When I initially planned to capture a full Milky Way Arch over Dorgan House, I had my doubts about whether it would be feasible. My biggest concern was that I lacked a lens wide enough to take the photograph, so I had to rely on my GigaPan panorama device to execute the shot. To my pleasant surprise, the final result turned out to be quite impressive.
Taking a photograph of the Milky Way Galaxy requires a combination of knowledge, the right equipment, careful planning, and a bit of luck. I was fortunate enough to have all of these factors aligned during my recent visit to the Big Bend area. I embarked on a mile-long hike to the Dorgan House ruins, carrying a camera bag, my GigaPan, a light kit, and a couple of tripods. The hike was thankfully quite easy and the terrain was flat, making it a breeze to navigate.
This image was taken with my Sony A7R IV using my Sony FE 16-35mm f/2.8 Lens set on 16mm. The camera was set on Manual mode with the aperture set at f/4, shutter speed at 30 seconds, and ISO set at 3200. I used a tripod for stability and my GigaPan Epic Pro panorama device to capture three rows of four photographs to cover the entire Milkyway Galaxy. I lit the scene with my Coast HP7R flashlight. I stitched together the twelve photos and did preliminary processing in Lightroom and completed it in Photoshop using Nik Color Efex Pro.
Click here to see other images like this in my Big Bend area gallery or here to see my night sky photographs. Please post your comments, questions, or suggestions in the section below.
T. Kahler Photography
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Terry, this is superb! Well worth the considerable effort to get a shot this impressive. I got a MW pano a few years ago and was surprised how challenging it was. But I didn’t have a gigapan!
Thanks Tom. Yes, well worth the effort. Learned a few things and ready to try it again.
Terry, the Dugan House Milky Way image is stunning. Great image as I know how difficult it was to shoot..
Thanks Rick. I had super low expectations so it was great to see the final outcome.