Five Billion Stars

There are numerous posts in the internet showing photos of the milky way so to put a claim that this is an original composition, I'm showcasing the shot with us in the foreground.

A few technical details:

   Camera: Canon 70D

   Lens: Canon 18-135mn Kit Lens

   Exposure: 30 seconds

   Apperture:  3.4f

   ISO:  6400

   Location: Gulugod Baboy, Mabini, Batangas

   Date/Time: April, 8, 2016, 3:00am

I'm going to note that this was the first time we tried shooting the milky way - we are no experts - but here I learned what the phrase "up all night to get lucky" meant. We prepared for the hike a month ahead setting the date with the new moon phase. Apart from the city lights shining in the distance it was very very dark.

At 8:00pm the milky way was supposed to be visible in the South. However at that time it was very cloudy. We were able to take a good shot of the sky with a lot of stars but we couldn't make out the milky way. There were thin layers of clouds and the light from the other campers must have added to the noise.

Before we set camp earlier we overheard a fellow hiker mention that they usually wake up at 3:00am just to look at shooting stars. We took that as a cue, forced ourselves to sleep and awoke at that mysterious hour. When I went out of the tent it felt cold, about 10-15 degrees C. There was also a strip of cloud behind the summit. I was disappointed but we set up and started shooting. Waiting for the 30 seconds exposure, I was holding my breath almost thinking that if I said anything that would add up to the "noise".

Click. Post processing - another few seconds. Then there it was: the strip of cloud that I saw turned out to be the milky way! Five billion stars - these are things worth losing sleep for.