RETROSPECTS 2020 - #12

Milky Way, Medicine Rocks State Park, Montana

I’m ending my retrospects not with a photo from December last year. For actual reasons I show you another image from Medicine Rocks State Park in eastern Montana, taken in September 2020. In December, the International Dark-Sky Association (IDA) designated Medicine Rocks State Park in Montana a certified International Dark Sky Sanctuary. There are now 14 dark sky sanctuaries worldwide.

I consider myself a beginner for night photography. I’m looking into that for quite some time but I’m often discouraged by the light pollution we face most of the time, even in a not so densely populated area like here in eastern Iowa. Back in Montana last year it was just amazing and I’m not sure if any picture can reflect how gorgeous it really was. I have seen impressive skies before, for example back in the mid 80’s during backpacking tours in the Carpathian Mountains of Romania in southeastern Europe, but dark places like that become rare. We camped in Medicine Rocks State Park for two nights but only during the first the skies revealed some of their secrets…

If you followed patiently my retrospect series I like to thank you. I enjoyed sharing some of the photographic moments of 2020 with you again and I hope it helped to overcome the daily worries that might be larger than usual for some of you these days.

MEDICINE ROCKS - FINALLY THE MILKY WAY

It wasn’t until almost the end of our trip that it was possible to make a night picture that included the Milky Way. We had many clear nights and light pollution by human-made light sources was very little most of the time in the Dakotas and Montana. But it was the moon that came up every night, bright and beautiful, that cancelled every effort. Finally at Medicine Rocks in Montana we were able to see and capture a little more of the universe we live in. I tried exposure times between 15 and 30 seconds and ISO settings from 3200 to 6400. Only for a few shots I went vertical with the camera but at home, in front of the computer screen, I found that these photos work actually better than all the images in landscape orientation.

Nikon D750, Nikkor 16-35mm / f4, Induro GIT 404XL tripod, RRS BH-55 ball head, Vello cable release,   @16 mm, 20 s, f/4, ISO6400