Photog Adventures Podcast: A Landscape Photography and Astrophotography Podcast

Utah's 2026 drought turned a road I have driven many times into a completely different beast. In the first half I tell the story of what happened out there and why after a dry winter you probably should double-check conditions before deciding to drive dusty roads you maybe have driven JUST LAST YEAR which may have changed entirely. This road was mostly a medium challenge six times in a row...not this time! Here are the DOs and DONTs of sandy driving that kept me from getting stuck in the middle of nowhere. After the break I walk you through my favorite steps for capturing a portfolio worthy image at the Sand Cave. From picking your position around the dune, to getting your sky before the important stars leave the window of the cave and then finally the foreground captures that bring the whole image together in post. You will also get the honest truth about my opinion on stacking sky images again but this time I will explain the two situations where it actually makes a difference versus the one where you are just wasting your time.

I’m counting down my top five favorite Milky Way shots of all time - up to now at least. Each one’s a story of what went well and what could have gone better chasing the stars at these brilliant locations. Sometimes an image is in my Top Ten because of my work nailing the perfect frame and learning from the times I totally botched it. But sometimes these images are in the Top Ten just thanks to where they are and how easy it is to get something amazing there! From the wild southern skies of New Zealand to the rugged canyons of Utah, these locations have shaped how I see the night sky through my lens. You’ll get the highs and lows of each shoot, plus some solid tips to help you snag your own killer Milky Way pic. Oh, and if these spots get you stoked, my upcoming eBook "Photog Adventures' Milky Way Field Guide has ALL of my favorite locations and helpful tips on how to get there. Tune in for the full scoop or click here when ready to grab your copy: https://bit.ly/45YC4FL

Hear what it was like going to New Zealand and seeing the Southern Hemisphere Milky Way sky for my VERY FIRST TIME! The Southern Island of New Zealand has no shortage of beautiful views but what if the most iconic locations are covered in clouds? In this episode, you will hear the successes and challenges we met while hunting for compositions in a world entirely new to us, a milky way orientation incredible but foreign to us and how we dealt with the weather keeping us away from the expected main targets.

This week on Milky Way Wednesday I was joined by Clarence Spencer of SpencersCamera.com to answer all questions about Astro-modified cameras that the Milky Way Wednesday crowd could think up! In case you missed it and thousands of you most certainly did, here is a replay of the awesome breadth of knowledge that Clarence shared with my YouTube audience! This winter we all have been challenged to capture a Winter Milky Way Panorama and one of the most critical steps to a successful one is using an Astro-modded camera. Thanks to Clarence's business SpencersCamera.com we all have an affordable way to get that camera to use this winter! In between questions from the audience, Clarence also showed us how he edits his astro-modded images to give you a head-start once you capture your own astro-modded Milky Way image! Link to YouTube Video Version: https://youtu.be/OBblwHSoEYM

The challenges and successes of Milky Way Photography in North Carolina! I just got back from my first Milky Way Workshop out on the East Coast and enjoyed some successes and crazy stories while out there! In this episode, I will go over FIVE THINGS: 1- Depressing Meal 2- First Night Near Fatal 3- Blue Ridge Parkway Milky Way "The Good and the Bad" 4- Rocks at Fort Fisher Milky Way "The Good and the Bad" 5- Final Goodbye to the Milky Way core at Caswell Beach Next week's episode: Winter Milky Way Panorama!

Aaron Martinez joins me to give us the inside info on his rise from Hobbyist photographer to having a FULL-TIME CAREER as a "Visual Journalist" or Staff Photographer for one of USA Today's Circulation of Austin, Texas Newspapers. He shares what worked and what he was missing in his interview process and spills some secrets on how one can join him as a career Journalism Photographer in an industry that is getting tougher and tougher to find a good paying job in. We also here his story of a potentially life-threatening wildlife encounter while in New Mexico and the story behind my absolute favorite picture out of White Sands National Park that Aaron captured years ago! I just LOVE his image! See Aaron's Portfolio here: https://aaronmartinez.myportfolio.com/ See that White Sands image: https://aaronmartinez.myportfolio.com/chasing-light SAVE 50% OFF TEN OF MY WORKSHOPS HERE: https://bit.ly/3pJbhFb This is a 1-DAY sale only, so if you are reading this on Friday, August 20th then CLICK ON THE LINK ASAP! Sale ends at Midnight Friday night! :D -Aaron

