Milky Way from the Trail, originally uploaded by dmzajac2004-.

Via Flickr:
Copyright © 2011 Deborah M. Zajac. All Rights Reserved.
On my second night hike up to Clouds Rest with some night sky photographer enthusiast we stopped on this great granite rock to take some photographs of the night sky. With a crescent moon the sky was a lot darker than my first hike up, and the Milky Way was more visible. I’ve been wanting to capture a great Milky Way shot for a long time. I don’t think I have nailed it yet, but I’m closer. The most amazing thing about this shot is that I could not see with my naked eye the orange and yellow light pollution, but the camera could. When I looked at my playback after the first shot I was thrilled with the color and the texture in the clouds. I hoped it looked as good at home on my computer.
Does anyone have any tips on post editing Milky Way shots to bring out the best of it? I tweaked fill, blacks, clarity, vibrance, sharpened, and a little recovery.

It was a great hike, and I made it up that last bit to the top and beyond. I’ve got a couple of more photos I’ll share from this hike and still one or two from the first hike up.

Hike stats:
Total Miles 14.2
Elevation Gain 3,687ft
Total Time hike and photography 13 hours
Not a lot of sleep on this trip either, but I did doze on the mountain while my camera worked, and in the car on the way home. I left home at 4pm on Aug. 23rd and got home just after 6PM on Aug. 24th. Yes, I’d do it again.

Nikon D300s| Nikkor 17-35 @ 17mm| f2.8| 30 seconds| ISO 1600| Manual Mode| Tripod w/release cable