I was intrigued recently by a photograph my friend Robert Clark took of the Milky Way while on a trip to a western park where it is very dark and clear. The past three days I spent in the Highlands here in West Virginia, and the night I spent on Dolly Sods was very clear… I could see the Milky Way. Here are the results. It was a magical experience, the sky was full of stars and the bushes full of lightening bugs! There were times I wasn’t sure if I was looking up or down!

21mm Zeiss Distagon ZF.2, Nikon 800e, Lr4, Ps CS6. I used ISO 3200, ƒ4, for 10 seconds. I tried longer exposures but the stars streaked as Earth rotated. I used a small LED flashlight to “paint” the road slightly with light.