Stood in a field in rural Vermont and finally saw what the fuss was about dark sky sites

I drove up to the Green Mountain National Forest last weekend to try some astrophotography. I have been taking pictures of the night sky from my backyard in Burlington for years but always got so much light pollution. At the field near the Appalachian Trail crossing I could see the Milky Way with my naked eye for the first time. My 30 second exposure at f/2.8 showed details in the dust lanes I had only seen in other people's photos. It made me realize how much of the sky I have been missing just because of city lights. Has anyone else had that moment where a truly dark location changed how they think about their night shots?

2 comments

2 Comments

wade8711mo ago

Used to think dark sky hype was overblown but that first real Milky Way shot proved me dead wrong.

miles_hall1mo ago

Oh man, that first naked eye Milky Way is a game changer. I had the same thing happen up in the Adirondacks last year, I thought I knew what dark sky meant but I was clueless. One thing I'd say is watch your white balance when you get back home, those dust lanes look amazing but if you just leave it on auto the sky comes out this weird orange-brown. I always set mine to somewhere around 4000k when I'm processing shots from a truly dark site, it keeps the star colors natural without that muddy look. Also don't be afraid to bump your ISO higher than you think, 3200 or even 6400 on a modern camera can pull out way more detail in the dust than you'd expect, just stack a few frames to kill the noise.