Everything you need to Know About Star Photography and Milky Way Shots
Overview;
Star photography is an extremely finicky art that kept evading me even a long while after I did a whole bunch of research and finally figured out how to do it. I’m writing this little post here so you can have all that information at your fingertips. I hope you find it useful. The main factors that go into having a stellar milky-way shot is light pollution. All the factors below aim to reduce as much light pollution as possible so your shots come out as crispy and delicious as a freshly glazed donut.
Factors
(1)
Location; In order to make sure there’s no light pollution around you. It’s important to find a stretch of land that is as far away from civilization enough that no other light bleeds into your shots. You can find a map of all the dark sites in the world HERE . Hopefully there’s one near your home. Make sure to take a flashlight and an axe so you can see at night and also protect yourself from creepers
(2)
Timing; The moon surprisingly is another great light pollutant and could mess up your milky-way shots. Contrary to popular belief, The Moon Doesn’t stay on the same revolution pattern as the Sun. Sometimes, the moon rises in the daylight if it wants to, *i know right, It blew my mind when i found that out*. The moon doesn’t stay directly on the opposite side of the sun. It has it’s own complex revolution pattern independent of wherever the sun is or what time it is in the day.
—It’s always best to photograph the Stars when the moon is on it’s revolution behind the earth(before it rises) that way all the light pollution doesn’t get into your camera lens. Another trick to combat this is to Wait for the NEWMOON *Which happens to be on Tuesday*. This is when the moon crescent is basically so small that it doesn’t show up in pictures. You can find information about the Moon Path and the Moon Phase by clicking on them.
—Also the core of the milkyway is only visible (at least in North America) for a couple of months in the summer. SO plan your dark site trips accordingly.
(3)
Camera Settings;
There are a couple of sweet spots for Camera settings that have worked for me time and time again. I’ve found that I get the sharpest shots when i have my aperture all the way open. Also for shutter speed I like to go around 25 seconds to avoid light streaks (star trails) instead of sharp stars. If your shutter speed is any longer you’ll have star trails instead of star points (look at the example shots below for a distinction) which is equally as cool but not necessarily my style. For ISO, This really depends on the gear, If you have a SONY A7 the low light capabilities are amazing and you can shoot with really high iso’s without getting much grain (i realize this sounds like a whole bunch of phootgraphy mumbo jumbo) but i usually shoot at around iSO 2500
—Aperture; as low as you can go. I usually shoot at 2.8
—Shutter Speed; approximately 30seconds-20seconds.
—ISO; 3000 or less ( to avoid grain and noise)
(4)
Focusing; This might be the most difficult thing to do in a dark zone because you can necessarily see what exactly your focusing on. There are three techniques to combat this complexity.
—The first is to look at the number on your focusing dial and adjust accordingly. Usually you can just set the focusing distance to right before infinity. This should make the stars bright and in focus.
—The second technique is to shinea light on your foreground, (the barn, the tractor or whatever your photographing against the milkyway) and have that in focus. That way the stars look stylistically out of focus in the whole picture.
—The last(my favorite) technique. Is to zoom in on the brightest star and try and get it as focused as you can.
(5)
Final Pointers; Some stuff that didn’t fall under anything i just said
—ALWAYS USE A TRIPOD- it’sliterally impossible to do any star photoghy without it
—Practice and practice alot to get the hang of everything. If you’re not succesful the first time you try, then try again.
The Gear I use
a Canon 6d
a Canont5i
a Canon 17-35mm f/2.8 L (has a drop of water in it)
a Canon EF 28-135mm f/3.5-5.6 IS USM
a Canon EF 50mm 1.8
and a Canon EF 100-300mm f/4.5-5.6
the highlighted ones are the what i use for star photography
If you’re thinking of buying some photography gear, this is a reasonably cost effective point to start from
a Canon t5i
a Canon EF-S 18-135mm f/3.5-5.6
I really hope all this information gets you a little close to stars if you love star gazing
Cheers Karl
▪️ Karl-Shakur ▪️ Instagram
FOLLOW ME ON INSTAGRAM TO SEE MORE STAR SHOTS
Oh and here are some examples of star shots i’ve taken
Below is a Star Trail achieved by using a longer shutter speed
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