Perhaps we call it Milky Way Monday or Meteor Monday?

I always say astrophotography isn’t my strong suit but, despite that, I do enjoy getting out there and trying. Two weeks ago, it was a new moon and we were camped at close to 10,000 feet. That was an opportunity I couldn’t resist.

I scouted the spot I wanted to use beforehand and had it all pictured in my mind. Well, Mother Nature and another photographer kind of threw wrinkles into the plan. I had hoped for calm conditions to allow for reflections on the lake. Nope, there was wind (and it was cold!). Additionally, I wanted a huge boulder in the foreground and was going to “light paint” it with my flashlight to provide some interest. There was, however, another photographer there that had already started a time lapse so light painting was out of the question as I didn’t want to screw up his captures.

As it was, I pointed my camera toward the Milky Way and shot it as best I could. That was okay though as it was still fun and the core of our galaxy looked absolutely beautiful. To the top right you can even see a red meteor entering and burning up in our atmosphere. That glow emanating from the left are the lights from the city of Boulder.