Astrophotography

In recent years, technological advances in camera sensors have made it possible to capture incredible landscape images at night, but they still struggle to capture detail when the light is very low or nonexistent without introducing high amounts of noise to the image. This technique, known as "median stacking," will help reduce or even eliminate noise in your nightscape foregrounds, resulting in clean, detailed images that are ready for print or online scrutiny.

The standard procedure for photographing a meteor shower is to photograph as wide a swath of the night sky as possible all night long. With modern digital cameras, this usually means setting a camera to shoot 15-30 second exposures at around ISO 1,600, with a 2-5 second pause between frames, resulting in a night’s haul of more than a thousand frames! While this photography can be fully automated, allowing you to sleep overnight, the real work of finding the meteors in your shots starts in the morning! We’ve cast our fishing net out, and now, it’s time to haul it back in to see what we’ve found.

The annual Lyrid Meteor Shower is nearly upon us, peaking on the evening of April 21-22. While it’s not the best of the annual meteor showers, it is a good opportunity to try your hand at the challenge of capturing an image of a meteor. And even better, you may already have all of the equipment on hand: tripod, DSLR or mirrorless camera, and wide angle lens.

Taking the leap into photography as a career can be a terrifying prospect, but on the other hand, some of us are simply not happy stuck in the tedium and repetition of a more traditional 9 to 5. This inspiring video essay discusses one man's journey from a 9-to-5 job in IT to professional astrophotography.

Light pollution is a widespread problem, not just for astrophotography, but for anyone who simply enjoys looking at the night sky. And unfortunately, it looks like the problem is only getting worse.

Astrophotography is a genre that requires specialized equipment, deep knowledge, and a lot of patience. It is a treat to watch a talented astrophotographer in action, and this neat behind-the-scenes video shows you the process of shooting an entrancing galaxy a whopping 55 million light-years away.

There is probably no other genre where light is at more of a premium than astrophotography, where ultra-wide apertures, high ISOs, and specialized equipment are the name of the game. This fascinating video shows what two professional astrophotographers were able to accomplish when limited to a very slow kit lens for their work.

Capturing the moon has been something photographers have tried since it was possible to do. However, it's trickier than most people think, particularly to capture real contrast and detail.

The “Google Camera 8.1” update arrived back in November, and it’s taken a few months for users to notice that Google has quietly taken away functionality for certain models of phone: the ultra-wide lens no longer takes astrophotography images.

Whether you are looking to get into astrophotography or take your skills to the next level, 2021 has lots of great astronomical events happening all over the world. Planning in advance and being in the right place at the right time is the first step to getting amazing shots.

Long exposures and high ISOs can bring out hot pixels. Worse than just regular high ISO noise, hot pixels are those little brightly colored dots that stick out like a sore thumb. Their random nature has made them tough to deal with effectively, until now. Want to know the easiest way to get rid of them?

With so many new cameras for every type of photographer and videographer, a few bodies from that last few years have dropped off the radar almost completed; this is one of them.

Photographing the stars is tricky and requires some know-how and preparation. Creating a time-lapse video, at night, of those same stars adds another level of difficulty on top.

As photographers, we generally think of long exposures as being on the order of a few minutes, maybe a few hours if you get deep into astrophotography. This exposure took far longer than that, however; in fact, it took over a week to gather enough light for the final image.

There are many creative ways to explore within each genre of photography. One that is both challenging and fun and can deliver mysterious and incredible results is light painting.

No telescope, no star tracker, no problem. Learn how to get started capturing the beautiful night sky with just some basic camera equipment with this beginner’s tutorial.

The two Canon mirrorless bodies announced earlier this year caused quite a splash in most areas of the industry. One genre of photography which can really test a camera is astrophotography, so one photographer takes them out into the desert to shoot the stars and compare their results.

Editing pictures of the Milky Way is difficult to get right. Which white balance do you use? How bright should the scene be? How do you remove excessive noise without stars disappearing? Well, follow these eight steps for image editing success on the galactic scale with Lightroom Classic.

It doesn't take long to burn out on a single photographic genre, especially for a creative person not being challenged enough. If you’re in danger of burnout and could use a unique challenge to reignite your passion for photography, consider astrophotography.

Getting untracked photos of the Milky Way is significantly easier than you may think for both digital and film. The approach for film is much different than digital but still attainable with the right approach.

Over the last few weeks I’ve talked with several adventure, wildlife, and landscape photographers about the Canon R5. I think that Paul Zizka’s four-word summary has been the most direct expression of satisfaction to date: it has it all.

The night sky is photographed more today than ever before, and yet, dark sky areas are shrinking at incredible rates. That's something The World at Night (TWAN) program and Babak Tafreshi are trying to educate others on with this new book and the amazing collection of images within.

The new Canon mirrorless which has caused such a stir for photographers in all genres. One of which, is astrophotography, so how does it perform?

Learn how to photograph the Milky Way galaxy by choosing the correct equipment, using the right camera settings, and planning ahead with precision to avoid disappointment. You can also use these tips to photograph other astrophotography shots such as meteor showers.

With the Perseid meteor shower set to peak over the next few nights, it’s time to pull together your gear for some awesome meteor shower photos. Want to know the essential items you have to bring for a successful shoot?

