Stargazing at Volland
Saturday | November 3, 2018
A fundraiser to support free community programmingat The Volland Store
Reservations here
You spent the nigh t in the Loft. It’s awfully dark out here. How was that?
We took the lawn 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.
Fried Chicken | Music | Stars
The fun begins at 6:30
Live Music, Dinner, Photo Tips
Stargazing 8-11 (or ???)
Bring your lawn chairs
$50 per person |
Youth 12 and under | $25
Menu
Brookville Hotel Fried Chicken Dinner with all the sides: corn, coleslaw, mashed potatoes and gravy!
Iced tea and water. Beer and soda available for purchase.
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.
* limited number of reservations *
for
Stargazing only
come at 8 pm or after
$25 per person | Youth 12 and under | $10
Suggestions for Lodging around Volland
Watch the video by Dave Kendall of Prairie Hollow Productions
Night Sky Photography suggested equipment list from Dave Leiker
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, lightning, or icy roads, 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
