The night sky has always been an interest of mine since I was a young girl. I’d pour over astronomy books and magazines about all the different types of stars; Red giants blue dwarfs, red super giants, and yellow dwarfs just to name a few. Pictures of colourful galaxies would spark curiosity and wonder in my young mind.

Once, for one of my birthdays, my parents bought me a telescope to help me peer deeper into the vast expanse of space. Dad would take me and my sisters out on warm summer nights and spend hours trying to see if we could spot anything interesting.  Sadly, the light pollution from all the greenhouses and cities in our area made it difficult to really see much. My interest soon faded becoming a distant memory of my childhood.

That is, until I moved out here…

In Nova Scotia we have a large area that is free of light pollution. You can see it here in the picture below. The big marker is Kejimkujik National Park. If you are ever in Nova Scotia, it’s definitely worth the visit! Great camping sites for star gazing, not to mention lakes for swimming and beautiful hiking trails.

Now, I don’t live right in the middle of the dark area… more like one of the blue spots… but it’s still a big enough difference from where I grew up. It’s truly breathtaking to be able to see the milky way with my own eyes!

It has been fun learning how to photograph the night sky. I only use a small camera– a Canon M50 with its stock lens. These shots require a long exposure to capture all the stars. The naked eye can only see so many stars at once, so when you use a long exposure, it captures the light from stars that are even further away.

Here is how it works. First, I try my best to focus to infinity, then I click the shutter button and wait 15 seconds. Next the stunning picture pops up on the screen. I then check for clarity, adjust my focus a smidge and try again. It’s like opening a present every 15 seconds!

Hope you enjoyed this post and the pictures. I plan to continue to practice and get better at capturing the stars. 😊 Until next time, keep on star gazing!