I was fortunate to be able to spend a whole week on the Outer Banks with a couple of buddies.  One night we decided to go out and do some astrophotography on the beach.  After about an hour of that, we almost decided to hang it up for the evening, but decided to swing by the Bodie Island Lighthouse on a whim.  When we pulled up and saw this spectacular view, we knew we weren't heading back to the rental house anytime soon.

With a shot like this, two parts are important.  First, you have to have a great shot to start with.  I was lucky with the atmospheric conditions on that summer night, and we had been out shooting stars for about 2.5 hours by the time I captured this image so I'd had a lot of practice.  ;-)  Plus, the area was pristine, I didn't have to clone any trash off the grounds or any visual flaws.  Second, the post processing is critical.  Most shots of the Milky Way that I've seen are not that great straight out of the camera.  Its the post processing that brings out the features that make a Milky Way shot.  And for those of you that are wondering, this is a single shot.  No compositing.

I hope you enjoy this.  Stand by for more photos as I bring this website up! 

Thanks for stopping by!