Pictures By Alan

Lens is Tamron 17-35mm f/2.8-4, used at 17mm f/8, 27 minute exposure at ISO 160, camera on tripod.

I also had the de-noise feature turned on, which effectively doubled the amount of time required. The battery died right after the exposure was finished, I was very very glad that I got a picture at all. Quite a bit of testing led up to this composition. (Actually when I first started playing with star pictures of the gate, I wasn't aware the north star was right there. But after I reviewed a few 3 minute exposures, I realized it was in the frame, and I recomposed to make best use of it.) Without a flashlight on the gate, the viewfinder was almost completely black, so composing the shot was tricky.

The horizon light is apparently Austin, which is remarkably far away, about 25 miles. The Milky Way is visible here, though it's pretty blurred. Cassiopia is over to the right. On the full resolution version you can barely make out the blinking lights of an airplane that flew through the frame during the exposure. Since I don't have a cable for long exposures, I set the camera in bulb mode and used a rubber band to press the bowl of a 1/4-teaspoon measuring spoon against the shutter button for the 27 minute exposure. And I timed it on the stove clock: Apparently everything you need for astrophotography is in the kitchen.