Starry Night in Sedona

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Friday turned into a starry night in Sedona as my friend Bryan Snider and I made the trip for some Milky Way goodness. I wasn’t sure what the night would hold but we were rewarded for the drive up. 

A Starry Night in Sedona Arizona

Bryan and I headed out late Friday afternoon with Sedona as our destination for some astrophotography. Photographing the Milky Way has become a new passion for me. Living in the Southwest we are blessed with some areas that have very little light pollution. Kudos to cities like Sedona and Flagstaff for making it a point to keep the light pollution at a minimum allowing the night sky to shine.

After arriving we stopped for a few sunset photos and time lapsing. As the final minutes of sunlight played out the clouds ran away for another day. Strike one against us. Nonetheless you can’t beat staring at the view the red rocks offer at sunset. It is special.

As night fell we started scouting areas for our night shots. We were looking for a different area than our previous trip which provided an amazing Milky Way in Sedona shot. Variety is the spice of life.

One of the areas we wanted to shoot at closed at sundown. After much deliberation we decided to give up on that location and save it for another adventure. Getting to it will require some planning and covert maneuvers. I will say no more.

We wound up with two areas to shoot at for the night. The panorama you see above was from our first location. Cathedral Rock sits in the center as the Milky Way dances above. This image still doesn’t do the scene justice. The sheer number of stars out is mesmerizing. Living in a city like Phoenix this is such a welcomed sight.

Stay tuned for a few more images from this trip. I’m just now starting to go through them and find my favorites. I will finish with a fun one that we did at the end of the night. I held two flashlights for a galactic selfie as Bryan tripped the shutter.