Notes To My Mother

If you want to take pictures of the stars, the Milky Way in particular, you will be better off if you find a location with dark skies.  In Sonoma County there are no night skies that are truly dark.  It may look dark, but when shooting the Milky Way to the south, with a long exposure, the lights from the city will show at the horizon.  And, you will likely have airplane trails in most of your frames.  One place with truly dark skies is Big Bend National Park in Texas.  And not airplanes! I have been there a few times with Andy Cook of Rocky Mountain Reflections (great workshops by the way). This first image is of the old movie set located west of Lajitas along highway 170.                                       This view was taken not only a few yards away.  It was totally dark and I could not see the river with my naked eye, but the person I was with reassured me ...