Phil Sisto joins me to talk Milky Way Photography in the less-mentioned Capitol Reef National Park here in Utah where he was the 2020 Artist In Residence! Phil shares how he got the gig and the secrets to a good application. While also dishing on the great situation he had there with the amazing house they gave him to use while working there! From amazingly deep mud cracks around Cathedral Valley to making a 45-minute hike THREE HOURS LONGER, Phil shares his successes and misadventures while being the Artist in Residence. Phil uses Star Trackers in his Milky Way Photography and shares his best tip for post-processing the masked blend of your foreground and sky in photoshop. If you are seeing the podcast cover art I used from Phil, you are NOT getting the full glory of that image and will need to go Phil's Website to see this amazing image from the beautiful Milky Way at the top and the incredible hyper-foreground of the deeeeep cracks in the mud! It is an amazing shot! Check out Phil's Work right away! Website: PSistoImages.com https://psistoimages.com/ Instagram: P.Sisto.Images https://www.instagram.com/p.sisto.images/

Using the data from my 2021 Milky Way Photography Almanac, I know exactly how many perfect nights there will be next year! Join me here or on Facebook where I recorded this LIVE today and I will share with you that answer! Also, I will teach about the unique differences of Southern Hemisphere Milky Way Photography and why they have a month-to-month advantage over Northern Hemisphere Milky Way Photogs. GET MY 2021 MILKY WAY PHOTOGRAPHY ALMANAC: https://aaronkingcreative.clickfunnels.com/2021-almanac-pre-order1607025017776 FACEBOOK VIDEO LINK: https://www.facebook.com/aaronkingsphotogadventures/videos/737515047162725 Link to MaryBeth's Awesome Winter Panorama: https://www.instagram.com/p/CIMdTAEnX7p/?utm_source=ig_web_copy_link

With three napkins filled with the scrawls of locations and weather predictions strewn around her, MaryBeth announced the next likely location for the workshop. Copper Harbor! A discussion and a decision later. We were heading West! MaryBeth had woken up early that morning to find us an opening in the skies so we had a better chance of seeing the Aurora should the conditions arise. The evidence of her hours of meticulously checking multiple weather models & predictions filled the napkins with data written in a legibility only MaryBeth was capable of reading. As she gathered her nearly falling apart napkins she laughed to herself and commented aloud, "See what I mean about rather being a crack addict than an aurora chaser?" Implying that it might be even less crazy to be on crack than participate in the chase she loves best. In this podcast, I share some of the what went wells and could have been betters about last week's Upper Peninsula Aurora Workshop. From weather and aurora chasing, to the sights and waterfalls of the Upper Peninsula and my first chance using a Tiffen Fog Filter to capture Orion in the darkest sky most of us had ever been under, this past week lived up to the Photog Adventures motto of getting out there on an adventure! Image of the before and after of the Tiffen Fog Filter on Orion: https://bit.ly/3fcuOtM Tiffen Double Fog 3 Filter: https://amzn.to/35CNuj6 !! Be sure to pick up one that matches your lens !!

