Pitcher Mountain Star Trails and the International Space Station
Friday night photography is always a good time. I set out with my buddy Eric to shoot the Milky Way. The conditions were all lining up. The moon was just a thin sliver in the sky and was going to be setting around 11PM. The forecast called for mostly clear skies. The Milky Way should be visible after 12PM.
We decided that we would try out Pitcher Mountain. It was not a long hike and offered views in all directions along with a fire tower.
We met up around 9PM that evening and carpooled up to the trailhead. It was about 50 minutes outside of Manchester. Once we got there we grabbed our gear and started the walk up. It took us about 20 minutes to reach the summit.
When we arrived the moon was just about to set and its thin crescent shape was blood red. We tried to get a few shots but it set to fast to capture anything decent.
From here I did a few test shots with the camera while playing with the red headlamp lights. I noticed a streak in the first test and saw a small steady dot of light moving in the sky. I immediately thought International Space Station. I showed my buddy and he looked it up on his phone and confirmed it was the ISS.
I took a few more shots and tried to compose it in a picture as best I could but any composition in pitch black with a long exposure is mostly luck.
After a few shots I when to the other side of the tower. I wanted to try and get some star trails. So I aimed my camera to the north. I wanted to make sure the tower was in frame so I used my 11mm lens and set the exposure to BULB. I let is sit there for about 40 minutes.
When I finally went to check it out I was somewhat pleased with the results. Star trails are fun but they take a long time.
While we were waiting for the star trail pictures to come out we noticed some thin clouds rolling in. This would obstruct our view of the Milky Way. As we waited the clouds got a little thicker so we decided to make our way back down.
I did not have any luck with the Milky Way but Eric did get a good shot between the clouds. On the way down I took.a few pictures of a boarded up cabin with a little red light.
We got a few good shots so I would call the trip a success. I’ll have to try again sometime for the Milky Way.
