Before this I had done astrophotography at High Cliff twice. I was looking to try something different and I thought the giant lime kiln towers there would make a good foreground. With two visits already complete at High Cliff I decided to experiment more.

Location

The Lime Kilns towers are located on a trail further down the cliffs. The parking lot is just a few feet away which make it convenient to lug all my gear out there. I arrived there at 9pm and left around 10pm. I think I was the only person there while I was shooting which was nice and relaxing.

Composition

I wasn’t 100% sure whether the Milky Way would be in frame before I got there. I was hoping it would be but it was a chance I was taking. I tried to frame it so that the Milky Way extend just above the top tower and that the tower would be below it. I also took a ‘selfie’ shot with my flashlight where I ran out in front of the camera set to a timer and stood still for 30 seconds. Unintentionally, I sort of pointed my flashlight at the Milky Way while doing this.

Post Processing

This photo felt like it took forever to post processes. I did my usual exposure stacking in Photoshop using 6 photos. After that I blended in my exposure of myself holding the flashlight. I then did several hours of edits in Lightroom and at the end, shot the file back to Photoshop to remove some noise in the foreground. I’d estimate in total, maybe 6 hours I spent on it.

Software Used

Lightroom

Photoshop

Techniques Used

Exposure Stacking

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