Galactic Highlands
Participant Limit: 8
Skill Level: Any
Physical Activity: Easy (Walking / Standing)
Workshop Type: Milky Way / Dark Week
Includes printed course material and post workshop instructional videos.
Kick off Milky Way season with a shoot at one of the best places to see the spring-time galactic core, Highland Light in Truro!
Highland Light is Cape Cod's oldest lighthouse. Located in Truro, it was once moved away once from the nearby cliffs to keep it safe from erosion. From this area, an immense and immersive sky can be seen making it a top choice for night photographers. Through out the spring and summer, Milky Way alignments continue to be available thanks to the easy access to the grounds surrounding the lighthouse. There are not many locations like it.
The Bortle Scale, a scientific measurement of the sky's darkness level used by photographers and astronomers, consists of a nine levels. The lower the number, the darker the skies. Most of Cape Cod is rated between a four and six. The area around this property, however, is a three. In short, this is the darkest place in the area!
Our group will meet at this location with the intention of shooting the early season Milky Way alignment as it appears horizontal over the lighthouse. This view becomes elusive as the years moves forward. The Milky Way rises early every day which means that by summer time it is often vertical just after sunset having risen in the afternoon. In short, you can't see it this way later in the year.
We'll focus on two types of photography - astro-landscape and panoramas. You'll learn the basics on how to create your first panoramas using basic concepts and planning along with software such as Lightroom and photoshop. This workshop will include a post production video to be delivered after our field shoot so that you can make the most out of the images you create. We'll also cover:
Focusing in the dark.
Light Painting for Milky Way foregrounds.
Ideal settings for dark skies.
Finding the Milky Way using visual astronomy.
$125 per person.
Gear Requirements
A digital camera with a wide angle lens that can achieve an aperture of f/2.8.
A sturdy tripod. It shouldn't shake or have any loose parts. Long exposures require complete stillness.
A ball head or pan head mount.
A shutter release cable which will allow your camera to take long exposures (longer than 30 seconds.)
Two fully charged batteries.
Get notified when tickets become available:
Hi, I'm Tim and I am Cape Cod's night photographer! Whether it's starry skies, moonlit beaches or snowy holiday nights, you'll find me outside with my camera capturing the beauty of the area after dark.
I offer these events so you can have a unique and memorable experience and learn something along the way while getting great images! You'll meet some like-minded people in a safe and fun environment.
I've lead over one hundred workshop adventures and four hundred guided night photography tours, hosting thousands of photographers. Hope to see you out there, after dark!