stars

This Milky Way ‘FlightLapse’ Was Shot by an Airline Pilot

Here's a gorgeous nighttime timelapse shot from a different perspective: this "FlightLapse" was captured from the cockpit of a Swiss airliner during a flight from Zurich, Switzerland, to Sao Paulo, Brazil. It shows the world, glowing cities, and other airplanes passing below the Milky Way above.

The NPF Rule: A Formula for Sharp Star Photos Every Time

A common rule of thumb to figure out your maximum shutter speed for sharp stars at night is to divide 500 by your focal length. Sometimes it's called the 600 Rule or the 400 Rule or several other numbers that can be used depending on your sensor size. Unfortunately, it's a a very inaccurate rule today.

How to Find the Best ISO for Astrophotography: Dynamic Range and Noise

ISO is one of the three major exposure settings in the exposure triangle of a digital camera -- shutter time, f/number, and ISO. Of the three, it is ISO that is probably most misunderstood. Even more so than f/number. In fact, it is a common misconception that higher ISO settings will cause images to be noisier. In fact, the opposite is often true. Wait, what?

Wedding Photos Under the Milky Way and Northern Lights

About a year ago, I was asked if I would like to do a wedding photography at night. The bride Erika had seen a photo of a moon halo I took earlier that year. In that photo, I had two friends that I ran into that night. They were out chasing the northern lights and I asked if I could take a photo of them together with the moon halo.

Capturing the Milky Way with a Phone, Compared to the Sony a7R II

I just got back from Batanes as part of a large group of bloggers and other media people who were there to try out the photography features of the Asus Zenfone 3 line of mobile phones, courtesy of Asus Philippines. I was there mainly as a resource person on shooting the Milky Way, but I was intrigued about the possibility of pulling off Milky Way shots using a mobile phone.

Photographer Captures the Milky Way Mirrored on Flooded Salt Flats

The Salar de Uyuni in Bolivia is the world's largest salt flat, and a dream location for landscape photographers hunting for special shots. Russian photographer Daniel Kordan visited the salt flat at night and captured a set of photos showing the Milky Way being reflected by the flooded plain.

A Simple, Effective Noise Reduction Technique for Night Sky Photos

Noise reduction for night sky photos can be tricky, because the algorithms at play often reduce the sharpness of your stars while removing noise in the darkest parts of the sky. In this video tutorial, photographer Dave Morrow shows you how to avoid this issue altogether using a simple, effective editing technique.

How to Photograph the Milky Way

If you live in a remote area with dark skies, you are one of the lucky ones; the lucky ones that get to look up on a clear dark night and see a thick band of glowing light stretch across the sky.

Photographer Shoots a Self-Portrait with Star Trails

We recently shared a 52-week photo challenge you can do to improve you skills over the course of a year. The challenge for week #1 was "self portrait," and photographer Trevor Mahlmann completed it by creating this eye-popping photo, titled "The Universe At My Feet."

The Magic of a Student Astronomy Camp, Captured with the Sony a7S

The team at Uncage the Soul Productions followed 23 high school students around as they spent a week at the Oregon Museum of Science and Industry’s Astronomy Camp. The event was held during the 2015 Perseids Meteor shower and videographers were able to capture the reactions of students as they witnessed the beauty of space through their own eyes and, of course, a couple of DSLRs.

Starry Self-Portraits with the Northern Lights

Finnish photographer Tiina Törmänen wanted to capture how small and fragile humans are in the unfathomable expanse of space, so she shot a series of stunning self-portraits showing her silhouette dwarfed by a backdrop of stars and the Northern Lights. The series is titled "Wanderer."

Idea: Use a Long Exposure at Night to Shoot a Starry Double Image

This starry double exposure-style photograph was made using a single long exposure. Photographer Ted Schiele was 190 seconds into a long exposure photo of the night sky when he heard a car coming down the road. He then pointed his camera down towards the car and exposed the camera for another 13 seconds as it approached.

One Photographer’s Epic Self-Portraits in Front of Vast Landscapes

Nicholas Roemmelt is a landscape and wildlife photographer based in Austria who regularly puts on a backpack and takes his camera deep into the wilderness. In addition to shooting photos of nature by itself, the 40-year-old photographer will often step into his shots, creating epic self-portraits with his figure dwarfed by sweeping views of landscapes and the starry night sky.

