Dusk of the Season

Crater Lake National Park has been on my astrophotography wish list since I visited this stunning place for the first time after watching the solar ecilpse in 2017. Unfortunately, heavy smoke kept me from producing anything useful back then and I promised myself to come back as soon as possible. To my disappointment, I was smoked out again, during my second visit in 2018.

 

Earlier this month, I had a San Francisco layover, which I had planned to use for some astrophotography in Yosemite NP, but the weather forecast predicted rain and snow, while all my alternate spots in California expected solid high cloud cover. A few apps however showed a reasonable chance for a patch of clear skies during the night at Crater Lake NP. After picking up my rental car in the morning and checking the forecasts one more time, I decided to take the risk and drive to Crater Lake for my 3rd try.

 

When I arrived in the afternoon, it was rather cloudy, but I neverteless started scouting for nightscape compositions, as the spots I knew from my previous visits wouldn't align with the sky this late in the season.

 

After a colorful (which means cloudy) sunset, it magically cleared within half an hour and I finally got my Milky Way shot over Crater Lake.

 

Due to the orientation of the Milky Way in October, the famous composition with Wizzard Island in the foreground was not possible. Instead, I had to shoot the cinder cone across the lake and you have to zoom quite a bit into the image to be able to see it.

 

I nevertheless like this image with the Milky Way becoming visible during astronomical twilight and setting Venus reflecting in the water.

 

EXIF

Canon EOS Ra

Sigma 28mm f/1.4

iOptron SkyTracker Pro

Low Level Lighting

Foreground:

Stacked focus stack of 10 x 60s @ ISO1600, f/1.4

Sky:

10 x 90s @ ISO800, f/2

Done