This has to be one of my top 3 favorite photos from my recent Yellowstone vacation! I specifically had this exact shot in mind while making the vacation planning. I was pretty excited to see what my minds-eye saw, in real life!
We set out one night to go star gazing in hunt for the Milky Way. I was amazed that it took until 10:30 PM for the stars to show up! The sky just didn’t seem to want to go dark. Once it did though, it was pitch black – you couldn’t see your hand in front of your face.
Before the trip, I had done my homework on how to find and photograph the Milky Way. So while we were in the car waiting for the stars to come out, I was refreshing myself on my notes. My notes said to look for the Big Dipper, then follow it to Cassiopeia, which leads you to the Queen of Ethiopia and from there you’ll see the Milky Way. Okay, no problem – right? I start following the constellations and I’m coming up blank – doesn’t seem to be lining up. Well, It wasn’t until I actually got out of the car that I finally saw it! We were staying in the car because we weren’t sure if we’d be getting a visit from some local wildlife. However once I saw the Milky Way, that thought went away. I was in awe with how crystal clear that white band streaking across the sky was. It was as clear as you see it in my photo. This mixed with the uncountable shooting stars was truly an amazing site. I can’t wait to go back!
You can see this photo in a little more detail on my Flickr page.
