Pleiades, Jupiter, Venus & Aldebaran. Twin Sisters Peak, RMNP, Colorado, 2012
I don’t know about you, but I’ve always wanted to take decent pictures of the stars (as colorful points of light) and of the Milky Way Galaxy. As of now, though, I have not one “keeper” from all of my attempts. (The above meager attempt is about as close as I have gotten to “night, star photography”…and note that it is really a pre-dawn image, not a night one.)
Well…Last month we were lucky enough to have an expert in night, star photography–David Kingham, from Ft. Collins, Colorado–speak at our Colorado Nature Camera Club meeting. Apart from his inspirational images (click on the link in that last sentence to go to his website), he had some interesting things to say about the gear he uses for his star photography. His comments gave me hope that someday I might actually succeed in my night photography endeavors.
A very brief summary of some key points:
–A full frame DSLR beats a crop factor DSLR by far. Full-frame is almost mandatory.
–Manual focus Rokinon lenses work great (less coma) and are reasonably cheap. Good choices: 14mm f/2.8, 35mm f/1.4, and 24mm f/1.4
–A sturdy tripod is mandatory.
–Proper focus is paramount.
–A good starting point for settings: ISO 3200, f/2.8, 20-second exposure.
To see a great summary in more detail, check out these blog entries on David’s website:
Ten Steps to Photograph the Milky Way (link no longer active)
Recommended Cameras for Night Photography (link no longer active)
You’ll be surprised at how easy and inexpensive (assuming you already have a full-frame DSLR) it might be to start trying for some of those spectacular Milky Way images you have always admired. (One last suggestion: Google “light painting” and try that out to make your night sky images even more interesting.)
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