Breaking Into Astrophotography: Part 2 - Capturing the Milky Way

The wonders of the night sky fill the imagination as far as the expansion of the universe itself. Hidden deceptively out of sight with just a hint of haze indicating anything at all is there, the center of our own galaxy beacons to us to search for it. On a clear dark night, it calls to us to gaze upon its story, and as photographers, we can use simple, everyday photographic equipment to accumulate the light in such a way as to reveal the magical nature of our part of the universe, The Milky Way Galaxy. In Part 2 of Breaking Into Astrophotography, we will take a look at how to capture this wonderful example of the night sky.

There are many misconceptions about photographing the night sky. Many good photographers I have spoken too about the subject often seem to think you need to have a powerful telescope with special built in computerized tracking equipment. Nothing could be further from the truth. The only equipment you need is a digital camera equipped with a wide angle lens and a sturdy tripod. With this simple setup, you can capture the night sky in all of her glory. However, there are a few preliminary things you need to know first before taking full advantage of the opportunity.

What You Need To Know:  The light you are attempting to capture has traveled to us from, in some cases, tens of thousands of light years away, and in other cases over hundreds of thousands and even millions of light years away. A light year of course is the distance light will travel at 186,000 miles per second in one year. That's a long, long ways and multiply that by thousands of years...well you get the idea at just how far away these things are and how faint the light truly is once it arrives.

The Milky Way Galaxy is what is known as a Barred Spiral Galaxy. This means the center of the galaxy resembles a stretched out bar-like area of stars with multiple pinwheel like spirals whirling out and away creating a tumbling wheel like appearance almost like a flat tumble weed spinning in space.

Our solar system which includes our sun and all of the planets resides way out in the suburbs along one of the minor spiral arms...roughly a little over halfway out from the center. We, along with all the planets, orbit around the sun at an incline to the overall plane of the Milky Way. From our vantage point we see the Milky Way edge on, however, because of our orbit around the sun and the seasons, the center of the Milky Way is only visible to us during the summer months in the northern hemisphere. That is because our night sky faces toward the center during those months and away from the center toward the outer edges during the winter months. This is important to know when it comes to photographing the Milky Way for it is during the summer when it is most visible.

Where and When to Find it:  Although the Milky Way is visible beginning in the spring, it is only visible during the very early hours of the morning like 2:00 - 3:00 AMish, and then it will be low over the horizon. The best time to see it at a reasonable hour begins in late June through August with the optimum time being during the month of July. It can be found hovering reasonable early in the evening high in the sky as you look toward the south. It splits between the Constellations Sagittarius and Scorpius.

Goldpaint Images Photo

Camera Equipment:  To be able to capture the Milky you will need a sturdy tripod, any DSLR digital camera along with a wide angle lens, something like 14mm to 18mm. Your kit lens that came with the camera will work just fine. Also, you will most likely want to use a remote cable release because you will be taking long exposures and any movement of the camera will blur your images.

The Setup:  You will want to set your camera exposure on Manual and then set you shutter speed all the way down to the Bulb setting. Technically you can set the shutter to a 30 second exposure as well to accomplish what we are wanting to do. You will want to use the widest angle lens you have and set the aperture setting to it's widest opening...like f/2.8 or f/3.5...depending on the kind of lens you have. You will also want to set your White Balance to Auto and your ISO to something like 800 or 1600 to start with. When it comes focusing, you will put you lens/camera into manual focus mode, and rotate the focus ring all the way out to the infinity setting. When dong this, remember the actual infinity focus point is actually located slighting behind or before you reach the full rotation of the focus ring. So, turn it all the way out, the back it up a just a little to find you lens' best infinity focus.

Point your camera toward the Sagittarius / Scorpius constellations located low in the southern sky and using your cable release, fire off a 30 second exposure. You may want to download a sky tracker APP onto your phone which will help you find your way around the night sky.

You Need A Dark Sky:  In today's world especially if you live east of the Mississippi River you will encounter what is known as light pollution. This is that bubble of light emanating from towns and cities that pollutes the lower regions of the sky, especially near the horizons. Light Pollution can obscure the view of the stars and the Milky Way. To be able to effectively capture the Milky Way, you will need to move away from the city into a dark area several miles away. If you can place the city lights behind you and see the southern horizon without any lights, you will be able to capture better quality images. If  you are fortunate enough to live west of the Mississippi River, you will be able to find adequate dark spaces from which to operate not too far from the city. It might take a bit of creative research on your part to find a suitable location, but it is necessary in order to capture effective photographs of the Night Sky.

Also, you will need a clear, dark, moonless night. The moon is very bright and will fill the night sky with a bright light that will flood your camera and cause a white-out situation when making a long 30 second exposure. Hazy skies will reflect a lot of light pollution as well and will obscure the night sky much the same way a bright moon will.

