Milky-Way Galaxy - Cherry Springs State Park

Cherry Springs State Park is by far one of the best state parks in Pennsylvania for viewing the night sky. In fact, according to darksitefinder.com, Cherry Springs has the darkest skies in Pennsylvania. Which is why astronomy nerds and photographers alike flock to this area to view the heavens in all its unpolluted glory. 

Honestly I was like most people, I would look up from time to time and think to myself "oooo pretty stars" then go about my business. A friend of mine, who is an astro-nerd, really started to open my eyes to how amazing the cosmos really is and began to invite me to join him on trips with his telescope. I still remember seeing Saturn for the first time, I was absolutely amazed. It was strange to me to feel amazed by something that I have seen in every science book in school, but to see it with my own eyes just left me in awe. If you ever get the opportunity to look through a high powered telescope, do it, you will be amazed by what those specks in the sky really look like.     

Gear Used: Canon 5d iii, Rokinon 14mm f2.8 - Exposure: 30 sec ISO 3200

How to Avoid Star Trails

With the right gear, and a little know how, photographing the stars is actually pretty straight forward. Due to the rotation of the Earth we experience the sense that the stars are moving across the sky. Star trails can be used creatively but to obtain sharp stars in your image I use what's called the "500 rule". Sorry to say...there is math involved. 

Here's the super complex formula! 

500 / Your Focal Length = Longest Exposure Possible (In Seconds)

Few, that is a scary formula. lol. 

For example: I shot the above photos with a 24mm Lens on a Full Frame camera. So... 500 / 24 = 21 seconds of usable exposure time. 

When figuring out your exposure with a crop sensor the math gets a little more tricky. Because the sensor is smaller then is what's knows as a "crop factor". Typically Nikon's crop factor is x1.5 and canon is x1.6.

So the formula for a canon crop sensor would be...

500 / (Focal Length x 1.6) = Longest Exposure Possible (In Seconds)

For Example: 500 / (24mm x 1.6) = 13 seconds of usable exposure time. 

Yay Math! Right?!? Ok I know, this is a pain to figure out in the dark while tired and cold. So feel free to print out the chart below for easy cheating. 

Now that the math part is out of the way all that's left is set your camera to BULB, get on a stable tripod, grab yourself an intervalometer and start shooting. Hope this was helpful. Happy Shooting!