Wittenberg Mountain Summit Milky Way

A photo composite of multiple exposures. From the photographer: “A widefield panorama of tracked and untracked exposures from a long hike up Wittenberg Mountain in May of 2020. I underestimated the weight of my gear, carrying a camera, tripod, tracker, and extra geared head, with camping equipment, meant I was carrying around 65lbs up this mountain. I got to the mountain at 4pm, and hiked 4 hours to the summit. We are not supposed to camp on the summits in the Catskills, unless it is an emergency, and I found myself too exhausted to move. I slept for a few hours and around midnight, got up to photograph the Milkyway over the Hudson Valley and Ashokan Reservoir.

Wittenberg Mountain has the best view in the Catskills. Pictured in the image corners are the trees and rocks of the 300-foot cliff face that overlooks the Ashokan Reservoir. I wanted more detail in the Milkyway, and knew I would be combatting light pollution from Kingston and Accord, NY, which meant I had to bring the tracker. I shot 16 vertical shots, 8 tracked, and 8 untracked, and stitched them together into this panorama. Along with the Milkyway, Jupiter and Saturn are seen rising in the center of the image.”

Technical details:
Sony A7RII, Tokina Firin 20mm F2.0, at F2.5, ISO1600
8x25s vertical, tracked sky shots
8x25s vertical, untracked foreground shots
Blended together using PTGUi and Photoshop