Let’s Talk About the Milky Way

This.

2 Years, 6 hours of driving, a storm, 1 hour window to capture the shot, and this was the result. Could it be better… probably… but I don’t care, I love it! I don’t just love the photo, I love the story behind it.

You see, this photo was the result of YEARS of failed attempts. There were years of blurry images, failed editing, bad equipment, I mean you name it, and I did it wrong. And to be honest, this isn’t even the best shot I could get, it just so happens to be the only one that I could capture given our circumstance on that brutal night on an island in the middle of the ocean (I’ll tell you where I was later, I want to keep you guessing on the location).

In fact, let me show you just how bad one of the original takes was… back in 2018.

LITERALLY. WHAT. AM. I. LOOKING. AT?????????

I was sooooo bad at getting the galaxy shot. I thought I had everything. I thought I knew everything, but it wouldn’t be another two years until I got a better shot. So, how exactly did I get the better shot? How did I improve? What made me better?

Planning

The first thing I did was plan the trip. We planned a guy’s trip, solely around my photography, with the mission to drive out to Ocracoke Island (fine, I told you, but you can’t leave now). We planned this trip for October 2020 since that is the last month in North Carolina where you can see the milky way galaxy before it falls beneath the horizon until May.

But OK Garrett, I don’t get what the big deal is…. why do you have to travel to an island, can’t you just go to a field and point your camera at the sky?

To answer my own question, NO you cannot, it’s tough to see in most of the eastern United States because of light pollution, so I used the website Dark Sky Finder to help me find where the least amount of light pollution near me exists. For most of us in North Carolina, that’s Ocracoke, NC, a part of the country that is almost entirely void of light pollution. Ocracoke is great because you can see the milky way galaxy with the naked eye and that really helps with framing your shots.

Going to Ocracoke from Raleigh is an ACTUAL trek. Our friend Will lived at North Carolina’s Outer Banks that year and we figured the 6 hour trip from Raleigh to Ocracoke would be best if we split it up by driving 3 hours to Kill Devil Hills, NC and then 3 hours to Ocracoke. We got to Kill Devil Hills on a Friday, and that Saturday morning we packed up the Subaru to catch the ferry in Hatteras, NC. The one hour Ferry Ride took us to Ocracoke, NC and since we had some time to kill so I got some other great shots.

The island was beautiful, and I would highly recommend everyone to go visit. The Ocracoke Island light house is a MUST see. However, I want you to look at this photo and ask yourself “do you see the sky”. No, you don’t…. you see clouds, and clouds are the enemy when it comes to Astro-photography.

Sometimes the Best Laid Plans Fall Apart

Those clouds were not just passing through either. The clouds were just a precursor to the chilly October cold front passing through that weekend. Yes, all the planning to make this weekend happen was nearly in vain, and we were worried all that effort was going to be wasted. We sat in the back of my Subara, drinking beer saying “well, it can’t get much worse. At least we’re here”…. oh but did it get worse.

The cold front brought 30+ mph wind with it, and setting up in a tent was not a smart decision… so I set up in my Subaru! Unfortunately for Will, Bob, and Todd, the weather wasn’t on their side. Bob and Todd did relatively well, but Will on the other hand… well the picture will speak for itself. Man slept with a collapsed tent in 30+ mph wind… and most of us were Eagle scouts… so the scout motto “Be Prepared” wasn’t well received that weekend.

Nevertheless, we persevered, thanks to Blue Moon, and in my case, a rear seat that folds down to turn your car into a tent. That night was cold, relentless, and rather upsetting. Even with months of planning, the trip was falling apart, my mission to get a photo of the milky way was slipping through my fingers and there was nothing I could do, but wait…

Then 5am Came

Bzzz Bzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzz

“Garrett, STARS” - Bob

I scratched my eyes, looked out of the sunroof and with my bare eyes, I saw it. A celestial conglomerate of light. Beautiful streaks of light crossing the sky, flashing just for a brief moment. The wind seemed to have calmed down, and the clouds were floating off the coast at this point. Now was my chance! I rolled out of the car, camera and tripod in hand, knowing I had only a short window of time to get the tripod and timer set up to just get whatever I could. I knew the sun would start washing the sky out around 6 am, so I had to move fast. Todd and Will were still asleep, Bob and I were racing to get the shot.

“Are you sure you want to set up there?” - Bob

“No, but I have to” - Me

No time to frame my shot, no time to get a foreground photo, my only focus was getting that sky captured.

Click *20 seconds pass* Click, Repeat.

I looked down at the camera, and I got it. I finally got it, after YEARS of chasing it, I got the shot!

Where Do I Go From Here?

Will and Todd woke up several hours later, albeit I’m not sure you can call it “sleep” since we were all in-and-out of sleep that night. We packed up the tents and bags and went back to Kill Devil Hills, NC to spend a couple day’s relaxing and taking in the ocean, but that left me wondering, where do I go from there. How do I get better?

Well, I guess my next step is to go out west! Try it all again, but maybe this time at the Grand Canyon? So my challenge to you is to take a look at Dark Sky Finder and see where you can go to get an amazing milky way shot!

If you like this story, and would like to hear more, Subscribe to my newsletter! And if you want to hear me tell these stories, Check out my YouTube video below and be sure to subscribe to my channel for more stories and great content! I’ll see you all next week! Cheers! - Garrett