I was turned onto star photography by my friend Mark Eley and soon after getting my camera we started going on trips away from the bright lights of Burlington to take our own shots. We ventured all over the northern half of Vermont trying to find really dark places that were far enough from towns and cities to not have views affect by light pollution. Soon we were trying to find dark places facing the center of the Milky Way as it rose or facing north for auroras. Using an aurora forecasting site for North America, the University of Fairbanks Geophysical Institute website, we were able to tell if there was any activity and plan accordingly. I get a lot of inspiration from guys like Ben Canales and have benefited a lot from tutorials that he and other great photographers have made available. Any chance I have to go out on a moonless clear night and capture the skies over Vermont I relish.