Oh the smoke!! Car troubles in the thick mud at the Salt Flats & playing with water as a mirror in your composition! Milky Way Photography already has the Moon & Clouds to fight with, this year the smoke became more of a problem than most years! In this episode I begin with talking about dealing with the smoke during the Out of Moab Conference. Smoke Map at Airnow.gov: https://bit.ly/34sKaFA After two nights of perfect skies we started getting it really bad by the time we were in Arches National Park but as you can see in Royce's image down below, it still was possible to come away with a great image! Check out Royce's Image of Nic up inside the arch: https://bit.ly/3cVa2gR Rounding out the podcast, I share a story of trying to get the mirror Milky Way out at the Salt Flats, dealing with car troubles and then a tip for making your own mirrors out in Moab. Join MaryBeth and I in the Upper Peninsula! https://bit.ly/3jCLUSC

Alyn Wallace joins me back in June during the heat of the Covid-19 lockdowns to share his love of Milky Way Photography. After we bemoan the lack of opportunities to go out with our cameras, Alyn talks about what makes his Milky Way Photography stand out, his tip for clean images and we both geek out over what we both absolutely love about Milky Way Photography. Then Alyn shares his "what went wells" & challenges behind three of his favorite images. See if you can spot the very unique phenomenon that occurs in La Palma that is unique to Milky Way Photography in the Canary Islands. Thank Alyn for joining us on the podcast by checking out his content over at his Website & YouTube channel! Website: https://alynwallacephotography.com/ YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCKxQ3Dx6K95hpLpdJjTRIlg Link to the Upper Peninsula Aurora Workshop with me and MaryBeth Kiczenski here: https://bit.ly/3jCLUSC

Michael Ver Sprill of Milky Way Mike fame on YouTube, joins the podcast to share the story of his Covid-19 Quarantine and tell us about his FIRST Milky Way of 2020! Mike went out to Assateague Island to get away from the New Jersey light pollution and captured three beautiful timelapses of the rising Milky Way Core over the Atlantic Ocean! In one of his captures, he had an incredible looking timelapse that starts on the inside of a tent and while watching the Milky Way rise through the open door of the tent it moves THROUGH the tent opening and out to reveal the entire horizon! It is a VERY COOL timelapse that you need to check out his YouTube channel and see for yourself! See his trip to Assateague & his timelapses here over on his Milky Way Mike YouTube Channel here: https://youtu.be/Qnwj76vpeUY Trip to the Marshes & Wildlife Refuge: https://youtu.be/gG476KQuvIY Follow Mike at Instagram and his website here: @Milky_Way_Mike and MilkyWayMike.com After sharing Mike's first Milky Way, I take him and you through the myriad of failures that led to me seeing my FIRST Milky Way of 2020 all the way in April! I share the fear that welled up in my imagination as I stood out there alone on that cliff wall capturing my SECOND SUCCESSFUL Dual-Exposure Milky Way Panorama! Be one of the 26 students to get my Milky Way Course at the $30 discount before it goes back up to the full price of $97! https://bit.ly/33I5JRF

Get your copy of my Milky Way Course at: https://AaronKing.PhotogAdventures.com For the first 30 minutes I talk about what the Corona situation meant for me and Photog Adventures. The derailment and the coming changes to Photog Adventures due to the Corona Virus. In classic Aaron King style I truly am an open book about the goings on around here and explain why the major change is coming. IF YOU CAME TO THE PODCAST FOR THE DEEP SKY DISCUSSION WITH IAN NORMAN SKIP TO 31:24. At minute 31:24 it’s TIME to think Deep Sky Astrophotography! This episode is part one of TWO EPISODES teaching Deep Sky Astrophotography. Part ONE is all Ian Norman & Diana Southern from LonelySpeck.com joining me on my Live Stream to teach Deep Sky Astrophotography with your DSLR & the LRGB Post-Processing Method to bring the MOST out of your current gear without buying all the expensive trackers, telescopes, CCD cameras and EQ Mounts that will come with Narrowband DSO Astrophotography! This podcast includes highlights from the Live Stream, but you can go to Facebook with the link down below and watch the whole hour with Ian & Diana. Ian & Diana STARTS AT 5 hours 32 minute mark on the live stream here: https://www.facebook.com/photogadventures/videos/261512944865253/ Podcast 154 Coming VERY SOON with PART TWO of this Deep Sky Astro Get your copy of my Milky Way Course at $30 before it hits 100 sold and goes back up $97: https://bit.ly/33I5JRF Join the Guild at https://www.MilkyWayPhotographersGuild.com/