Photo of the Week: Milky Way Over Black Canyon


For this week's installment of "Photo of the Week", I am featuring what is probably to date, my best Milky Way shot. This photo was taken last June from the South Rim Campground at Black Canyon of the Gunnison National Park, Montrose County, Colorado. The photo was taken using my Nikon D3300 DSLR equipped with a Tokina 11-18 mm wide-angle lens. I used a wide aperture (f/2.8), short focal length (11 mm), kicked the ISO up to 6400, and did a 20-second exposure. My advice to photographers attempting a similar shot: don't focus overly on what my settings were, or what someone else's were. While those settings may be a good starting point, some trial and error (and I mean, a lot of error) will be required. I think I initially started with a lower ISO, and kicked it up higher to really get the deep space objects in the shot. I should also point out that this photo was minimally post-processed, except for perhaps some slight adjustments to the exposure.

Using Stellarium (a great free program for planning astrophotography or other astronomical observations), I was able to set the latitude and longitude of my location, and the exact time the photo was taken (looking south-southeast). The bright white "star" about a third of the way up from the bottom towards the right is actually the planet Jupiter. The more faint, but still  noticeable yellow star is Antares.

Black Canyon of the Gunnison was a must-visit for me on my road trip last summer, as it was the only national park in Colorado I had not yet visited. The other national parks in Colorado are Rocky Mountain (near Boulder), Great Sand Dunes (near Alamosa), and Mesa Verde (near Cortez).

Travel Recommendation: Black Canyon was one of the more geologically fascinating national parks I have visited, and I would highly recommend this park if you're ever passing through western Colorado. We stayed at the South Rim Campground which was excellent. The park is about 15 miles east of Montrose right on U.S. 50 between Montrose and Gunnison. If coming from the north, I would recommend taking State Highway 92 from Hotchkiss to Crawford, and eventually into Sapinero where it intersects U.S. Highway 50. Highway 92 will take you through Curecanti National Recreation Area, and has some stunning overlooks of the upper Gunnison River.

Scenic overlook of Curecanti National Recreation Area along State Highway 92

A hazy morning at Black Canyon of the Gunnison. Photo taken from the Rim Rock Trail on a ranger-guided geology tour.
The wildflowers in the park were beautiful!

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