The usual thinking of night sky and Milky Way images is that you must travel a good distance away from the lights of towns and cities to get any decent shots.
I don’t live near big city, Seattle is 65 miles away, but there are several towns grouped together where I live. But I decided to head up to a local promontory called Big Rock to see about a few night sky images last weekend during the last New Moon.
These three images show that although the lights DO wash out the details of the stars there is still a chance to get some interesting images.
Mount Baker is visible as a small bump on the horizon. The green glow is the aurora borealis, adding some alien color to the edge of the sky.
The next New Moon is October 12th. If you’d like to register for the next Night Sky Photo Tour, here is the link.
North Western Images - photos by Andy Porter 
Beautiful photos. Dark skies are a blessing. Also, I’ve recently seen Aurora Australis in Tasmania, such a wonderful sight.
I would love to see some Tasmania Night sky images!
I’ll be buying a new camera later int eh year. Currently take all my photos with an iPhone which is no good for night sky.
… might one inquire as to gear, and settings?
Yes, One may! Here is a short article: http://andyporterimages.com/astrophotography-with-a-dslr/
I use a Canon 6D, it’s a full-frame body, and a Rokinon 14mm lens (it cost $320)
See the exposure chart in the article.
I used f/2.8 with a 30 sec exposure at 2500 ISO.
All Milky Way images need editing. I edit my night sky shots 2 to 3x more than other images.
Thanks for your reply. That’s basically the gear I use, but finding dark skies on the east coast is quite difficult. Managed to get some shots while I was in Wyoming for the first time, but there’s a learning curve I’ll need to go through to get better results.
Thanks again.
Where are you on the east coast?
Basically New York city…
Have you ever been out I-80 to the Delaware Water Gap? I bet you could get a good shot from atop that trail!