Last night I got my first successful shots of Venus and the stars. These were taken with a fully open aperture and a 30 second shutter speed. Apparently you don’t want to go any longer than 30 seconds or else the earth’s rotation becomes evident and the stars will start to elongate. Anyway, I’m now looking forward to more experimentation.
Looking south-east with Venus near center
Looking north with a bit of the Milky Way shining through
Hard-To-Come-By Lifestyle 
So beautiful!
There are too many lights around here even at night.
I never see this many stars!
Thanks Mary. We are fortunate living in the woods – no street lights and if there isn’t a moon, just the light of the stars. On a cold, clear night it feels as if you can almost touch them.
Oh, well done, Kenneth! Those are fantastic shots! Thanks!
Thank you Anna!
Wonderful! You’re lucky not to have the light pollution.
Thanks Gunta. Yes we are!
Very nice. Have you ever tried photographing star trails?
Not yet but plan to. We’re in for some cloudy weather for a few days now.
I love it! Venus is beautiful, and I like the inky black Doug fir shapes framing the photo.
Thank you!