The Burke Hollow Meeting House, Vermont

The Burke Hollow Meeting House was built in 1825 by four different congregations. The various congregations eventually built their own churches, and the building has not been in regular use since 1870. It remains a beautiful example of Early New England architecture and is occasionally used today for weddings.

I have been wanting to photograph the Milky Way over a white steepled New England church, and I figured this would be the perfect place. However, I didn't realize that there was a very bright street light out in the front of the building, as well as a spotlight on the ground. This harsh light was very obtrusive and it was very difficult to get the photographs that I had imagined in my mind. I tried as hard as I could and this was the best I could get, under the circumstances.

Here is the front of the Meting House, with a starry sky, taken before the Milky Way was in the position I needed.

The Milky Way

There is a very old burial ground behind the meeting house. While I was focusing my attention on capturing the Milky Way, my friends were making "ghostly" images in the burial ground. They got some great images using slow shutter speeds and movements that they should be very proud of, They came out great. By the time I joined them, they were trying some different techniques. I took a few shots with them, but it was very late, and we were exhausted so we headed home. This is one of my "ghost" images, but I liked the ones that they did before I arrived better than this one. I think the "ghost" should have been moving at a faster rate of speed in this shot, but it's still kind of cool.

One final shot of the Milky Way and the graveyard.