# "Lonesome Lake" Milky Way Panorama



## jsecordphoto (Jun 6, 2014)

11 shot panorama of the Milky Way arching over Lonesome Lake in Franconia Notch, NH. iso4000, f2.8, 30 seconds each. This was one of my favorite places I've been to for shooting at night, and definitely plan on going back for another night shoot and a sunrise when the cloud cover looks right. This beautiful glacial lake is about a 2 mile hike up, and looks out toward Franconia Ridge. It might not look it, but the mountains directly underneath the center of the milky way arch are some of the biggest in NH. 

Thanks for looking!


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## BGeise (Jun 6, 2014)

Very nice


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## jsecordphoto (Jun 6, 2014)

BGeise said:


> Very nice



Thanks! I appreciate you having a look.


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## Msteelio91 (Jun 6, 2014)

Beautiful shot!


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## Ec1981 (Jun 6, 2014)

Beautiful photo!! Great work


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## LarryLomona (Jun 6, 2014)

The color is alive.


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## KmH (Jun 6, 2014)

The stillness of the lake is a real plus by providing a reflection of the stars. :thumbup:


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## pgriz (Jun 6, 2014)

Just letting you know, I looked at this image a whole five minutes...  And I think I need a bigger monitor.  So much to see and admire.


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## jsecordphoto (Jun 6, 2014)

Thank you everyone!

I really got spoiled last week with 2 beautiful and clear nights in some pretty great locations. I wish that everybody had access to areas with no light pollution, seeing the milky way and stars reflect so clearly off the water like this is something that everybody should experience at least once in their lifetime. Now I just have to wait another 3 weeks or so for the new moon to get some more milky way shots!


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## thereyoflite (Jun 6, 2014)

It looks really good. Have you considered doing a time laps at this location? I think It'd turn out quite nicely.


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## elizpage (Jun 6, 2014)

Beautiful! I love this shot, incredible  What lens did you use?


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## jsecordphoto (Jun 6, 2014)

thereyoflite said:


> It looks really good. Have you considered doing a time laps at this location? I think It'd turn out quite nicely.



I haven't done much timelapse work, but enjoyed playing around with it. Honestly though I don't have the patience to do night timelapses sometimes...2-3 hours of shooting for a few seconds of video and tons of processing time just doesn't appeal to me much. A few of my friends that I go shooting at night with are really into it though, they use the dynamic perception slider and emotimo tb3 for 3-axis timelapses and they look amazing. Sucks lugging all that stuff up a mountain though.


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## jsecordphoto (Jun 6, 2014)

elizpage said:


> Beautiful! I love this shot, incredible  What lens did you use?



The Tokina 16-28 f2.8. I had the Tokina 11-16 on my older crop body and really liked it, and have been even happier with the 16-28. It's pretty heavy, but VERY sharp and almost no distortion at 16mm. Great lens for shooting at night with, and during the day shooting at f11 it is just insanely sharp.


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## SDB777 (Jun 7, 2014)

Some of the best times I can remember having were in the White Mountains of New Hampshire!  Spent a lot of nights on those trails(I use to do a lot of weekend hikes), if I had only been smart enough to carry a camera instead of all the 'junk' for hiking.  Hard to get far enough away from the 'night lights from the cities' down here to see this sight anymore....I envy you!


What did you use to 'layer' your photo's?
How do you combat the 'noise' from such a long exposure?



Scott (thanks for the memories) B


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## Dikkie (Jun 7, 2014)

Really nice 
Want to shoot milky way too this year, my new years resolution


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## jsecordphoto (Jun 7, 2014)

SDB777 said:


> Some of the best times I can remember having were in the White Mountains of New Hampshire!  Spent a lot of nights on those trails(I use to do a lot of weekend hikes), if I had only been smart enough to carry a camera instead of all the 'junk' for hiking.  Hard to get far enough away from the 'night lights from the cities' down here to see this sight anymore....I envy you!
> 
> 
> What did you use to 'layer' your photo's?
> ...



