If you missed out on part 1, dont worry, heres the link!
Set on going a second time, to our original spot, Josh and I decided that we would take another trip into the mountains to chase the milky way a couple of days after our first one. I felt strongly that there was more to it, than what we originally saw.
Adventure Begin (again).
No adventure would be complete without a dramatic scene to start the whole story. On my way to Josh's house, I saw a roaring fire, on top of a mountain reaching for the sky, as if trying to grasp everything and anything to pull it into its all consuming fire. This was the first time I have seen such an enormous fire so close.
After being enchanted by flames, we set off for our destination. A secluded area high in the mountains of Morgan Hill. After an hour drive, windy roads and a deer jumping in front of my car, we had arrived to an empty parking lot, which was a good sign, if we didn't want to be bothered.
We set up in the parking lot to take some test shots, to see what we had to work with. The milky way was hovering above us, pointing toward the Bay Area. It may sound deep and romantic, but it wasn't! The Milky Way was being covered by the light pollution that was being emitted by the cities below us.
Not being satisfied with the amount of light pollution and the arrangement of the milky way, we hesitantly treked down a dark path. Something our parents often told us not to do. "Don't go down that scary place! There could be robbers or carnivorous animals lirking about!" Being the rebellious adult we were, (Heh) we went against our teaching and walked into the abyss. The only light source we had were 2 flashlights. Not even the moon could offer us any salvation from the darkness. The path we took was carved out of the hill, so there were thick trees and a steep valley to our right. This produced a thick, humid, and warm atmosphere. When you walk through it, you feel like you want to sweat, but its not hot enough to. You just slowly perspire until you get a light glow. We only stopped a couple times to figure out where the milky way was located. We wanted to get out of there as quickly as we could
(Picture gallery)
After walking about 20 minutes, we popped out of the darkness and what do we find? WE FIND A SERVICE ROAD THAT GOES BACK TO OUR PARKING LOT.... Slightly embarrassed that I made Josh walk through the shady path, I didn't tell Josh what happened (Sorry Josh). We walked on the service road for about 5 more minutes before finding what I went there to find.
We tried many different styles in order to find something what we were imagining. Vertical and horizontal format, different focal lengths, ISO, lighting methods; the list goes on. After some time, we finally discovered the most ideal everything. This is what we were able to capture.
After this moment, we felt like all the stars(and galaxies) had aligned up for us; there was nothing else to do/capture, so we made our way back to the car (via the service road) and went home, where our warm beds were beckoning for our return. After 2 separate days, I was finally able to capture what I had imagined. Boy do I not regret it one bit :)
--A+