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To get the best photos, you want a dark sky far away from light pollution that will reduce the quality of your images. If you have a favorite hiking spot, pack up your tripod and get out there.

Learn about Astrophotography

Taking shots of the night sky is about more than pointing your camera up. Exploring the principles of astrophotography will help you capture stunning images.

The Ultimate beginners Guide to Astrophotography (2020)

Astrophotography for Noobs.

Taking shots of the night sky is about more than pointing your camera up. Exploring the principles of astrophotography will help you capture stunning images.

Interest in Astrophotography?

This is a link to astrophotography stuff.

 

He insisted that stars were people so well loved, they were traced in constellations, to live forever.
Jodi Picoult,  My Sister's Keeper

4 Styles of Astrophotography

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Astrophotography of the stars using light painting techniques.

Light Painting

Light painting is a popular technique that many photographers use to great effect, and not just with the night sky. Light paintings are long exposures that cause points of light to blur and travel, creating interesting photographs that are scribemled with light. Many astrophotographers use this method to capture the rotation of the Earth through the movement of the points of light of the stars.

Time-lapse astronomy photo of the moon traveling across the sky.

Time Lapse

Time-lapse astrophotography is the process of setting up a camera to take photos at regular intervals and then combining those photos into a video, so you can see movements over a long period of time. If you’ve ever seen a video of the sun rising really fast, you’ve seen time-lapse photos.

Capturing a field of stars, or starscape, with space photography.

Starscapes

Capturing a massive view of the stars requires equipment and know-how, but the results can be spectacular, producing views of the stars that you’d be otherwise unable to capture with the naked eye. 

Shooting a close-up of the moon with astrophotography techniques.

Close-Ups

Using a telescope, you can take truly spectacular images of celestial bodies. This style of photography requires a bit more equipment than your standard photo adventure. 

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Start exploring the Milky Way with your camera.

The night sky can be the ultimate canvas for a photographer — there’s something magnetic about it that keeps people looking up at the stars. With the right equipment and knowledge, you can take gorgeous pictures of everything from star clusters to the new moon, joining your fellow astrophotographers in mapping out deep space. 
 

Be intentional with long exposures.

before you set out on any photography venture, define your intentions. What kinds of photos do you want to take? Do you have the equipment and knowledge to do it? Explore these possibilities to discover which ones seem most interesting to you. 

Astrophotography Lenses – beyond the f-number | Fischer Photography

Celestial Objects To Observe.

Vega

While we may quibble about how to pronounce its name, there's no denying that Vega is one of the most fascinating and useful stars in the heavens.

Vesta

Vesta's bright and easy to find in binoculars and maybe even with the naked eye in late summer skies. It's also just as easy to acquire a piece of it without a multi-billion dollar space mission.

Prairie Skies

The Nebraska Star Party offers truly dark skies enjoyed by veteran observers and first-timers alike.

Rasalhague

Rasalhague, a star rotating so fast it has squashed itself, has a fascinating connection to the mythology of healing.

Perseid

Don't use a full Moon pass to skip this year's Perseid meteor shower. Right here, right now, we're going to help you make the most of it.

ISO: ISO refers to how light sensitive the film in your camera is. In modern digital cameras, it refers to the sensitivity of the sensor in the camera to light. Higher ISO settings will result in brighter images, but they will also increase the graininess of your images. For astrophotography, you want to keep the ISO as low as you can, while still enhancing the light sensitivity, in order to keep your images of the sky as crisp and clear as possible.
Shutter speed: Shutter speed determines how long the shutter on your camera is going to remain open and allow light to hit the film in your camera or its digital sensor. It’s measured in relation to seconds, so a fast shutter speed might be 1/1,000 of a second, while a slow speed might be one second. For night photography, you’re going to have to use a tripod, because you need to use really slow shutter speeds, and you don’t want your image to blur. Try exposures of 5, 8, or even 10 seconds, and examine your results to see what looks best.
Aperture: You’ll likely need to use a lower aperture setting (called an f-stop), because while higher f-stops will allow for an image with more depth of field, it will be difficult to get enough light for a good exposure. because you’re not likely to be drawing attention to depth of field in photos of the stars, higher aperture settings will be the way to go (with exceptions of course).

Find the right tools & camera settings.

Once you’ve determined what type of photography you’re interested in, it’s time to get your tools together.

While smartphone cameras are making enormous technological leaps, you’re going to want the benefits of a DSLR camera with interchangeable lenses. And no matter what type of night sky photography you’ve chosen to shoot, a tripod is a must.

If you want to do astrophotography or night photography, you want cameras with larger sensors.

It’s also a good idea to invest in a digital camera with high ISO potential. “If you want to do astrophotography or night photography, you want cameras with larger sensors,” says photographer Derek boyd. “High-quality cameras that shoot ISO 6,400 and up are going to give you cleaner images.” Proper camera settings are key for succeeding in astrophotography.

If you’re looking to create a deep sky photography rig for capturing detailed images of celestial bodies, you’ll need some more-advanced equipment — most likely an equatorial mount, a telescope, a guide telescope, and a few other pieces of necessary equipment.

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Top 6 best Nikon Z Lenses for Astrophotography - Lensguide.io

Explore these to start building your astrophotography editing skills:

Astrophotography is one of the more equipment-intensive and technical forms of photography, but with an open mind and an entrepreneurial attitude, you can produce astounding images that make everyone want to stargaze. Remember, astrophotography is an adventure. Anthony Pidgeon, a long-time professional photographer, has this advice: “With night (and astro) photography, embrace the random things that happen. You can come up with some really cool stuff if you’re more in that mindset.”

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