Dark Sky Camping

vermilye wrote:
I enjoy taking "dark sky" photos, and have found many places in the west work well. As others have mentioned, getting away from cities & trying for high altitudes helps.

One of my favorite milky way photos includes skies that are not all that dark, but with a meteor and Devils Tower, I like it.

Beautiful
Thanks

vermilye wrote:
I enjoy taking "dark sky" photos, and have found many places in the west work well. As others have mentioned, getting away from cities & trying for high altitudes helps.

One of my favorite milky way photos includes skies that are not all that dark, but with a meteor and Devils Tower, I like it.

What time of year was this picture taken?

NIce photo by frizzen. That view is not that hard to find if you know where to look in every western state.

July 29, 2014, 10:30PM. A panorama of 6 images, each shot with a 17mm lens at f: 2.8, ISO 3200, 30 seconds, Nikon D700.

Jon, you probably already know this, but that reddish color at the bottom of the frame is entirely correct and authentic -- it is not light pollution. It's "airglow" caused by the excitation of oxygen molecules in the thicker part of the atmosphere.

How do I know this? Awhile back, I spent a lot of time and effort trying to eliminate that "rusty" color with my photo editing software, thinking it was artificial. I was unsatisfied with my results and did some googling to see what other folks had said. Surprise! I was artificially altering the natural color of the night sky.

Perhaps that shot of yours should be titled "Distant Encounters?" (The feeble joke dates me -- "Close Encounters" came out in 1977!)

I took another look at your photo and realized that there are not one but two meteor tracks! If that was late July, chances are that those were early Perseids.

Always Dreaming!

Kissimmee prairie is a great park and it is indeed dark and CLOSE to you. We go there often when we are in Florida. One of our favorites and it is most likely the cheapest park in florida. BRING everything you need because it is a LONG drive to get provisions..I think it may be 40 miles to a walmart and nothing else close. We've been there when people arrive thinking there was a camp store or something and they had to leave and stock up...hahaha.

Bahia Honda, I guess kind of dark. Make sure you have a reservation although this time of year it is easier by far. We like that park as well for its sunrises an sunsets and blue water. Part of it is still closed from irma though....so sandspur beach is not open and will not be for a while yet...so much work to be done there.
Donna

if you want true black sky in the USA. the best if the only place left is black rock desert in the north west corner of nevada.

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Black_Rock_Desert

bring twice the fuel, twice the food, and four times the water you think you might need.
and more than one motor vehicle. no cell here. might get ham. or a sat phone, but nothing else.
get all before leaving fallon nevada. as the ONLY place to get anything north of hwy 80 is the burg of gerlatch. and they have almost nothing.
get out on the playa, and drive north a couple hrs you are over the curve of the earth from everything. if you did not bring it... it just does not exist.
and watch out on the rd north to and south home, as you cross tribal land, and yes they do have speed traps, (only source of income).

packnrat,
The playa is low in elevation. I used to work all over Nevada. The top of the Toiyabe Range at 10,000 feet or the Ruby Mtns would be examples of much better places for star gazing.