Peace. Love. And Chow

About a year ago, I was fascinated by photos of the galactic core of the Milky Way galaxy that was visible in dark sky areas. Living around metro Atlanta, the one thing to be certain of besides crippling traffic jams is the extensive amount of light pollution. Light pollution obviously hinders any attempt at astrophotography so the easiest solution for me geographically is to head north. Learning how to photograph the Milky Way led me to the discovery of my favorite astrophotography tool-the Sky Watcher Star Adventurer. To put as simply as I can,y camera mounts to the body of the sky watcher which is aligned to Polaris. The sky watcher rotates as the earth turns, tracking Polaris. This in turn eliminates star trails on those really long exposures. On the flip side, if you have foreground in your frame it will be blurry due to the motion of the sky watcher rotating. That can be fixed though quite easily. Anyway, long story longer, my wife, son, and I got a chance to get up to the mountains at the end of September. While Brasstown Bald would have been the most ideal spot for this type of photography due to it being one of the darkest sky areas of Georgia, we opted for a much shorter trip to the area outside of Dahlonega. If you take State Highway 60 towards Suches, you will come across Woody Gap on the Appalachian Trail. We parked on the east side of 60 at Woody Gap and I set up my camera and sky watcher. This shot was the result of four different photos stitched together. I could not do as long of an exposure as I had wanted because of the light pollution from Dahlonega, but I was still able to capture the beauty of the Milky Way. If you are interested in capturing your own image, I have had success here at Woody Gap, Suches, and the Hard Labor Creek Observatory which has public viewings through Georgia State University once a month. My goal is to hike to the top of Blood Mountain and Brasstown Bald at night to get even better shots. One place I have not tried yet is the University of North Georgia's Observatory which offers public access on pretty much every Friday evening.

~ 🌿🌸 original photography 🌸🌿 ~

Roan Mountain Vibes 17.

Our beautiful little mountain town. #bellalunafarm #blairsville #georgia #applachiantrail #countryliving #farmlife (at Bella Luna Farm & Boho Girl Designs)

Grayson Highlands #applachiantrail

-jess lynn