It’s already been a couple weeks since a friend and I traveled across the state on a late afternoon to spend some time chasing the Milky Way. The season is ending and soon we will only have memories of staring up at the dark horse while listening to Lake Michigan lap at the shore.

The dark horse, a feature of the Milky Way, is barely rising above the horizon now, and almost before it’s really dark, the horse is beginning to set. On one hand, it’s nice not to have to go out at 3 or 4 in the morning. On the other hand, the window of opportunity is really short.

We had been meaning to get over to Lake Michigan and Little Sable lighthouse all summer. But as with every summer, time just slipped away. So when there were predictions of clear skies during a period of no moon, we hurried over to the west coast of Michigan.

It was a beautiful evening. Cool but still warm enough to swim. No bugs. Virtually no wind. Perfect. We watched the sun set. We watched the people watching the sunset.

And as soon as it was slightly dark we set up our tripods and cameras. The Milky Way, this late in the season, rises in the Southwest. So shooting on the west side of Michigan next to Lake Michigan, it is out over the lake. The lighthouse was close to the shore but hard to get into the same frame while standing on the beach.

I decided to climb the sand dune behind the lighthouse to get a better angle on the Milky Way. It was hard climbing the shifting sand in the dark while carrying a tripod topped with a camera. And when I got half way up the dune I realized the Milky Way was now behind the tree. (But at least you can see the dark horse!)

Well darn. I dragged the tripod, camera and me further up the dune. But the view from there was hindered by grass and shrubs.

So I inched my way back down and compromised by being slightly up the dune, but mostly on the beach. I worked in portrait mode to get more of the Milky Way, but the dark horse was lowering into the lake and fading away in the light pollution near the horizon and out of the frame.

There was only about an hour to work and I realize now I should have figured out where I was going to stand before it was time to shoot! Then I wouldn’t have spent so much time climbing sand. Lesson learned.

It was a beautiful, if short, night to shoot. And after all that we even made it home by 2 a.m.! We probably should have stayed overnight and tried again the next night.

October is our last chance to try to get that dark horse, but we’ll have to find a flat view to the horizon. And then, after that, it will be a long winter. Every year I say I’m going to study more. For example I could have, if I knew how, moved that Milky Way closer to the lighthouse in post processing v.s. climbing up a sand dune. This winter I’m going to study about all the options available.

But that sand climb makes the experience more authentic, don’t you think?