strophotography, especially of the Milky Way, is a thrilling and rewarding pursuit that allows you to capture the vastness and beauty of our galaxy. I fell in love with astrophotography the summer after getting my first DLSR. I went up to the Blue Ridge Parkway and just started shooting. Before heading up there, I went online to do some research. My lens wasn't fast, but it got the job done. Since then, I've learned a lot (though I still have much more to learn). If you're excited to photograph the Milky Way, here are some basic tips to get you started.
Choose the Right Location
Finding a location with minimal light pollution is crucial, though I have taken some pretty good photos with some light pollution. National parks, rural areas, and designated dark sky parks are ideal. Since I live in the mountains of Western NC, I head up to the darker portions of the Blue Ridge Parkway. A Light Pollution Map is helpful to identify dark spots near you.
Capturing the Milky Way can be a magical experience that connects you with the cosmos.
Pick the Perfect Time
The Milky Way is best visible from late spring to early fall. Use apps like Stellarium to determine when and where the Milky Way will be visible in your location. Aim for a new moon night to avoid moonlight washing out the stars.
Essential Gear
- Camera: A DSLR or mirrorless camera with manual settings is ideal. That said, I have seen some nice photos taken with a cell phone.
- Lens: The best type of lens is one that will let in the most amount of light. A wide-angle lens (14-24mm) with a large aperture (f/2.8 or lower) is perfect. I’ve successfully used a lens with an aperture of f/3.5, so don’t stress about it if you don’t have one that opens up wider.
- Tripod: A sturdy tripod is essential to keeping your camera steady during long exposures. If it is windy, you may want to bring a sandbag and hang it from your tripod to keep it from being blown over. A little trick I recently saw a friend do was to lower and spread out the legs of his tripod to keep it from being blown over.
- Remote Shutter Release: This helps to avoid camera shake when taking photos.
- Essential Gear for Hiking: If you will be hiking to your shooting location, please remember to bring the essentials like a bivvy for emergency shelter, first aid kit, headlamp, food, and water (at a minimum).
Camera Settings
- Mode: Set your camera to manual mode.
- Aperture: Use the widest aperture your lens allows (e.g., f/2.8).
- ISO: Start with ISO 1600 and adjust as needed. Higher ISO increases sensitivity to light, but it also introduces more noise into your shot. With all the denoise features, I don’t worry about noise as much as before.
- Shutter Speed: There are different ways to calculate the appropriate shutter speed. Some people use the 500 Rule (500 divided by your lens focal length) to determine the maximum shutter speed before stars start trailing. For a 20mm lens, 500/20 = 25 seconds. There is also the NP rule that is much more accurate, and it gives shorter exposure times. Personally, I like to use the NP rule, even if it means increasing the ISO.
- Focus: Manually set your lens to infinity focus. Use live view to zoom in on a bright star and fine-tune the focus.
Composition Tips
- Foreground Interest: Include interesting foreground elements like mountains, trees, or buildings to add depth to your image. For the shop on the left, we hiked up to a spot on the Art Loeb trail to frame the shot with some pines and include the mountain ranges in the foreground. We had to wait a while for the Milky Way to rise, so we decided to go elsewhere to take those shots. That meant we had to combine the shots in post-processing. I will have more on that later.
- Positioning the Milky Way: The Milky Way will change its position each month. In early April, it will be more flat along the horizon. As the months progress, it will begin to be more vertical in orientation. Once Fall comes, it will again be flatter in the sky.
- Leading Lines: Use natural lines in your scene to guide the viewer’s eye towards the Milky Way. In my shot, the trees were framing the Milky Way.
Take Test Shots
The nice thing about a digital camera is that you can take test shots. Take a few test shots to check focus, composition, and exposure. You can then make adjustments as needed. Once I know that the focus is dialed in, I will take shots at all different settings.
Post-Processing
Editing your Milky Way photos is essential to bring out the details. Use software like Adobe Lightroom or Photoshop to adjust the Exposure and Contrast. I also use the Lightroom Denoise feature to reduce any noise in the images. I will go through all the sliders to see what best brings out the details of the Milky Way. I will also change the temperature of the sky in my image and adjust the Saturation slider.
For this particular shot, I had some problems combining the two images. I couldn’t align the layers in Photoshop because they weren’t taken at the same location. I ended up processing both images and then bringing in the shot of the Milky Way as a sky replacement in Photoshop. I was happy with the result!
Concluding Thoughts
Capturing the Milky Way can be a magical experience that connects you with the cosmos. With these tips, you’re on your way to creating stunning images of our galaxy. Happy shooting!
Annie Lazo
I am a landscape photographer who finds joy in capturing the natural beauty of this world. From the magical mountains of the East Coast to the majestic peaks of the American West, I seek to share these breathtaking vistas with as many people as possible. I also enjoy photographing waterfalls, wildlife, and plant life.