Composing Your Shots:  Composition is just as important in photographing the night sky as it is in any other type of photography. You will want to line up the Milky Way so it presents a pleasing and interesting night sky story. There are features being captured like what is known as The Dark Horse region which is near the center of the Milky Way that provide a great structural anchor to your photos. Also, by including objects on the ground in your composition, you bring a sense of place and timeliness to the image. Barns, trees, skylines, rock formations, water reflections all make great backdrops. Just remember, there is more to capturing the night sky than simply pointing your camera skyward.

Why a 30 Second Exposure:  A 30 second exposure will be about the maximum amount of time you will be able to use because stars will begin to create long trails after much more time than that. It kind of depends on the type of lens you are using. An 18mm lens will let you easily shoot up to 30 seconds. With a 14mm lens, you might be able to increase it upwards to 40 seconds. But, use 28 or 35mm lens and you will be able to only use about 20 seconds. The longer the focal length of the lens, the more compressed the exposure times become. You can use a star tracking devise which offsets the movement of the stars across your field of view to increase your exposure times. The are several commercial ones available or you can construct an easy to build Barn Door Tracker that works quite well. This will be discussed in Part 3 of this series. However, they are not necessary to capture wonderful images of the night sky.

Post Processing:  Almost every digital photograph can benefit from a post processing tweak or two. Photographs of the night sky are no exceptions and in fact it is probably necessary to apply some post processing to obtain the best results. Post Processing needs to be limited to tweaks to contrast, brightness, and maybe saturation. I would recommend you shoot in the RAW format and/or open your JPG images as a RAW file using Photoshop. From here you can tweak the Exposure value, Blacks, Brightness, Contrast, Clarity, and Saturation, among other things to elevate the image from a nice basic capture into a real eye catcher.

There is a rising trend in the photographic world focused on capturing the wonders of the night sky. By employing simple methods, anyone can join this exciting form of photography. Capturing the night sky and especially the Milky Way is a wonderful extension of your photographic talents. With minimal effort, you can find a dark location and then with a little knowledge of the night sky, you can capture wonderful, eye opening photos. Give it a try sometime. You might discover a new and exciting way to express your photographic desires.

Breaking Into Astrophotography - How To Photograph The Moon

Astrophotography has become a real trend in the world of photography in recent years. As more and more people learn just how relatively easy it is, we are seeing some tremendous and fascinating photographs of the night sky being created. Even though the process is relatively easy, many photographers out there are still a bit hesitant to give it a try simply because they do not understand how to get started. We are going to take a look at how to break into this fascinating form of photography in a multi-part series called Breaking into Astrophotography. First up we will look at how to photograph the moon.

Forty Nine years ago this month (July, 1969) man first set foot upon the moon. What an adventure it was and I was fortunate enough to have been part of the generation who witnessed the birth, development, and ultimate success of America's manned space program. Every time I see the moon hovering high in the night sky, every time I watch a full moon rise slowly above the horizon, and on those summer evenings when I sit on my front porch in a rocking chair and stare at the brightness that is our moon, I am reminded of those events. Although dormant and secured away as memories, the excitement of those events still resides within me. Photographing our nearest celestial neighbor is always a fun adventure in itself. Doing so is actually quite easy, but there are some things you need to be aware of before you start.

Equipment you need:  First of all you will need two pieces of equipment; A study tripod and your camera/lens combination. The type of camera really does not matter so much, but your lens selection does. You will need to use some kind of telephoto lens. The longer the focal length the better something in the neighborhood of 400mm to 600mm will work best, however, you can use a 300mm and even a 200mm in a pinch. A basic 70 - 300 standard zoom lens works quite well. Another useful piece of equipment is a remote cable release.

Setup:  Actually there is no single way to photograph the moon, but there are some things to consider to make the process more rewarding. I usually will photograph the moon using Aperture Priority mode. The settings I select will vary, but basically I begin with ISO 100 and an f/stop of f/8. The light coming off the moon is actually reflected daylight so my White Balance is set to either Daylight or Auto, both seem to work equally well. I also will set the camera on Spot Focus using the center point within the viewfinder as the focus point. I will also set the camera metering mode to Spot Metering, again using the center point to meter from. This is important because if you use Matrix mode, the Moon being surrounded by a black sky will be over exposed because the black sky will skew the camera's meter reading into thinking it needs to alter the exposure to compensate for the dark area.

