Stargazing at Volland
Saturday | August 26, 2017
You spent the night in the Loft. It’s awfully dark out here. How was that?
We took the law n chairs and went out in the front yard and looked at the stars. It was wonderful!
– at Volland
Experience the darkness of the night sky and the brilliance of the stars.
It’s one of the best things about the Flint Hills.
Watch the video by Dave Kendall of
Prairie Hollow Productions
BBQ | Music | Stars
The Kansas Astronomical Observers will bring their telescopes and tell us about the night sky.
Dave Leiker will offer tips on night-sky photography to those who are interested
See Dave’s suggested equipment list below.
Music by our friend Rob Manes
The fun begins at 6:30
Stargazing 8-11 (or ???)
Bring your lawn chairs or a blanket – and bug spray might be a good idea.
$40 per person
Youth 12 and under | $20
Reservations here
Suggestions for Lodging around Volland
or
Free tent camping in the back yard or in the pasture by reservation
Restrooms and showers will be available in lower level of The Volland Store, by separate entrance. Bring your own towels and supplies. Gallery will be closed after 11 pm, but the lower lever will remain open.
email us or call 785-499-3616 for camping reservation
Menu
BBQ dinner: Smoking’ Wille’s BBQ, one of our favorite food trucks, is bringing Pulled Pork or Brisket sandwiches (select your choice when making your reservation) , baked beans, coleslaw, and chips.
Jeanette (Alma Bakery) is making peach cobbler, served with ice cream!
Iced tea and water. Beer and soda available for purchase.
from Dave Leiker:
Night Sky Photography suggested equipment list
These are basic equipment recommendations for successful night sky photography. You may
get by with less, and still have a great time under the stars but there are good reasons for
everything mentioned below.
A camera with these capabilities
● Manual control of basic settings (aperture, shutter speed and ISO). Learn how to set
these ahead of time so that it’ll be easier to do in the dark.
● Live view manual focus. For best (sharpest) results we will focus on one of the brightest
stars or planets.
● Decent quality at higher ISOs. The 1600 to 3200 range is usual for milky way studies.
Wide angle lens – ideally in the 14mm to 24mm range. We need to gather as much light as
possible so “fast glass” is best. That means a lens with a large aperture, ideally F2.8, F4.0 or
faster. The wider the field of view, the more night sky we can capture in our frame. The “faster”
the lens, the more starlight it can capture.
Remote Shutter Release (cabled or wireless) – This allows you to release and close the shutter
in the camera’s “bulb” setting with a minimum of camera shake. Low light levels require long
exposures, usually in the 25 – 40 second range. Learn ahead of time how to use the “bulb”
setting on your camera, if available, to give full control of your shutter speed. Some cameras
may allow you to set such a long shutter speed directly in the camera.
Sturdy Tripod – Star photography requires very long exposures, impossible to hand-hold.
Light sticks – Colored chemical light sticks such as can be found in the party section at
WalMart are very useful. Small sticks designed to be used as children’s’ bracelets are easily
fastened to the tripod legs. These will help mark your camera and help you and others avoid
tripping over your rig in the dark. Light sticks can also be used as a personal light source. Red
is a good color for use during night photography. Flashlights with red filters are also very useful.
It takes time for our eyes to adjust to the dark. Use of low intensity red light interferes the least
with our adaptation.
Flashlight – For general walking around in the dark use of a red-filtered flashlight is
recommended. Flashlights can also be used to “light paint” objects in the foreground
Please note: There is no rain date, but the party will continue if it’s cloudy. In case of event cancellation due to rain or lightning, your purchase will be considered a tax-deductible donation to the Volland Store Fund, a 501c3 nonprofit administered by the Kansas Rural Communities Foundation, supporting free community programming at The Volland Store.
The Volland Foundation is located at 24098 Volland Road, eight miles southwest of Alma, Kansas, on Old K-10 Highway,
then ¼ mile south on Volland Road. vollandfoundation.org
Internet directions are unreliable for this location. Click here for a map
