Nothing is more peaceful to me than being out in nature with my camera and the Milky Way. Billions of stars in front of me with only one way to capture the moment; my camera. My goal for this project is to create and publish a 20 page coffee table book, as well as a 50 page coffee table photo book. This 20 page book will contain images of the Milky Way from various parts of the United States. The 50 page book will contain the same images, as well as daytime landscape photographs from each National Park. For backers who pledge $20 or higher, a time-lapse movie will be provided, in addition to the book reward. These books will be available for sale online, but backers will have the chance to get the first copies.
Western Skies – An Astrophotography Book Of The Milky Way
On June 12th, 2016 I will leave for a two week backpacking trip to some of the nations most beautiful landscapes. I will be traveling to 5 national parks in western United States to capture the images I need for this project. By shooting for multiple hours at night, I can create 3 different images from one night. I can create star trails, a time lapse, and single breathtaking photos of the Milky Way over our national parks. By using this technique, I can provide multiple rewards for backers to enjoy.
Two years ago, I traveled to the Grand Canyon for the first time in my life. I was excited to backpack and capture the beauty of the Milky Way over the park. Unfortunately, there was a full moon for the entire week while I was there, making it impossible to shoot the night sky. While I was traveling back home, I had the opportunity to see the Milky Way during the lunar eclipse. It was approximately 12:30 am when I made my parents pull over so I could photograph the night sky. We were 13,000 feet above sea level, in Colorado with sub zero temperatures. This was one of many occasions I have spent my nights in the freezing cold to shoot the stars. I have dedicated hundreds of hours in the night capturing the sky.
This summer I plan to go back, but this time I will be making 4 more stops so I can shoot different landscapes with the night sky. I will be backpacking for two weeks so I can get to some of the most remote locations in the wilderness.
Sample images will be provided below to show the locations I will be shooting.
I will be leaving from Wisconsin with the first stop being Rocky Mountain National park. After a 14 hour drive we will arrive at the park and stay here for 2 days. Capturing photos of the park during the day and staying up late at night to capture the images I need of the sky.
After visiting Rocky Mountain National Park in Colorado, we will then drive and camp at Arches National park in Utah. For 2 nights, we will backpack and explore to get the perfect images for the project. Next, we will continue south and make a night stop at Canyonlands National park. This will be a one night stay. We will backpack to a location to capture the images needed for this project. After the first 3 stops we will now head towards our primary location. This location is Havasu Falls in Arizona. This will be a 3 day expedition including 20 miles in hiking round trip. We will be staying for 2 nights; this means multiple locations will be shot for the photo book. Next, once images have been taken from Havasu Falls, we will then travel for our next biggest stop, the Grand Canyon. Once there we will camp on top of the canyon for one night so images can be taken of the Milky Way over the beautiful landscape. The following day we will conquer a 7 mile hike into the Grand Canyon and camp on the Colorado river. Images will be obtained of the night sky for the book. Finally, we will start to head home after The Grand Canyon. We will go through New Mexico and stay one night at Carson National Park. Final images will be taken here to finish off the book.
Many of you are asking “What will the money be spent on?” here’s the breakdown:
• Syrp Genie Epic Kit ($1,100) This includes the Genie motion control unit for time-lapses. Also, the Genie ball head that mounts the camera to the Genie Motion control unit. Last, the magic carpet track for movement time-lapses. (This package was used in the time-lapse video shown above in “Yosemite HD II”)
• Nikon 14-24mm ($1,600) this lens is a necessity for this project in making it possible to capture the most landscape and night sky in one photo. Fast, sharp, and reliable the perfect must have lens to capture the beauty of our Milky Way.
• iOptron Sky tracker ($300) This will be used so I can track the night sky using technique I have been perfecting for two years now. This process is called tracking and stacking. I have a 70 pound Orion Sirius EQ-G with an ED-80 telescope at home and I will not be able to bring it due to weight and lack of space. Also, it is many pieces and I simply cannot hike with it. The tracker allows one to track the stars over 300 second exposures. Capturing the most light and data to be stacked into a noiseless image. This is a portable version that can fit in my bag with ease and will help create the perfect image.
• The total spent will be $3,000 dollars on equipment. The rest of the $2,000 dollars will be spent all on the backers. This includes printing photo books for each backer over 50 dollars. As well as the costs for all the prints, canvas wraps, metal prints, and shipping will all be paid for with the rest of the funding.
The biggest risk that is at hand is mother nature. By that, I mean weather is going to be the one and only risk. I have already gone ahead and looked at the lunar calendar and it is going to be dark skies the entire time. Clouds and precipitation will be my biggest enemy if there are storms brewing at the time. The chance is not high, but is still there because mother nature is unpredictable.
