I just finished post processing Milky Way Over Green Valley.

To say I am thrilled with the final image is an understatement.
This was a difficult shoot due to the time of night the Milky Way rose above the mountains. I woke up at the hotel at 3am, got dressed, slammed some coffee down my throat and drove out to the photo site. It was windy as all get-out. I used my car as a windbreak, but still the wind circled around my car. My usual workflow is to set up two cameras to shoot the Milky Way as time lapses with two different focal length lenses, but it was much too windy to do that. I set up my camera with the heaviest lens on top of my heaviest tripod. I stood next to the tripod with my hands ready to catch the camera if it was knocked over by the wind. I didn't know til I got the images on the computer if the stars were in focus due to the wind.

I shot the foreground during blue hour to capture the beauty of the green mountains, then blended it with the sky with the Milky Way in it. Do you know why photographers do it this way? Because the sky and the foreground are two different exposures. If I expose for the sky, the foreground turns out black. Then what is the point of going to a place with beautiful landscapes if the foreground turns out completely underexposed.

I must say I am impressed with my new Sigma 20m f1.4. It is outperforming my Sony lens. Shock! If you squint your eyes, you can see Morro Rock waaaay in the distance.

I'll do a bit more tweaking to get it ready for printing. I'll have it printed for Ojai Studio Artists Second Saturday, May 9, 10am to 5pm.