By Widhibek
Published November 2, 2013 | Adapted for NightSkyIndonesia.com

My love affair with the Milky Way began during the 2010 Mount Semeru expedition—my first climb after a long hiatus from summiting mountains. (Full Semeru trip stories in three Semeru ebooks here.) By then, I’d owned a Canon 450D DSLR for about a year. The main goal was capturing beautiful landscapes along the trail, with standing on Mahameru summit as a bonus.

First night at Ranu Kumbolo: thick fog from afternoon rain, plus cold and exhaustion led to deep sleep in the tent.

Second night at Kali Mati: before 11 PM summit attack to Mahameru peak. Arriving early afternoon allowed rest unlike first night. After sunset, stars filled the sky. A mist-like haze overhead—what I thought was fog or clouds. Grabbed tripod and camera. Friend Zulkifli from Bandung joined. We moved away from tents to avoid flashlight interference.

Knowing 450D’s high-ISO limitations, I tried ISO 400, 60-second shutter, f/4 aperture. LCD preview looked unimpressive.

![Falling in love with Milky Way – selfie under starry sky at Kali Mati Semeru]

After a few frames, curious friends approached. “Shooting at night? What for?” they probably thought. “Ghost hunting?” hahahaha. I lit friends manually with flashlight against starry backdrop. They returned to tents resting for the serious Mahameru climb (nothing like the easy 5cm movie trek—misleading wkwkkww).

Before sleep, tried longer exposure: 120 seconds.

![Milky Way over Kali Mati Semeru]

Descending from Mahameru peak, we camped at Ranu Kumbolo, resting while enjoying its beauty. Didn’t miss chance to photograph stars again. Deliberately used 270-second exposure to capture Earth’s rotation—star trails I’d only seen online before. Seeing results, I fell in love at first sight with night sky objects.

![Milky Way over Bukit Cinta Semeru]

Since then, I always pack camera, tripod, shutter release, spare batteries for all-nighters at dark locations. I’ve fallen in love with the Milky Way.

Ready for cheerful mountain camping?

Gear: Canon 450D + Canon 10-22mm lens

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