This Experimental Time-Lapse Imagines Life Without Light Pollution

What kind of nighttime time-lapses could you shoot in cities like Los Angeles if light pollution weren't a problem? A couple of time-lapse photographers want to show you. They've created an experimental time-lapse that shows a sky full of stars and star trails over the light-polluted city of Los Angeles.

What the Naked Eye Sees in the Night Sky Compared to What the Camera Can Capture

The Internet is teeming with photographs and videos of the starry night sky that dazzle the eyes and tickle the imagination, but have you ever wondered how the imagery compares to what photographer's naked eye actually saw while the camera was taking a picture?

Photographer inefekt69 recently decided to answer that question by creating the photos above. On the left is what the human eye could see in the dark, outdoor field, and on the right is the photo he shared online.

What Outdoor Photos Would Look Like with Other Stars and Planets as Our Sun and Moon

The photo illustration above shows what a photo of a sunset here on Earth would look like if the sun were replaced with Arcturus, one of the brightest stars in our "neighborhood."

The Russian Federal Space Agency recently released a couple of "Alternative History" videos that imagine what the sky would look like if the Sun were replaced with other stars and if the moon were replaced with planets in our solar system.

Combination of Star Trails and Eroded Stone Make for One Incredible Time-Lapse

Star trail time-lapses can be absolutely beautiful, even mesmerizing. But as incredible as the stars themselves are, the foreground subject matter can really help to set the stage and take your images of the night sky to a whole new level.

WAVELIGHT by Gavin Heffernan and Harun Mehmedinovic is a perfect example of this. The duo used beautiful, eroded stone in Arizona as leading lines and contours that move your eye to the star trails, even as they add their own captivating tone to the entire creation.

On Photographing the Milky Way: An Ode to Astrophotography

Here’s a little inspiration and my answer to why we stay out late in the cold and the dark.

I was recently reminded of my first really successful attempt to photograph the Milky Way. I remember making that photo very clearly. Or rather, I remember not wanting to make it at all.

How to Photograph the Moon (Part 1)

Ever since I’ve owned a camera I’ve wanted to take photos of the night sky. When I first got a DSLR camera 5 or so years ago I thought getting decent shots wasn’t very likely with the inexpensive gear I had and it was something best left to the pros. It was only after I became comfortable with the manual mode on my camera that I realized that shooting at night was completely doable.

Bewitching Milky Way Timelapse Will Make You Want to Visit… Kazakhstan?

When you think night sky time-lapse, what are the first places that come to mind? Probably somewhere in Iceland, maybe a few spots in Hawaii, but one location that probably doesn't make the list is the country of Kazakhstan.

No, it's not just a punchline from the movie Borat. As photographer Denis Frantsouzov shows you in the mesmerizing time-lapse video above, it's also one of the best places to go if you want to capture the night sky.

From Prep Work to Post-Processing: An In-Depth Star Photography Tutorial

As a photographer, there is nothing more intriguing to me than the unknown. What’s out there and where will it lead me on my next adventure under the stars?

Upon taking my first photo of the stars, I came to realize it wasn’t even close to replicating what was in the skies above me. Nothing man-made will ever be perfect. There are always improvements to be made in the never-ending journey to replicate what nature has been producing for billions of years.

With practice, however, I was able to break down the physics behind capturing high quality star shots and start to produce some nice results. Over time, I’ve been able to perfect this recipe with actions and inputs in my camera; and, with words and knowledge, teaching others to capture this beauty on their own. With that in mind, here is my tutorial that will teach you how to take some awesome shots of the Milky Way and night sky.

How-To: Picking a Great Lens for Milky Way Photography

The lens is the most important factor in the image quality of a landscape astrophoto.

There are a number of lens traits that will determine the quality and usability of a camera lens for astrophotography. Let me explain what sort of thinking should go into choosing and using a lens for making astrophotography and Milky Way nightscapes.

Nighttime Photos Capture the Jersey Shore Like You’ve Never Seen it Before

When you think of the Jersey Shore what are the first things that come to mind? The beach? The ocean? The amusement park rides? Summer? But there is one sight that goes completely unnoticed by so many shore goers each and every year in the town of Cape May. That sight is the night sky!