31/05/2025
This past weekend I had the opportunity to venture up into the mountains of western Pennsylvania with some friends and hike portions of the black forest trail. While exploring a path during the day, we stumbled across a beautiful overlook facing the mountains to the south. This location also had a small campsite. Although the past two evenings had been cloudy with scattered showers, I checked the forecast for the night and it looked promising. Therefore, I decided to make the mile and a half trek back to this spot later that evening, carrying my camera, tripod, tent and sleeping bag with me.
I made camp, gathered wood for a small fire, and waited for the sun to set. Camping in the middle of the woods alone can be a frightening experience, with every noise in the brush made by the smallest bird sounding like a giant monster in the dark. However, my pursuit of clear skies comforted me on my mission.
Soon after sunset, the clouds on the horizon dissipated the stars began to shine clear and true. After experimenting with various settings and checking my framing, I set my camera to intervalometer mode to take picture after picture. This would continue many hours into the night as I slept.
When I awoke in the morning, my camera remained in the same spot where I left it with a dead battery, covered in the morning dew. It wasn't until I made the mile and a half hike back to my car when I was able to plug it in and confirm from the images on my memory card that it was a successful night of shooting. My pursuit of the Milky Way galaxy has taken me many strange places, but in the end, it's an experience like no other. Thanks for looking!
To shoot this timelapse I used my Sony A7III camera along with the 24mm GM lens. My settings were 13 second exposures, f1.4, and ISO 2500.
