Newsletter, Picture

An Amazing Night of Night Photography


Every now and then, you get an amazing night. In Cook County, on any clear night when the moon isn’t out, you get an amazing starry sky. If the northern lights are out, it can be even more amazing.

That’s amazing + amazing + amazing + amazing = Super Duper Amazing!

I had one of those nights the other night.

This was from the third stop of the night. The northern lights flared up over Two Island Lake. It was hard to leave, but I needed to get to Lake Superior to shoot a Milky Way shot.

northern lights in northern minnesota

On the way to Lake Superior, I stopped at the Junco River just to scout it for a possible future picture with a canoe. The northern lights and the Milky Way were fighting for the sky. I regretted not having a canoe on the top of my car. It would have made a great canoe shot.

northern lights and Milky Way over Junco River

Once at Lake Superior, I did a quick selfie.

Milky Way, Island and a Person

Then I whipped out my panoramic gear and shot a set of overlapping shots that I later combined together to form this panoramic shot. This was my goal for the night.

Milky Way pano over Lake Superior

The night finished after using a lens I bought on a grant from the Arrowhead Regional Art Council to take a closeup on the Milky Way behind the island at The Tombolo. Without being awarded the grant, I wouldn’t have been able to get this shot.

Milky Way behind the tombolo

That wrapped up the night.

In other news, I had one cancellation on my Badlands and Black Hills Photography Workshop.

13 Comments

  • Looks like you did have one heck of a night. I’m coming back up for the Night Skies on the Gunflint Trail workshop and if I come away with one shot as nice as yours I’ll be one happy camper.

    Looking forward to coming back up there

  • These are so amazingly beautiful! Thanks and I can just imagine how much fun you had!

  • Amazing photos. I am just starting to attempt panoramas and am heading up North soon. I am hoping for clear skies. Any pointers for me would be much appreciated. Thanks in advance.
    I loved the close up of the Milky Way over the island.. what new lens? Absolutely stunning photos.

    • It’s a Sigma 35mm f/1.4. I’ll have to write up a newsletter about how to shoot Milky Way panos. I may do a workshop on panoramic photography next year. There have been requests.

  • I’m so glad you share your work. I spend hours going over your pictures just for the beauty and relaxation

  • These are superb! Is the arch in the milky way (in the stitched image) the way it actually looks this time of year? Or does it get arched by the stitching/straightening process?

  • Maybe a dumb question, do the prices for the workshops/trips include lodging? Trying to figure out how much to save for next year…

  • Absolutely Stunning! So much to learn :-D I would be interested if you decide to offer a panoramic photography workshop!

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