Finally. Since my mid-May camping trip to Sleeping Bear in northern Michigan I’ve been working on my night sky images. I’ve also been backing up my laptop, and experimenting with an external hard drive.

You know how new things, especially technical new stuff, flummoxes me. So many days went by when I looked at my laptop, sitting over there on the table and didn’t feel smart enough to try.

But more new photos are filling my camera’s memory card and I have this rule that I can’t download new images until I have finished processing the ones already waiting on the laptop.

Silly rule. I have so many more pretty things to show you and I’m still wallowing through these stars.

I guess that’s not such a horrible problem to have.
So I’ll show you what the night sky looked at back in May. Recognize that you won’t see the sky like this just by looking up wherever you are, even if you’re in a very dark place.

The camera sees much more light than our eyes do, and then I’ve processed them to bring more light out so that you can appreciate the shapes and patterns that hang out up there.

I’ve tried not to process them too much, but I do have to lighten them some because WordPress and Facebook both post images darker than they appear in my work on the laptop.
I hope you enjoy looking at the night sky. I like having company when I’m out there, and I often think of all of you while I’m shooting, hoping you can feel a little bit like you were there too when you see the images.

I can’t wait to get back out there and bring you more.
June 15, 2023 at 10:21 am
These are such fabulous images. Thanks so much for sharing them xx
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June 16, 2023 at 11:17 am
You are so welcome! I don’t know what I’d do with all these images if I didn’t have you guys to drop them on!
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June 17, 2023 at 10:40 am
😉
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June 15, 2023 at 10:32 am
Dawn, these are beautiful. “stacked, horizontal image”…you are way over my head.
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June 16, 2023 at 11:18 am
Not so much over your head. 🙂
It just means there are several images, all taken one after the other, that were put through some software that lines up the stars and gets rid of noise and any differences between the images to make the final product sharper.
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June 16, 2023 at 11:35 am
And we have five planets aligning this evening. You will be out there to capture it?
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June 16, 2023 at 11:56 am
We have haze and smoke from Canada again. 😦
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June 15, 2023 at 12:02 pm
You are doing GREAT!!! These are spectacular!
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June 16, 2023 at 11:19 am
Thank you. I remember my first attempts. It seems like a long time ago. Lots of nights out there I still feel the same frustration!
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June 15, 2023 at 12:12 pm
Dawn, these images are stunning. You’ve certainly become brilliant at this, and it’s fun to note because you had set out to get here some time ago.
I just love the sculptural land- and water-scapes underneath.
Wonderful.
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June 16, 2023 at 11:19 am
I like the land and water too. I especially like stars reflected in water.
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June 15, 2023 at 12:34 pm
Stunning, gorgeous, beautiful images, Dawn. I very much admire your persistence in learning how to photograph and then process images of the night sky. Your advancing skill shows and shines through these photographs. ♥
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June 16, 2023 at 11:20 am
Thank you Robin! it’s been fun learning….and I still have sooooo much more to learn!
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June 15, 2023 at 12:47 pm
Your images are incredible, Dawn. Thank you for capturing what most of us never see.
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June 16, 2023 at 11:20 am
One of my biggest regrets over my aunt dying is that she wanted to see the Milky Way and I never got her out there.
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June 15, 2023 at 12:55 pm
BEAUTIFUL photos!! I’m so happy I follow you and your wonderful adventures and appreciate all your excellent photography! We are there right along with you. Thank you always for sharing the wonders of the sky and universe!! ❤️❤️❤️
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June 16, 2023 at 11:21 am
You are so welcome! Thanks for coming along!
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June 15, 2023 at 7:07 pm
Such wonderful photos!! And I love the idea of you thinking about all of us as you’re out there. It’s clear you’re doing that because the photos speak to us in different ways (personally, I LOVE #4 with the lone tree — sooo many stars!!!)
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June 16, 2023 at 11:21 am
I love that tree image too.
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June 16, 2023 at 1:00 am
Wow. And I do mean “wow”! You can wallow around all you like if you send us photos like that. Wow.
I have THREE separate remote drives that I keep photos on, full sets of each of those drives, just so I don’t risk losing them, as well as a full backup of my blog on each drive. ah me, sigh. Part of why I produce a blog of my RV travels is to share them with others, but also so I have a diary of them when I’m no longer traveling, so I can look back and enjoy. I do not want to lose that. It takes time and effort to keep up with the backups, but I think it will be worth it.
Love your sky/star photos!!!
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June 16, 2023 at 11:22 am
I can see that it’s a lot of extra work to keep the backup up to date…but my laptop is overflowing and slowing down so I need to move some stuff over there anyway.
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June 16, 2023 at 9:05 am
Absolutely gorgeous. I always wondered how people were able to take these types of photos. They sound like a lot of work, but so worth it!
Deb
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June 16, 2023 at 11:16 am
Several of the shots in the blog are single images…so not a lot of work there, but you DO have to plan these star shoots, and then hope for clear skies. And there’s a lot of research and investigation of places to shoot that needs to be done ahead of time and in daylight!
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June 16, 2023 at 2:40 pm
Absolutely stunning! We really are just a tiny speck. Your photos help give all of us some perspective.
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June 16, 2023 at 9:07 pm
I’m glad you like them.
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June 16, 2023 at 8:11 pm
Hi, Dawn! Gorgeous night sky photos! And like all of the other photos that you share (Katie, Penny, birds, parks, barns, trees & flowers) there can never too many! I know that last shot took a lot of time to capture and process…it was SO worth it!! Wow!! Thank you for sharing and letting us tag along! 😊
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June 17, 2023 at 1:03 pm
I love having you along on my adventures! Thank you for enjoying all the photos! I have more to share soon! (Of course!)
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June 17, 2023 at 9:12 pm
Stunning images, Dawn. Thank you for sharing them with us.
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June 26, 2023 at 11:44 am
I’m glad you like them! They are soooooo fun and sooooooo frustrating to take!
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June 25, 2023 at 2:37 pm
I hate when I miss a fabulous post like this (but sure am glad you give us a link to come back to). Your night sky images leave me sighing in pleasure… Beautiful, Dawn.
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June 26, 2023 at 11:44 am
Oh I’m glad you got to see them. They are so fun to do but take so much planning (and driving) to get.
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June 26, 2023 at 11:55 am
There is that. But oh so worth it!
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