Capturing cool images of the Milky Way is a lot of fun. Adding stars, especially the strip of the Milky Way Galaxy to an image create such an awesome look and feel.
So I am always searching for new elements of coolness for foreground interest. The idea of old, abandoned buildings came to mind, and I began to search for a likely place.
I wanted a wooden structure, old and beaten. It needed to be off, away from any city or town, so that the sky would not be washed out by light pollution.
A google search landed me at the Govan Schoolhouse and I knew right away where the next New Moon would take me.
I called the local city hall, in Wilbur, to check and see if the building was still standing and made my way east along with several night sky photo friends.
The building is located well off the beaten path, though there two farms close by.
As the sky darkened and the Milky Way became visible I made my way inside with several lanterns and lights of various kinds, too illuminate the schoolhouse with a glow.
The next New Moon is July 4th! If you are interested in coming along on the next Night Sky Photo Adventure, here is a link with the details!
Happy Star Shooting!
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- Govan Schoolhouse
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- Govan School House
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- Govan School House
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- Govan School House
North Western Images - photos by Andy Porter 
Holy moly, Andy. These images are stunning. Breathtaking! All of them!! Kudos to you on your beautiful work.
Thank you so much! Not much better than a Milky Way shot!
WoW! I just tried my hand at some milky way shots in the Big Cypress down in South Florida. Not nearly as stunning as this. Beautiful!
Thank you! Do you edit your night sky images and if so, what SW do you use? Editing is a big part of the process.
I use Lightroom
Yes, I did edit. Because it was my first time, exposure was off. I let it cook a bit too long. I will be going back in the fall/winter to try again when the skies are clearer and the humidity is low and I won’t have to wipe my lens down in between shots. (South Florida is very muggy). I only used Adobe Lightroom to edit, then took it into my Nik software. Because of the too long exposure, my stars were a bit blurry (86 seconds). Next time I will try it at maybe 30 seconds.
Have you heard of the 500 Rule for night sky imaging?
Here is a link and the chart you need to be able to set your maximum shutter speed, and not have blurry stars!
http://andyporterimages.com/astrophotography-with-a-dslr/
Awesome thank you for sharing