6/26/26

Night Magic: Your Dog and the Milky Way!

More Than a Beautiful Night Sky: Creating Milky Way Portraits with Dogs

A clear, dark night with no moon. A location with an unobstructed horizon. A dog who is ready for an adventure.

Those are the three essential ingredients for creating one-of-a-kind Milky Way artwork.

When people see one of my finished portraits, they often assume it was a matter of taking a single photograph under the stars. The reality is that every image is carefully planned long before the camera ever comes out.

Planning Around the Sky

The Milky Way is only visible during certain months of the year and timing is very important. Planning a shoot includes taking into account the moon phases, weather forecasts, and cloud cover. A bright moon can wash out the stars, so I schedule sessions during the new moon when the sky is at its darkest. May to October is when most of my Milky Way images are taken.

Next comes finding the right location. I'm always looking for places with minimal light pollution and a clean horizon that allows the Milky Way to shine. Eastern Washington offers some incredible dark skies, making it the perfect backdrop for these portraits.

Photographing Your Dog

While the night sky is breathtaking, your dog is still the star of the artwork.

Because long nighttime exposures require the camera to remain perfectly still for several seconds, it's impossible for a dog to hold a pose long enough to create a sharp portrait under only starlight. Instead, I photograph your dog separately during blue hour, that time between sundown and dark, that brings the feeling of nighttime in the image, without it being completely dark. This brings authenticity to the artwork and keeps it real. This time is limited, so I must be ready to begin photographing as soon as the sun dips below the horizon.

Bringing It All Together

The final artwork is created by carefully by editing the individual images and blending them together so that the final image is believable and looks realistic. This includes adjusting the white balance and exposure, enhancing colors and minimizing noise. Multiple techniques are used for this, so we can’t go into all of them here, and what techniques are used will depend on the images produced in camera. The goal is an authentic, one of a kind piece of artwork you will love on your wall.

Artwork Designed for Your Home

I offer two types of Milky Way sessions. First an immersive experience where the dog and Milky Way are photographed on location on the same night. These are only available during from June to September. The other option is to photograph the dog separately then combined with sky images taken at another time. This option can be done year round. Either option produces the same result. A statement, heirloom artwork meant to be prominently displayed in the home.

If you've ever dreamed of seeing your dog beneath the Milky Way, I'd love to help create a piece you'll treasure for years to come.