Milky Way Rising Over a Lighthouse

Making the Galactic Center Pop at 35mm

The Milky Way rises over West Quoddy Head Lighthouse in Maine very early AM this morning, just before the start of astronomical twilight.

I used a 35mm focal length to really focus on the Galactic Center of the Milky Way to make it pop, and 35mm was wide enough to get the entire lighthouse building in frame.

This is a star stack of 28 exposures with the Nikon Z8 and NIKKOR 35mm f/1.8 lens @ f/2, 8 seconds, ISO 3200 for all exposures. I didn’t need a separate foreground exposure because there was enough ambient light that the star stacked result was very clean in the foreground.

I used the built-in intervalometer of the Z8 (many cameras have this now, finally!) to time the exposures so they were only taken during the 9 second gap between blinks of the lighthouse. This avoided blowing out the lantern room and flooding the snow with light. There is a regular light on in the tower though somewhere, so the lantern room is lit up from that. This lighthouse has a blink pattern of 2 seconds on, 2 off, 2 on, 9 off. That’s a total of 15 seconds, so I set the intervalometer to have 15 second intervals and started the first shot right as the 9 second off period started. Although for some reason the Nikon built-in intervalometer has a 2 second delay before it starts the intervals after you hit Start, so I had to actually start the intervals right at the start of the last 2 second blink. That took a bit to figure out.

You could do this by hand, just hitting the shutter button every time the 9 second gap started, but I wanted to set it up to run for a long time. I think I let it go for over 30 minutes or so and selected a sequence of 28 exposures when the Milky Way was in the position I wanted but not too close to twilight where the sky was getting very blue.

After stacking the 28 exposures in Starry Landscape Stacker (macOS only, use Sequator on Windows) I did some basic edits in Lightroom Classic, and then ran that result through StarNet2, a free program that removes stars giving you a starless image and a star mask. This allows editing the image (I used Photoshop) without affecting the stars (blowing them out, losing star color, etc) so that you can really bring out detail in the sky, and then add the stars back later by putting the star mask as the top layer in Photoshop using the Screen blend mode.

Check out my book or my free Milky Way Crash Course webinar to learn all about star stacking, camera gear, and more techniques. Or join me in person on my 2026 Maine Milky Way workshops. Learn about my editing techniques in my Milky Way Master Class.

2026 Maine Milky Way Workshops — Only 5 Spots Left!

Join me under the stars on my 2026 Maine Milky Way workshops! These are all held in Lubec, Maine, 2 hours east of Acadia National Park.

Jul 14-17 (3 nights) — 2 Spots open
Aug 11-14 (3 nights) — Sold out (waitlist)
Sep 8-11 (3 nights) — 3 Spots open

Come explore the Bold Coast of Maine! These workshops focus on Milky Way photography but we will also capture dramatic sunsets with rugged coastline, lighthouses, and lobster boats as our foreground. There are also opportunities to photograph wildlife including bald eagles, seals, porpoise, and whales.

You’ll get 10% off lodging as part of the workshop.

2026 Newfoundland Iceberg Workshops!

I only have one spot left on each of my May 2026 Newfoundland workshops!

Join me for the adventure of a lifetime on the Canadian island of Newfoundland during peak iceberg season. Each spring icebergs from Greenland and Labrador show up along the northern coast of Newfoundland after making the two year journey. We’ll also photograph dramatic landscapes, iconic fishing villages, puffins, and more.

I have two different workshops scheduled:

Twillingate - Fogo Island - Bonavista
May 25 - June 1, 2026 (7 nights, 8 days)
5 spots total, 1 spot remaining
This workshop will start in Twillingate, one of the regular hot spots for icebergs in Newfoundland. We’ll then spend a couple nights on Fogo Island capturing more icebergs and iconic red fishing sheds, then head over to Bonavista for a lighthouse, icebergs, and puffins that can be photographed from land!
Learn more here!

Iceberg Chaser RV Trip
May 11 - 18, 2026 (7 nights, 8 days)
2 spots total, 1 spots remaining
For the truly adventurous, follow me around in your own RV or rent one! We’ll have an open schedule and go wherever the best icebergs are and catch some amazing landscapes. We will likely visit the Great Northern Peninsula, Gros Morne National Park, and probably Twillingate or other spots on the north coast. Maybe we’ll even head over to Labrador for a night or visit the massive gannet colony in Cape St. Mary’s!
Learn more here!

2026 Fall Colors in Cape Breton Workshop

2026 Cape Breton Fall Colors Photography Workshop

October 18 - 23 — 6 days, 5 nights

Max 5 students — 4 spots currently available

Join me for a photography adventure in Cape Breton, Nova Scotia, Canada during peak fall colors! Cape Breton is a magical place in the fall, with foliage covered mountains meeting the ocean, valleys of orange and red leaves, and beautiful waterfalls. We will tour the famous Cabot Trail along the coast and through the mountains of the Cape Breton Highlands National Park.

Night Sky Photography Book

My book Night Sky Photography: From First Principles to Professional Results is an Amazon best-seller and has almost 500 ratings! Thanks everyone!

Free Milky Way Crash Course Webinar

My free Milky Way Crash Course webinar is back up for viewing! Many of you have seen this already, but if you haven’t it can get you up and running with Milky Way photography pretty quickly. It covers camera gear, camera settings, shooting with stacking and exposure blending in mind, and planning basics.

Milky Way Master Class Video Tutorials

In my Milky Way Master Class videos I show you how to create stunning Milky Way photos with pinpoint stars and low noise, in focus from the foreground to the stars.

Step by step videos will guide you through the entire editing process, from star stacking, to exposure blending, to creative edits. Plus there are bonus modules for Milky Way Panoramas and Planning with PhotoPills.