Milky Way in Landscapes

Hi everyone -

I recently picked up a 24LII and now I want to go shoot some night time landscapes with stars and preferably a colorful milky way in the background. Although I can make some informed guesses on how to go about this, I thought I'd ask the pros for some tips.

My goal would be to get a silhouette with some details peeking through of recognizable landmarks or other foreground interest with a bright and colorful Milky Way in the background.

Here is what I know:

-Ill be shooting in Northern Minnesota.
-There will be no lack of dark skies where I'm going.

Here is what I need help with:

-Is there a rule of thumb for exposures? I plan to blend my exposures and I know what I need for the foreground, but Im lost on the sky exposure. I was thinking about just focusing at infinity and shooting at f1.4,ISO 800 for 25 seconds and going from there.

-Will I need to stack images to get that really colorful Milky Way shot or can I get it in one exposure?

-Where in the sky will I find color in the Milky Way at this time of year in my location? Or, maybe it doesnt change throughout the year?

Thanks everyone!

Stellarium is a great free program to see when and where you should be pointing the camera for the Milky Way (or any other object inthe sky). here is the link

http://www.stellarium.​org/

you will have the same problem as I do right now, I think we are around the same latitude, the centre of the milky way will be better in the summer for us... that being said, I am still new at this myself, the program has been great for getting my plan of attack together...

good luck.... to both of us...

1. Get Stellarium as suggested
2 http://www.astropix.co​m/BGDA/SAMPLE1/SAMPLE1​.HTM

Hope this helps.