Otter Rock
Images
The Milky Way from Cape Foulweather
I took advantage of one of the last clear nights for several weeks to head a few minutes north of our home to Cape Foulweather. Milky Way season is nearing its end and I wanted to capture it over the water. I didn't plan well as I was not expecting the moon to be so close, or so bright, but in the end, it worked out. Sony Alpha 6300, f/2 12mm Samyang lens on a Sky Adventurer Mini (SAM) tracker.
2023-09-20
Taken from the Otter Crest Lookout on Cape Foulweather. From the vantage point several hundred meters above sea level, you can look out across the Pacific Ocean and down the Oregon Coast. I spent an evening there capturing images as the sun set and the bright crescent moon slid across the horizon to illuminate the water and the prominent outcrop known as 'Gull Rock.' I was able to capture the Milky Way despite its proximity to the moon. The buildings in the lower left are part of the Inn at Otter Crest. The first outcrop is a viewing area at the Inn at Otter Crest, and the more distant one is called the Devil's Punch Bowl. The glow you see on the horizon at the edge of the coast is the city of Newport. The glow farther inland is from the city of Toledo. The bright moon made processing interesting. I decided to use one exposure for the land and ocean details (1/45th second at ISO 400 taken earlier) and five 6-second exposures at ISO 4000 for the sky details. I stacked the longer exposures twice: once at full frame, then a second time cropped to just the stars and Milky Way to avoid the saturation caused by the moon. I stacked those together to produce the final result. This is a re-process of older data.
2023-09-20
A Starlink satellite train is an eerie thing to witness. It looks like a string of pearls or white dots moving in a straight line that terminates in earth's shadow. This is the first time I caught one on camera. This is 5 45-second exposures stacked together.
2023-07-06
The Otter Crest Milky Way Arch
Despite heavy wind gusts and a bright moon just below the horizon, the arch of the Milky Way was clearly visible above the lights of the Inn at Otter Crest facing east from the grassy field.
2023-07-06
The arch of the Milky Way began to descend as I swung my camera south. The horizon was already brightening from the moon. The glow to the south is the town of Newport. Taken from Cape Foulweather.
2023-07-06