Am I too late? Milky Way

Badger8

Badger8

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Tim
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Ok, so I've always had a fascination for the stars and the Milky Way and that combined with my love for photography can only mean one thing. I've recently purchased the Tokina 11-16mm and I'm lucky enough to live in the beautiful county of Dorset. I've always wanted to take a picture of Durdle Door with the Milky Way behind it, but my question is, am I too later?
I'm still trying to work out the time of year that the Milky Way is too low from view?
 
Not too late.

Its always there with nice clear skies.

Looking forward to seeing your results.

Mj
 
londonbackpackr said:
Download stellarium for either desktop, iphone or android. Its a great piece of software for seeing where objects are in the night sky. You can run through real time to see where and when the best times to see the Milky Way are
Click to expand...

:plus1: for Stellarium
 
To be honest, i would say yes. From Durdle the MW will be over the top of Portland/Weymouth by the time it gets to about 10 o'clock when its dark. The 'chunky' part of the Milky Way will be lost in the glow, unless of course it's a really clear night. But... worth a try :)

Edit.. Just checked TPE and i was completely wrong (n) looks quite good :)
 
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If you haven't tried yet, get out as soon as possible this week- weather permitting. The further we get into the week the moon will start to interfere between twilight and moonset, which will get later night by night. And if it's not this week, it'll be another two weeks before it's worth trying again, due to moon brightness.

This shot of mine is from August (2012) so expect the Milky Way to be further west (right). You'll still get *something*, it just may not be quite the composition/ alignment you'd prefer.


mind:blown
 
The Tokina is a great lens, like others mentioned I would get out and have a go!
 
I bought the Tokina for that very reason, and I love it. In fact I rarely leave home without it now.
I've a long way to go before I get to the standard of the others, but I know the lens is capable, it's my own shortcomings I've to get over. :)

It's definitely not too late, I took this on Monday morning while the moon was red and dim

A gratuitous milky way shot while the moon was hiding in Earth's shadow by Colm, on Flickr
 
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can you use a 50mm 1.8 for this sort of thing?
 
Virtualcolm said:
The issue you'd have with a 50mm is the field of view is too small.
You'd get the stars, or you'd get foreground. I think you'd struggle to get both
Click to expand...

It's possible, but not always. I guess that's what you're alluding to.

Several considerations:
Easier with FX than DX as field of view is greater.
Compositions will be limited as the most striking imagery comes from the brightest part of the milky way. For us, that sits on and towards the horizon from late May/ June to about now.
Shutter speed needs to be factored in to minimise star trailing. That's where the wider aperture will be helpful, to allow you to keep exposure durations down.
Depth of field can come into play, depending on scale of and distance to foreground subject.

Actually 35mm, this one, but you can see there's room to crop and mimic a 50mm FoV

Milky Way over Bucklers Hard

50mm but the foreground takes up much of the interesting area of sky

Master Builders House Hotel

50mm again. No milky way in this one but the longer focal length has amplified the perseid meteors- for me the detail in the meteor tails was worth the reduced field of view.

Perseids over St Stephen's

All shot on Sony A7s. If you're using a crop sensor, 35mm gives you about the same field of view as my 50mm.
 
Virtualcolm said:
I bought the Tokina for that very reason, and I love it. In fact I rarely leave home without it now.
I've a long way to go before I get to the standard of the others, but I know the lens is capable, it's my own shortcomings I've to get over. :)

It's definitely not too late, I took this on Monday morning while the moon was red and dim

A gratuitous milky way shot while the moon was hiding in Earth's shadow by Colm, on Flickr
Click to expand...
I love this! Is that a(nother) galaxy you've picked up towards the top left corner there?!

I've been toying with the idea of getting the 11-20mm Tokina lens, and shots like this are making the decision a whole lot easier. Thanks for sharing! :)
 
Great images love the last one but all are fab :)
 
Bobby uk said:
can you use a 50mm 1.8 for this sort of thing?
Click to expand...
It is possible, and the Milky way will always be visible, providing the skies are clear enough.
This was taken in Cornwall in July. I'm looking forward to some time off that coincide with clear skies over the winter.

This was 50mm on full frame.
TwentyEight/FiftyTwo - Dust by Aaron, on Flickr
 
Here's something I read:

"The best times to observe the bright galactic center of the Milky Way, in any part of the world, tends to be from about mid-March through mid-October.
Technically, you can see some part of the Milky Way at any time of the year, but when shooting in the time period from September through April, you’ll be limited to the dimmer parts of the night sky as the Sun obscures the bright galactic center."


I am just starting to learn about this astro stuff, and although finding it interesting, it is also quite confusing !
 
Brilliant pics. Just starting out on this genre of photography. Lots to learn but great info in these threads
 
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