Constantly in the Darkness, Where’s That At:
Astrophotography For Beginners, Part 2

My second astrophotography excursion would be in Western Texas, within the deepest and darkest sky of the state–inside Big Bend National Park. As important as packing is some advance research regarding dark sky conditions at the time of my visit. I am sharing my resources here to help make the daunting quest of starry, starry nights a bit more crisp and clear.

Check the Darkness.

Though parts of Big Bend National Park are ranked Class 1 (Truly dark) by the Bortle Dark-sky Scale, other parts of the park are ranked as high as Class 4 (Rural / suburban transition). This map helped me see where to avoid. First, get off the East Coast. Second, get into a place like Big Bend National Park, which is doing all they can do eliminate light pollution. Yeaaaah. Their sky is primeval!

Swear Not By the Moon.

There are things you can control and then there’s… the moon. A bright moon phase would result in a lotta light… I love you dear Moon, but you make it difficult to see the Milky Way. So check the moon phase for the evening of your arrival… or plan around it! The best time is during the New Moon, when the moon is not visible. On my visit, the Moon will be in its first quarter, two days till the Full Moon. Read: Big & bright. But that Moon rises and sets, remember. According to the Farmers Almanac at the time of my visit, the sun sets at 8:23 p.m., astronomical dusk ends at 9:46 p.m. and the moon rises at 10:57 p.m. This left peak dark between 9:46 and 10:57.

Find Composition Options.

My goal was to shoot the stars by the Balanced Rocks near the end of the “easy” Grapevine Hills Trail. I thought the rocks might make for interesting composition. But my Cherry Springs night sky instructor also suggested trying to capture the stars in the reflection of the Rio Grande, which runs through the park. Be sure to check with a Ranger for advice upon arrival. Chances are you’re not the only one who ventured in with a goal of capturing the stars… especially in an International Dark-sky Association certified park. But considering travel is a bit more difficult in the dark, I wanted to at least have a general idea of where I can shoot without having to hike too strenuously with all my equipment.

What’s Up?

Before my visit, I downloaded Stellarium to my MacBook. It’s a pretty darn cool resource, offering an annotated view of the evening sky and a ton of other features I’ll be checking out before my trip.

It also has a “red light” mode so you can bust out your computer during your photoshoot. Which I will be doing.

There are many apps for the phone, but I’m going to make it a tradition to not use my phone at all during night shoots. But Star Walk might be your thing if you want to use a phone.

Bring Your Light.

And speaking of the red light mode, get yourself a red headlamp! You’ll need your hands for all your equipment… and maybe a flask. So get your nerd on for real by donning a head lamp. They’re available on Amazon for less than the price of yet another GrubHub delivery. Nerd Alert!!!! (Part 1)

Nerd Alert!!!! (Part 2) A throwback to that time I watched The Cosmos projected on the wall. I had a big crush on Carl Sagan.

Finally, remind yourself of equipment notes before packing everything up. Pack all of the memory cards you have, charge any and all batteries, pack a flashdrive as your raw high-resolution files may very well take up the entire hard drive of your computer. I use an external Cloud drive for my photos at home, so I can have a lot of space on my MacBook. After that, you might be ready to go? ⭐ But I got some more stuff to do first.