When light pollution helps you out a bit.
A couple years ago I shot the Great Smoky Mountain’s famous Chimneys with the Milky Way rising behind them, but did so at 50mm – and frankly I was never terribly happy with it. I concluded at the time that I should have shot it at 100mm, as my buddy Ryan was thinking, but I never got back around to photographing it again. Well, in the mean time I “discovered” another overlook further up the road that I like the view from better, and as it turns out, I also like the alignment of the Milky Way better from there as well.
One of the things I didn’t like about the original image was that it didn’t truly show off the magnitude of the Chimneys. Now, the Chimneys are obviously not super tall from an elevation standpoint, but the falloff from the peak is pretty steep, and it looks really impressive as you’re driving by, which is what I felt was missing from my first attempt. From this new location, however, and at a much wider 24mm, you get the sense of their glory a little more I think.
Now, generally when I’m photographing the Milky Way, light pollution is my absolute nemesis – however, in this case it helped a bit. Lights from passing cars on 441 illuminated the tree in the foreground (which was otherwise a black hole) and lights from Sevier County help illuminate the peak of the Chimneys, adding depth and detail. Now, I certainly don’t suddenly like light pollution, but there are times when you can use it to your advantage!
More next week!
–Dan Thompson