Younes Bounhar Photography

Milkin’ it all the Way

It was about 11pm when we arrived back at our car on the way down from Eunice lake (see yesterday’s post here). After a long day, all we were thinking of was the comfort of a bed, yet, when Jay suggested we stop for some star trail shots, I immediately acquiesced! My excitement only grew when I noticed that the Milky Way was out in full force! To add to the magic, a planet (not sure which one, but clearly visible to the left of Rainier) was lined up just at the right spot, and an eerie and barely visible light painted the mountain top.

The following shot was made with a Nikon D700, Nikkor 14-24 at 14mm, f/2.8, iso 2500 for 30s. I used a high iso and wide open lens here to minimise the exposure time so that I could capture the milky way before star motion was visible.

The next one, was with a Nikon D700, 70-300 VR at 70mm, f/5.6, iso 800, 256s. In this one, I went to the complete opposite compared to the previous shot as I wanted to capture as much motion in as little time as possible, hence the longer focal length (an even longer focal length and exposure time would have been better, but I was constrained in this case.

Posted on July 20th, 2009 in Images Photography Tips Travel

9 Responses to “Milkin’ it all the Way”

1. Neville says:

   July 21, 2009 at 7:03 am

   Wow dude, the first shot is great!! Ive never tried it before but I would love to get out or the city to try sometime. It came out really clear!

   Reply
2. nellleo says:

   July 21, 2009 at 10:39 am

   First shot is awesome – I should hope it was a bug free sky

   Reply
   • Younes says:

     July 21, 2009 at 10:43 am

     Thanks guys. Nelly: no such luck. I still have welts from that evening! (it was worse than on Eagle’s nest if you can believe it!)

     Reply
3. Gary Crabbe / Enlightened Images says:

   July 21, 2009 at 11:00 am

   Youness; Great shot of the Milky Way; love just the little bit of mountain in the corner that adds to the feeling of small and insignificant. Cheers,

   Reply
4. Joanna says:

   July 21, 2009 at 1:06 pm

   Wonderful shots, have to try this myself. Summer sky is beautiful.

   Reply
5. JVL says:

   July 21, 2009 at 1:48 pm

   I’d love to give the star photos a try (maybe even around Ottawa) – leading any workshops soon?

   Reply
   • Younes says:

     July 21, 2009 at 9:15 pm

     Hi Justin, let’s hook up sometime this summer.
     And by the way, I still have spots open on the fall workshops if you are interested.

     Reply
6. Craig Ferguson (@cfimages) says:

   July 24, 2009 at 9:54 am

   That Milky Way shot is especially cool. Was actually just talking about the milky way at a networking meeting thing yesterday and now I find your photo of it. Great work.

   Reply
7. Joe Williams says:

   July 25, 2009 at 9:10 pm

   Fabulous shot of the Milky Way!

   Reply