Taking the Shot:  Once you have your camera setting adjusted, it is simply a matter of pointing your camera at the moon making sure you place the center Spot Focus point and Spot Metering point squarely on the moon. Using a cable release, you depress the button halfway and hold to allow the camera to focus and set the exposure, then pause for a couple of seconds to allow any vibrations that might have been generated by the movement of the focus mechanism to dampen. Then press and release the shutter.

Post Processing:  Even with a 500 or 600 mm lens, the moon will still be rather small on the photo. During post processing, you can apply some creative cropping to enlarge its relative size and make it easier to see the various features you have captured. A 24 megapixel camera will have more than enough captured data to allow for some substantial cropping/enlarging. Simple adjustments to contrast, brightness, color and sharpness are that are required after that.

Best Time to Photograph the Moon:  Contrary to popular belief the best time to photograph the moon is not necessarily during a full moon. The best times are during one of the pre-full moon phases when there are more shadows which will make the craters and mountain ranges stand out more readily in relief. A 1/4 moon, or 1/2 thru 3/4 moon phase will offer a great deal more detail to see than a full moon. Now, photographing a full moon is still a great opportunity, but the best time to capture one is right after it rises above the eastern horizon, which is just after sundown. Doing so will allow you capture the moon in a more reddish or orange light. This is because the light reflecting off the moon must travel through a thicker part of the atmosphere and by doing so the light is shifted toward a red tint.

What to Look For:  Just photographing the moon although a fun activity, actually looking for and identifying specific features and areas on its surface adds a great deal to the enjoyment of the capture. Take notice of how many of the craters have a central peak and around their perimeters you will see high mountain ranges. Also take notice of the Maria, the dark areas of the moon and how they interact with the ridges and ranges. some craters will have bright rays spreading out in some cases for thousands of miles. With some creative cropping, you might even be able to see a single tall stand alone mountain casting a long shadow. If you are a math whiz, you might even be able to calculate the heights of those mountains.

Taking it to the Next Level:  The basic techniques of capturing photo's of the moon can be used by any photographer at almost any level. Once you grasp the basics, think about adding something in your foreground, or making double exposures.

There is little that stands in your way when it comes to creating exciting and interesting compositions involving the moon...just use your imagination and creative instincts.

Photographing the moon is an easy and rewarding way to break into Astro Photography. It is an activity requiring basic photographic equipment and you can start right in your own backyard. Give it a try sometime.

Where Are the Men of Vision?

I am one of a generation who was privileged to have witnessed possibly the most fantastic journey ever attempted by mankind, for I grew up during the golden age of man's conquest of space. It was an adventure filled with drama and danger, yet a journey also filled with wonder and awe. It was an effort initiated by men of vision, built by men of vision, and accomplished by men of vision, a vision where an element of significant history was created through the courage of those responsible.

From The Earth to the Moon is an HBO miniseries produced by Tom Hanks some twenty years ago now. The past two days I revisited those twelve episodes and was at once transported back to the days of my youth and was reminded again of just how amazing an adventure it truly was. Had it not been for that grand adventure, the days of my youth would have been mundane and insignificant. Because of it, they were consumed with the excited dreams and revelations of wonders fulfilled.

As the 49th anniversary of man's first landing on the moon comes and goes, most of us have probably forgotten the excitement of the first landing and the possibilities it represented. I sometimes wonder what adventures the youth of today have to cling to. Seems to me, there are few if any and the ones that are fall short of the grand nature of the Apollo Space Program.

America needs another such grand adventure to stir the imagination of the country. Such a thing would once again demand men of vision. We need to once again come together as one and work toward something that will benefit all of mankind, rekindled that sense of wonder, and open up new possibilities. Unfortunately, men of vision in this country are in short supply and often drowned under the weight of forced ideology of which there is an over abundance.

Politicians destroyed the heart of the space program way back when and it has never been the same. They did not destroy it so much thru a lack of funding, what was worse, they destroyed the very dream that elevated the concept of what it stood for through a lack of vision. They did this thru an agenda of ideological perception - where the misguided "my ideology is better than yours syndrome" prevails and serves only to stifle and if possible to destroy the other side of the political isle. Under such leadership, or lack of it more accurately, we as a nation have floundered toward mediocrity. No single leader, no single president, is the cause, but many in public office have contributed to this symptom, and we as citizens have allowed it to fester.

We as a nation need men of vision again, not more ideology. We need men ready to stand firm on truth in the face of negative opposition. We need men who want to elevate, not constantly oppose and deflate. We need our nation to quit pointing fingers to find fault, and ask again what can I do to be part of a solution and to no longer be part of the problem. We need men of courage who are not afraid to look inward to recognize and accept their own failures, then step forward ready to contribute to a grand cause. And most of all, we need a Grand Cause, something to once again employ the best this country has to offer. We need a Grand Adventure driven by men of vision.