Everybody has seen stunning nightscape photos of the Milky Way.
You know the ones we mean, where the Milky Way stretches across the horizon, bright and stunning, “like a patient etherized upon a table.”
Often these photos have interesting objects in the foreground – something like a windmill, a ruined wreck of a car, or a historical, old building. But how are these incredible night photographs taken?
Nightscape astrophotography is becoming more accessible all the time. Read on, and we’ll share our top tips for photographing the night sky.
What is nightscape photography?
Nightscape astrophotography is astrophotography brought down to Earth.
Shooting nightscapes focuses on the contrast of an interesting object in the foreground and the majestic night sky.
Sometimes the object is illuminated; other times it’s captured only as a silhouette, but this combination is what distinguishes nightscape astrophotography from astrophotography shots of the night sky alone.
Most often, nightscape shots include the Milky Way, especially since Milky Way season makes photographing it so rewarding. But you’ll also find photos that focus on star trails, or on other deep-sky objects, like Orion, or the Large and Small Magellanic Clouds.
How do you take your own nightscape photos?
Most nightscape photographers use a DSLR camera with manual settings, because it’s easy to customise and quickly start shooting the night sky. Importantly, a digital camera makes editing and processing photos easier than shooting on film.
We consider a wide-angle lens, slow shutter speed, wide aperture, and low ISO among the most important things to consider when shooting nightscapes. Recommendations vary, but we like a wide-angle lens between 12mm and 16mm, a shutter speed around 15 seconds, an aperture or ‘f-stop number’ of F/2.8 or lower, and an ISO around 1600.
While you’re shooting in Manual mode, we recommend you turn off the Long Exposure Noise Reduction feature, and set the High ISO Noise Reduction as low as it will go.
While these settings are great for astrophotography, when it comes to capturing your point of interest in the foreground, best practice is to take separate photos with a shorter exposure. More on that later.
There’s no one, single ‘right’ camera, lens, or setting for astrophotography, these are some tips to get you started, but you should experiment, find out what you like, and what works best for you.
What equipment do you need for astrophotography?
We’ve covered elsewhere how to start stargazing, with things like planispheres and red light torches. Now we’re focusing on specific tools for nightscape photography.
Astrophotography requires slow shutter speeds and long exposure times, so whether you’re using a camera or a decent smartphone, your camera needs to keep steady and still.
If you’re shooting with a DSLR, we recommend using a Cable Release or a remote with your camera and tripod. A Cable Release is a cord that attaches to your camera and fires the shutter when you press a button. This avoids wobbling or vibrations coming from you manually pressing the camera’s shutter button with your finger.
Unless they’re deliberately photographing star trails, many photographers use a star tracker. A star tracker is a camera mount that slowly and automatically moves with the stars, with long exposure times capturing the sky in all its majesty.
Astrophotographer Trevor Jones says “when your camera is tracking the motion of the night sky, you can scale back ISO and aperture settings and let the exposure time compensate for any lack of signal. This can help collect a cleaner, sharper shot.”
Trackers come in different weights and sizes depending on your needs, from something you can fit in your pocket to others sturdy enough to hold a DSLR with a telephoto lens. Choose whatever one that fits your budget, lifestyle, and needs.
An alternative to using a star tracker, or a technique used in addition, is ‘stacking’ images. This is where you take several photos in a row using the same settings, then stack the photos using your computer’s image processing software.
Why do you need to process nightscape images?
Most stargazers understand that the astrophotography images they see aren’t what you see with the naked eye. Even after focal length and exposure times, images are stacked, and adjusted for sharpness, brightness, contrast, and saturation.
Debate continues around processing versus over-processing of astrophotography images, and whether over-processed images are more popular with competition judges and the public. You can decide for yourself how you want your images to look, based on what you like.
For nightscape photography, you need to shoot your two subjects with two different settings. You need one setting for photographing the object in your foreground, and another for capturing the night sky. You’ll then digitally combine the images using the processing software of your choice.
In the case of Trevor Dobson’s photo of Six Mile Cottage in Darkan, Trevor tells us that the photograph you see is a 16-shot panorama. The final image combines five photos of the cottage with 11 photos of the Milky Way.
Can you use a smartphone instead of a DSLR camera?
Many modern smartphones have an astrophotography mode included in the camera settings, or at the very least long exposure settings. If you’re serious, you’re going to want to pay for a pro night photography app.
Smartphones aren’t as customisable as a DSLR camera, and not our first choice, but with trial and error, a little patience and a lot of practice, you can take excellent photos.
Now start taking pictures!
Check out some of the local communities around WA that are creating welcoming dark sky locations where the stargazing is spectacular.
Astrotourism WA has a handy list of Astrophotography Hot Spots that are ideal locations for shooting nightscapes.
Jay Chesters
Jay Chesters is an award-winning wordsmith and science communicator with a little bit of a thing for the stars.
A cosmic storyteller with a love for astronomy and space that's out of this world, Jay’s always eager to share his knowledge and passions.
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