Researching online, it’s easy to become overwhelmed with the idea of shooting the night sky. Super expensive gear and confusing programs, all pointing to complicated stacking software and spending hours in the dark on a single photo, had me searching for better alternatives. I love exploring, moving around, trying out fresh compositions, so I wanted to develop my style and process around single image photos. No stacking required!
Lancelin Sand Dunes, Western Australia
Furka Pass, Switzerland
GEAR
7 years ago, with the rise of mirrorless cameras, I stumbled across my very first astro setup. Grabbing a Sony a6000 on Black Friday sales, I soon paired it with the Rokinon 12mm f/2.0 wide angle lens. Recently, I have upgraded to a full frame Sony a7rii with a 14mm f/1.8 GM lens, but I hope after reading this you will see any gear can work with some practice.
When searching for a suitable lens 2 main factors come into play. The first is aperture, which is the adjustable lens opening that controls the amount of light allowed into the camera. Low aperture lenses allow you to shorten your shutter speed, avoiding star trailing and blurred photos.
The second factor is focal length. For the most part, this comes down to personal preference in terms of how wide of a scene you wish to capture, but it has a massive effect on how long you can keep your shutter open. The 500 rule is as follows:
Divide 500 by your focal length, and the resulting number is how long you can keep the shutter open before getting noticeable star trailing. For example, if you have a 24mm lens (500 ÷ 24 = 20 seconds), or a 14mm (500 ÷ 14 = 35 seconds).
So, the shorter the lens, the longer you can shoot. Throughout the years I have decided to lower this to a 300 rule, running on the same equation, as it provides even sharper images.
The last important piece of gear is a sturdy tripod. Any movement to the camera will result in a blurry photo, so this is an area worth investing in a bit more, but even cheaper tripods can work at lower heights!
I also use the Ephemeris APP, a free program that will allow you to check where the Milky Way and moon are located. Simply work out which direction in the sky you’re aiming for and set up you shot from there.
Nullarbor Plain, South Australia
Injidup, Western Australia
Lake Clifton, Western Australia
PROCESS
Now, we are under a clear night sky with the milky way shining bright, how do we capture it? As fun as it is to shoot straight up at the night sky, the foreground composition is what will give interest and scale to the photo. Like all landscape photography, your composition is all important. With a wide-angle lens, I try to get quite close to my foreground subject, but not too close as I want the whole image in focus for a single shot. Be wary of trees if there is any wind, as even the slightest breeze can blur the leaves on long exposures.
PRO TIP - Setting up your composition in the dark is tricky, don’t waste time on 10-20 second exposures. Simply set ISO to the highest the camera can go (ISO 102,000 etc.) and take 1 second shots instead!
Camera settings will vary on setup and ambient light at each location, but my starting point at 14mm focal length is usually – 20 seconds, at f/1.8 and ISO2000. The goal here is simple, capture as much light while keeping the noise low. Try to push shutter speed to long as possible, before getting star trails, as this will allow you to lower you ISO.
Before taking the shot, you need to focus, find a bright star within the frame and move across to Manual Focus. I find the quickest way is to move all the way to infinity on the focus ring and then slowly work your way back until the star is at its sharpest point. In the beginning this can be a bit difficult and you may find a few shots are blurry, but after a while it becomes easy. Practice makes perfect.
PRO TIP – Pressing the shutter release will shake to camera on the tripod! Set up a 5 second delayed timer so the vibrations stop before it starts to capture the image.
Toodyay, Western Austalia
Ringa Railway Bridge, Western Australia
POST PROCESSING
Although I don’t want to spend hours stacking multiple images together, I still spend quite a bit of time editing my photos. I started using the free Lightroom CC app on my phone, which is more than capable of generating brilliant results. I now use the full Lightroom program, which gives some extra tools, most used being the Masking Tool.
White balance is the best place to start, trying to brighten the stars and foreground, while darkening the sky. Take some time playing with the S curve, also with the Highlight and Shadow sliders. The Dehaze tool can also be implemented, but this will be a trial and error process, until a nice balance is found. Next, I tend to play with the temperature of the image. I prefer to use more purple hues for my shadows, then bring in yellow hues for my highlights, but again this is personal preference. I finish with masking off areas that need direct changes and repeating the first two steps. A future post will be dedicated to my Lightroom workflow, so stay tuned for a more in-depth look!
Overall, night photography shouldn’t be some scary, unobtainable mission. Even newer smart phones are able to get images of the stars. Just get out there, practice, experiment and have fun!
