A Starry-Shadow-Selfie

The telescope is broken. (Boo!)   I was sitting out back marveling at a surprisingly clear summer sky and uses GoSkyWatch on an iPad. (You point to parts of the sky and it identifies visible and invisible objects, identifies constellations, etc)

It was around 11pm and the family was all asleep.    Noticing the visible band from the Milky Way was starting to retreat into the horizon, I decided to  grab the A7(r), tripod, headphones and wearable head lamp and set out for darker skies. 

I headed down Highway 98 towards Fairhope.  I'd never stayed at the Grand Hotel (maybe should try it!)  but I saw via Google Maps that a particularly ideal location on Point Clear that seemed would be the ideal spot to shoot southbound and limited light pollution.   

A 25 minute drive down Scenic 98 and I was at the security gate at the Grand Hotel in Point clear.    The guard didn't speak fantastic english but he did have one of those fantastic, thick, middle-african accents and a warm smile (and he didn't appear to be packing).

Niceness aside, I was shot down - "Sorry, guests only."

I thanked him for his patience with me (after showing the point on google maps that I was trying to find) and headed southbound for my plan B location, "Mullet Point Park".

All that I really knew about this area is that when I was on my sailboat, sailing north into the bay, these portions of the middle-southern portions of Mobile Bay seemed mostly abandoned and quite dark at night.   

Mullet Point Park did have a view of the Milky Way Band, though was retreating beneath the horizon and affected by plenty of light pollution.   

With the park lights behind me, the unintended star-and-shadow selfies ensued for about 30 minutes until I headed North for the respite of my bed around 2 am.

I used the Rokinon 14mm on the Sony A7, still working on getting the ideal distortion removal profile built but it is getting closer.  I think it'll be a good lens until someone comes out with a high dollar must-have alternative. :)

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