Monday, August 29, 2016

Tippecanoe Indiana Milky Way at Camp Tecumseh

This past weekend I was in Tippecanoe, Indiana at Camp Tecumseh. I took advantage of the dark skies and brought along my camera. Just like previous years, I was at a Peer Education retreat, and went out later at night for some shots away from the light pollution in Indianapolis. Unfortunately, this year it was extremely humid and I had to wipe the lens every 30 seconds, re-focus, and try to get a quick photo before condensation would creep in again. All of this on top of the heat which adds to the image noise.

Nevertheless, it was worth a try, and I got a much better photo than I can achieve from my own back yard. I came away with ONE decent image out of the whole lot, but hey I can say I tried!

Milky Way from Camp Tecumseh
Milky Way from Camp Tecumseh, Indiana, single frame, Canon T5i at ISO 6400, 24mm, f/4, 13 seconds, heavily adjusted in Photoshop

I had my EyeFi memory card with me, and was able to Instagram the photo before I even got home! I transferred it from my camera to my iPhone, and edited it in Instagram - which actually wasn't too bad. EyeFi lets you transfer files over a short range WiFi connection that the card puts - no internet provider needed. It's not like you can surf the net on it though, haha, but you can get your photos to post them immediately. Note: RAW files don't transfer to switch to JPEG or do what I did and use the JPEG + RAW shooting to save both to the card at the same time.


Below is a comparison of the original file, my Photoshop edits, and the in-app edits in Instagram. I think Photoshop is still a lot better, but Instagram is definitely getting better especially for convenience of doing it all from a cabin in the woods.

instagram milky way edit
Side by side comparison with original file from camera (ISO 6400, 24mm, f/4, 13 seconds) edited in Photoshop vs. in-app edits in Instagram transferred to phone with EyeFi. 

Here are a few more photos from the night. I was only out for 15 minutes or so. You can tell the humidity was just unbearable.

night lens flare
Cool lens flare, but not what I was going for...

humid night sky photo

humid night sky photo
Big dipper and hazy humid parking lot

humid night sky photo
Weird color balance aiming the camera straight up

milky way north west indiana
Larger version of the original photo
camp tecumseh leadership center room interior
I had this whole room to myself at the training retreat!