A Beginner's Guide To Night Sky Photography

When we went to Utah, I knew I wanted to try my hand at Milky Way photography and night sky photography since there would be very little ambient light out in Moab. I turned to my trusted friend Anthony Quintano, a professional photographer, for night sky photography tips.

He gave me a crash course in night sky photography, equipped me with a few trouble shooting pointers and encouraged me to just get out there and do it. His tips and encouragement led me to some of the coolest photographs I’ve ever taken. What’s better? He explained it all to me in terms I could easily understand!

Today, Anthony agreed to share his tips and tricks for night sky and Milky Way photography. Whether you are a seasoned pro or just looking to learn more about photography, today I’m sharing a beginner’s guide to night sky photography.

A Beginner’s Guide To Night Sky Photography

With Anthony’s help, I was able to capture the below photos during our trip to Utah with limited to no previous knowledge of night sky photography. To say I was proud of myself would be an understatement, but I owe all credit to him! To take these photos, I used all the photography gear I already owned and the pointers he lays out in the Q+A below!

What type of gear do you recommend for photographing the night sky/Milky Way?

Any camera that has manual settings is definitely needed. In order to photograph the night sky you need to allow as much light into the camera as possible. Mobile phones do not work when photography the night sky. The images are too dark, have lots of color noise.

Using a GoPro is possible, but still tends to give you a blurry image with lots of noise. I now shoot with a Sony A7RIII mainly for Sony’s reputation of amazing capabilities in low light situations.

You typically want a wide angle lens unless you’re focusing on a specific object in space, like the moon, sun or stars. You want a camera with a good high ISO since you will be bumping that up when shooting.

A remote trigger is recommended, but not needed. You only need this to avoid touching the camera and tripod when your shutter is open.

You might also want to use some night sky apps to find the Milky Way and other bodies in space. I use Star Walk 2 personally, but there are a ton of options. These apps are also very helpful for finding where the sun and moon will rise and set.

A tripod is important. The camera needs to be absolutely still in order to capture the night sky sharp. You can also try resting the camera on the ground in a stable position. Any movement while the shutter is open will cause your photo to be blurry.

A Beginner's Guide To Night Sky Photography - Tips from a professional photographer on how to photograph the night sky and capture the Milky Way with your camera! | Night Sky Photography - How To Photograph The Night Sky - How To Photograph The Milky Way - Night Sky Photography Settings - Milky Way Photography - Anthony Quintano

What camera settings should one be shooting for when photographing the Milky Way?

There are never any perfect settings for any one situation, because there are so many factors at play when taking photos of the night sky. It really depends on where you choose your location, what’s in the foreground and how clear the sky is.

A lot of planning goes into taking photos of the night sky, specifically the Milky Way. You can simply just point your camera up and try to capture it. Usually you want something interesting in your foreground to really make your photo interesting. The other main thing to be aware of is light pollution. Most of the time you can’t photograph the milky way from a big city due to too much light pollution.

Attempting to capture it with all the surrounding light will blow out your photo and you will barely be able to see the stars. Visit the Dark Site Finder website to locate the areas with the least amount of light pollution near you.

When you reach an area without light pollution, you will notice that you can clearly see the milky way with your naked eye. A wide angle lens is ideal to capture the full length of the milky way since it stretches across the sky from one end to the other. As far as camera settings, you want to set your camera to the lowest f-stop possible, this depends on what type of lens you’re using. The lower the f-stop, the more light it can let into your camera. My lowest lens f-stop is 2.8. Then you want to have your shutter open for a long exposure, but not too long because keep in mind the earth is spinning and if you’re shutter is open for longer than 15 seconds, your stars will begin to blur. This is how many people photograph star trails if that is what you’re going for. You want to stay under 15 seconds for your shutter. This is why we need high ISO capabilities to account for the shorter shutter time. Typically you want to go as high as possible before you start seeing noise. Cheaper cameras tend to have more noise and not great ISO capabilities. The Sony camera perform way better than Canon in this situation as well. Take photos at various ISO settings to see where your camera works best. I typically don’t go higher than 6,000-8,000 ISO.

What tips would you give someone wanting to photograph the night sky for the first time?

My advice always is to practice, practice, practice. Don’t wait for an event or a vacation to try things like this for the first time. You want to fail at it multiple times so you can learn what happens when things go wrong. This way when you’re attempting to capture a photo when needed, you’re aware of all the challenges.

To practice, just go outside to your backyard and see what happens when you try there first. Then start doing your research about darker areas nearby. I tend to watch a lot of YouTube videos of other photographers sharing how they shoot to see what situations i may not have encountered yet.

The ONLY way to learn photography is to go out and shoot all the time. Redundancy will help you learn over time. Meetups are also great! See if there is a local photography meet-up near you. Making new friends with photographers and asking advice is always a great help. YouTube is a great tool for learning photography and even specific functions of your model camera. Don’t hesitate to comment or ask photographers questions on their Instagram or YouTube video tutorial.

You are awesome! Where can my readers find more about you or connect on social?

I’ve been a photographer for 15 years. Many of those years I didn’t consider myself a photographer since I was still learning so much. I always look back at my work and see how terrible my work was when I started and how much I’ve progressed overtime. I have worked professionally as a photojournalist for NBC News, Recode and Honolulu Civil Beat under the job title as social media manager. Everyone I’ve worked for has taken advantage of my visual content skills. Now I’m working for myself with the support of my community on Patreon. You can see my work on my website, Flickr, Instagram and Twitter. Don’t hesitate to reach out and ask me any questions you might have on my social media accounts or my email is: anthony@anthonyquintano.com.

I hope this blog post is helpful for anyone who was just starting out in night sky photography! If you have any questions for me or for Anthony, be sure to leave them below! If you liked this post, you might also enjoy 3 Lightroom Hacks For Amateur Photographers or Tips For Food Photography.

A Beginner’s Guide To Night Sky Photography

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