming from the gas station, about 900 feet (274 m.).

"Photo Walkers" choose their angle for aligning the old bus with the Milky Way. The lights in the bus have been dimmed to match the starlight, and the colorful gels have been removed. The only outside light is coming from two sodium vapor street lamps, located about 900 feet to the right, at the Delle gas station (which is also giving the orange-red glow in the right side of the sky) ~ © Royce Bair

Post processing contrast added to the sky, and a darker exposure of the bus was blended (via a Photoshop layer) into the image. This photo was actually taken a week earlier during a scouting trip ~ © Royce Bair

You can see more photos from the participants of this photo walk by going to this Meetup page.

An invitation: I invite photographers everywhere to suggest future photo walk venues (these are free events) by tagging your favorite astro-landscapes with the hashtag: #NightScapeWalk — on Instagram, Facebook or Google+. Please include the location of your NightScape and any other interesting background information in your photo description. To qualify, locations should be within 50 miles (80 km) or 90 minutes drive time (which ever is less) from a major city or metropolitan area (over 100,000 population). You can also suggest a location on my NightScape Meetup page.

Future NightScapeWalk venues I'm considering for January and February 2016 are some unique desert locations near Tucson, AZ and San Diego, CA. I welcome your suggestions for March. By April, my private workshop season begins, and I'll have less time for these free events.

NightScape Photo Walks

Milky Way rising over Silver Lake near Brighton, Utah ~ © Royce Bair (click to enlarge).
Reddish glow on the left is light pollution from Park City, and on the right is from Heber City.

NightScape Photo Walks: I've been doing free, local astro-landscape photo walks near the Salt Lake City, Utah metro area for the past few years, like the above location, which is only 11 miles (18 km) from the edge of the city, and this recent photowalk in Utah's west desert. We've had as many as 100 people participate in these free events, and the response has been incredibly positive and rewarding. Our next NightScapeWalk is March 11-12 near Wendover, Nevada.

This Dark Sky Finder map shows that Brighton, UT (the middle purple marker) is only 15 miles from the
inner city lights of Salt Lake City, UT. Brighton and nearby Silver Lake are still in a fairly light polluted
Bortle Scale Class 6 (orange color). However, the rising Milky Way in the eastern sky (to the right)
lies across darker regions (yellow, green, blue and gray with Bortle Scale Classes 5 through 2).

Acceptable Astro-Landscapes in a light-polluted environment: Even though the site is affected by light pollution from the nearby city, and is in a Bortle Scale Class 6, acceptable images of the Milky Way sky were still obtainable because the camera was pointed away from the largest source of light pollution and towards a region having darker skies (Bortle Scale Class 5 through 2).

NightScape Photo Walks near your city. I'm looking to do free photo walks in other areas around the world. Like our Salt Lake City event, the location needs to be conveniently close to a major city, yet far enough away to provide reasonably good photography of the starry night sky. You can check to see if your favorite area meets this criteria by referring to this Dark Sky Finder map of the United States. Your location should have a Bortle Scale Class 5 (yellow) or lower. Use this Dark Site Finder map for all other locations in the world.

An invitation: I invite photographers everywhere to suggest future photo walk venues by tagging your favorite astro-landscapes with the hashtag: #NightScapeWalk (capitalization is not required) — on Instagram, Facebook or Google+. Please include the location of your NightScape and any other interesting background information in your photo description. To qualify, locations should be within 50 miles (80 km) or 90 minutes drive time (which ever is less) from a major city or metropolitan area (over 100,000 population). You can also suggest a location on my NightScape Meetup page.

Showcasing your images: From time-to-time, I will feature some of the best images on my @RoyceBairPhoto Instagram account, complete with credits and links to the photographer. The featured images will also appear on my Facebook fan page. These suggested locations may also become venues for future NightScape Photo Walks that I will organize and provide free to the public.

Paid Workshops: I also do paid group workshops. Past and future workshops are listed on my NightScape Meetup site. Private workshops of 1-4 people are also available.