Glad I could stir up some of those memories! It really is a beautiful area around the White Mountains, I live a little further south in the Lakes Region but I go up north as much as possible. I use photoshops photomerge function for stitching together panoramas, and Topaz Denoise to clean up some of the noise in the photos. Although with my new camera the noise isn't _too _bad at iso4000. 

And as far as it being tough to get away from getting away from light pollution, as great as Lonesome Lake was, here is a photo (not anything I plan on using) from just another mile up


You can see the Lake on the bottom right of the frame, and then light pollution from Lincoln. It can be really tough finding an area with no light pollution! What a difference a mile of trail made


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## FITBMX (Jun 7, 2014)

Wow! That's great!!!


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## SDB777 (Jun 7, 2014)

Grew up in Maine, but have spent my fair share of time running around on the Presidential Range!

Thanks for the info on the software you are using.  Give me something to look at this afternoon(been outside cutting log into lumber, and I'm pretty tired now).....
One more question:  Do you shoot RAW?



Scott (very cool) B


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## terri (Jun 7, 2014)

A wonderful image - great work.   I envy you the ease in getting away from light pollution, and in such an enchanting setting!   You make good use of the surroundings as well as your equipment.   :thumbup:


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## jsecordphoto (Jun 7, 2014)

SDB777 said:


> Grew up in Maine, but have spent my fair share of time running around on the Presidential Range!
> 
> Thanks for the info on the software you are using.  Give me something to look at this afternoon(been outside cutting log into lumber, and I'm pretty tired now).....
> One more question:  Do you shoot RAW?
> ...



Yes, I always shoot in RAW. Especially at night I need the flexibility in the files to pull all the detail I can from the scene. NH is beautiful but I absolutely love Maine...what area did you grow up in? I'll be heading up to Phippsburg at the end of the month for 3 weeks of camping/fishing/shooting photos- can't wait!


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## jsecordphoto (Jun 7, 2014)

terri said:


> A wonderful image - great work.   I envy you the ease in getting away from light pollution, and in such an enchanting setting!   You make good use of the surroundings as well as your equipment.   :thumbup:



Thank you! I still have to drive at least 90 minutes or so to find reasonably dark skies, but I feel lucky that I have access to them. I don't know if I'll ever get sick of going out on nights like that, I get completely lost in the moment and all the stress and BS that I have clouding my mind take the backseat for at least a few hours- and sometimes I come back with some great photos and memories!


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## SDB777 (Jun 8, 2014)

jsecordphoto said:


> SDB777 said:
> 
> 
> > Grew up in Maine, but have spent my fair share of time running around on the Presidential Range!
> ...




The very southern tip of Maine, little town called Lebanon.....about one hour twenty-five minutes to Presidential Range, but about four hours to Baxter State Park....so it was pretty easy to figure out which direction I would go for a nice hike!  A three week trip sounds really fun.  Now I'm completely jealous!



Scott (fly-fishing rules) B


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## sscarmack (Jun 8, 2014)

If this was a tad bit clearly, I would buy this print in a heartbeat from you. Super awesome shot!


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## Twannie1980 (Jun 18, 2014)

Wauw, Very beautiful pictures! I've been trying to achieve that, but was unable to do it...But these pics give me the motivation to keep trying


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## jl1975 (Jun 18, 2014)

Wow.  That is absolutely stunning.  Thank you for sharing.


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## jsecordphoto (Jun 18, 2014)

jl1975 said:


> Wow.  That is absolutely stunning.  Thank you for sharing.



Thank you! We're coming up on this month's new moon, can't wait to get back out for some more milky way shots


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## jsecordphoto (Jun 18, 2014)

Twannie1980 said:


> Wauw, Very beautiful pictures! I've been trying to achieve that, but was unable to do it...But these pics give me the motivation to keep trying



Keep trying! I just started shooting at night this past winter and my first photos were absolutely terrible, but I obsessively read guides online and went out every chance I got. Can't say I've ever had a bad night out shooting photos of the stars, every time I see something amazing. Have fun and stick with it!


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