How to Photograph the Night Sky

Sts. Cyril and Methodius Russian Orthodox Church, Hartshorne, Oklahoma. Photo by Wyatt Stanford

In September, I figured it was time to see if my photography skills were truly any good and posted one of my best night time pictures to KTUL Tulsa's Channel 8's Facebook page's for its weekly cover photo contest. It was chosen, and I received quite a bit of attention from it. Many people have since asked me what my secret is for photographing the night sky. I am dedicating this post to you. Here are my tips and secrets to photographing the night sky. 

The Basics

In order to take night sky pictures, you need to know a few things about camera settings. ISO is the camera's sensitivity to light. The higher the ISO, the more light the camera senses. ISO is tied to shutter speed. Shutter speed is how long the camera keeps the shutter open. This can be for small fractions of a second or for extended periods of time. For capturing stars in the sky, the ISO must be high and the shutter speed must be long, but not too long. Too long of a shutter speed may result in streaking stars. The last setting you need to know about is the f-number. Generally, you want to have an low-value f-number for night photography. A low f-number creates a wide aperture, so all that star light can make contact with the camera's sensor. 

What you will need

To take pictures at night, you will need a DSLR camera, or at least one that will allow long shutter speeds and high ISO. I use a Nikon 3300. Film cameras can be used for this as well, but I don't use film because I am too mistake prone. I recommend having a wide angle lens. If not, the kit lens will work perfectly fine. You need a lens with a short focal length so that the angle of the photo will be wide. In addition, I recommend a remote, which will reduce vibrations or movement while your camera is taking a photo. This is not necessary because most cameras have timer settings you can use instead. You will also need a tripod and photo-editing software for later. 

Focusing

This part is crucial. Before heading out, you need to focus your camera manually. In low light, a camera cannot focus using auto focus. Unless you have a full moon to help you, focusing will be impossible and your pictures will come out blurry. This video is very helpful. I like going outside while it is still daylight, placing the camera on a tripod and using the zoom function. Zooming in on a very distant object as far as the camera will zoom, I turn the focusing ring until that object is perfectly clear. At this point, the camera should be focused to infinity. 

Light Pollution 

In order to take clear, noise-free pictures, you will want to find a place with low light pollution. There are several apps available, or you can use this website. Too much light pollution will destroy a night time picture. There are techniques for taking night time pictures in high light pollution, but I would leave those to the experts. 

Time

The time of day should be considered. To get the best results, you will want to head out at least a good hour after the sun set. Also, pay attention to the moon cycle. If you want to take a picture of the Milky Way, you will want to take pictures in new moon phase or at a time when the moon sets early. 

Taking the Picture

Now, it is time to take some pictures. Go to your desired location and set your camera up. Angle the camera to whichever part of the night sky you want. You can include objects in the foreground to add interest to the picture. The settings I use are a shutter time of 

20 seconds, an ISO of 6400 or 12,800, depending on the amount of light pollution, and an f-stop as low as it will go. 

Editing

I could do a whole post on editing, which I will do later, but for now, just know that you can enhance the colors and lighting of your photographs. Photoshop as well as other photo-editing software, has a color balance tool that will help your pictures look more natural. 

These are just some of my tips and secrets. If you follow my techniques, you will take amazing night time pictures.