If you look into the night sky long enough, you will see the stars move. Because it is dark at night, you will need a longer shutter speed to capture the beauty of the stars and constellations. But don’t expose too long, or they will turn into trails.

A few weeks ago, I read some news about the rare NEOWISE Comet passing by Earth and being large and clear enough to see with your naked eye. I got up, went outside, and looked up to a bunch of cloud cover. Luckily for me and all of you, we can always hit up Instagram and Facebook for great photos other photographers captured.

There are a lot of good tutorial resources out there, some of them free, but for the most part if you want a high quality video tutorial, you'll need to pay. Well, this is a rare exception.

The Perseid meteor shower occurs from July 17 to August 24, and peaks on the night of August 12. In order to make the most of this spectacular meteor shower, I've put together a complete list of everything you need to know in order to get great astrophotographs of the event.

One photographer has had his attempts at capturing the Comet NEOWISE sabotaged, after his view was interrupted by SpaceX’s Starlink satellites, whose lights cut into his shots.

If you're looking at shooting NEOWISE or some astrophotography, which lens would be your best bet?

Comet NEOWISE has been hanging around in night skies around the world for a little while now, and most photographers who have been blessed with clear skies have captured at least one shot of the comet. Beyond getting a good exposure, how do you process your astro shots for the best effect? In this tutorial, I'll show you how I edit mine.

Anyone who's shot Comet NEOWISE has noticed one thing: it looks a bit small in the frame when shooting on wider lenses. That's why with the help of some image editing, creating a composite where we replace the sky may be the best way to produce a stunning comet composite.

I strive to capture moments in time with my photography, and one thing I like is once in a lifetime or very rare moments. The Neowise comet (aka C/2020 F3 NEOWISE) is one of those moments that won't happen again for about another 6,800 years.

Usually, astrophotography is a trade-off: noise versus star trails. An extra device like the MSM camera rotator can help you shoot clear and sharp photographs of the night sky even at a very low ISO.

Comet Neowise is probably going to be the most positive event of 2020, so here is how I immortalized this beautiful phenomenon.

If you have not realized it yet, Comet NEOWISE is on the night sky. This is a big event for astrophotographers and photography enthusiasts alike.

Earlier this year, there were two hyped comets that made headlines but did not live up to expectations. Then, in June, stargazers held hope that the third comet c/2020 F3 Neowise would deliver a show, and it has surpassed expectations as the best Northern Hemisphere comet in decades.

Last year, I took a look at Astro Panel, a Photoshop plugin designed to enhance Milky Way and other astronomical images. At the time, I was happy with what it did, but the author had a security scheme that forced you to log into the app every couple of weeks, which I thought was burdensome and downright silly.

Comet NEOWISE is one of the brightest comets to visit earth for some time and can be seen right now in skies throughout the Northern Hemisphere. Here are some of the best tips for photographing it successfully.

Saturn, the sixth planet from the sun, is a beautiful gas giant, well known for its iconic rings. However, it is almost unfathomably far from Earth, making it a challenge for any photographer wanting to take an image of it. This great video follows an astrophotographer as he tackles the challenge of creating a photo of the planet.

The moon is an easily looked over subject for landscape and astrophotography. For beginners it can be surprisingly difficult to capture well, and for veterans of photography it can be difficult to get it to align with all the elements of your frame. Here are seven great tips for capturing the moon more effectively.

Astrophotography is a genre with a lot of specialized equipment designed for very specific purposes, but a lot of photographers still use normal consumer cameras to create their images. What sort of images can you create with a camera specialized for the task? Check out this great video to see what is possible.

We've seen Elon Musk's company SpaceX in the news consistently since their launch of the Starlink satellites, and with 12,000 set to be released into low earth orbit in the future, it might mean some pretty cool light trails for astro photos. Follow the steps below on how to take photos of the Starlink satellites from your backyard.

If you’ve any interest in astrophotography, you might wonder what’s involved in capturing images of deep space from your own back yard. While a proper rig will set you back in excess of $6,000, this video finds out what you can achieve for just $600.

A good Milky Way photo can be absolutely stunning, and there are a number of fantastic ways to incorporate it into landscapes or even portraits. This fantastic video will show you lots of great tips for improving your Milky Way photos.

A California-based astrophotographer has taken what is being called the world’s clearest picture of the moon. The process involved patiently placing together thousands of images of different lunar phases in order to showcase the entirety of the moon’s surface.

Astrophotography is certainly a challenging genre that requires a good bit of effort, but capturing images of ultra-distant and beautiful objects can be an amazing experience. This awesome video follows the process of using a 2,000mm telescope to image an object 22,000 light-years away.

The last supermoon of 2020 is on May 7, and it is a great chance to take an entrancing and unique image incorporating it into a landscape or cityscape of your choice. This excellent video will show you how to plan and take a supermoon photo worthy of framing and hanging on your wall.

Astrophotography is a genre that requires some of the most extreme and specialized gear. At the same time, though, photographic technology has made some remarkable leaps in the last few years, with some of that technology making its way into smartphones. Can you photograph the night sky with just a phone? This great video shows what you can accomplish.