What is Milky Way Galaxy Photography? How to take beautiful milky way photos

Taking pictures of the Milky Way looks difficult but is quite easy. Now you can take beautiful Milky Way photos not only with your camera, but also with your phone. So how to take beautiful Milky Way photos? Let’s find out with Tnhelearning.edu.vn right here.

What is Milky Way photography?

The Milky Way, also known as the Milky Way, is a wonderful natural phenomenon. Photographing the Milky Way can be a challenge for any beginner photographer. To capture the majestic beauty of the night sky, people often take pictures of the Milky Way. So is shooting the Milky Way difficult? How to take pictures of the Milky Way?

Milky Way photography guide

Instructions for taking pictures of the Milky Way with a camera

To have a beautiful Milk Way photo, you need to prepare some of the following elements:

Shooting time

In Vietnam, the best time to shoot the Milky Way is between January and July . After this time, the Milky Way appears during the day so you can’t see it. In addition, you should look to a place far away from the city, houses, and roads with lights to limit the light reflected and cause glare.

Because the Milky Way varies from southeast to southwest on the horizon over time, the best time to photograph the Milky Way will also depend on the type of photography because of the Milky Way’s location.

Necessary equipment

• Tripod: Because the shooting time is at night, a long exposure is required on the camera. Therefore, a tripod will greatly support your photography process.
• Camera and Lens : This is definitely an indispensable device when taking pictures of the Milky Way. To take good photos, you need to choose the widest angle lens possible with a minimum aperture of F/2.8 .
• L-Plate : L-Plate not only has the function of protecting the camera, it also makes it easier for you to operate the camera with a tripod. If you can afford it, it’s best to buy yourself an L-Plate.
• Remote control (Shutter Remote): To avoid shaking and blurring the image, you should prepare a Shutter Remote to help support your Milk Way photography process.

Camera specs

• First you need to set the device to M mode . Next choose RAW images for the best post-production.
• The formula for calculating the appropriate exposure time for Milky Way photography is as follows: Appropriate exposure time = 500/lens focal length. Avoid long exposures that will form light streaks on the image.

• Open the widest aperture, the larger the aperture, the better the shutter speed.
• ISO then you should try setting between 1600 – 3200 . Let’s start at 1600, if it’s still not clear then increase the parameter gradually.

Post-processing

Post-processing is a very important step to creating a beautiful Milky Way image. Depending on your forte, you can use Photoshop or Lightroom software.

First, select the image you like best and open it in Photoshop, then use Photoshop’s built-in Camera Raw tool to edit a few things:

• Gently drag the Exposure bar to make the photo brighter.
• Lower the Highlightlight to help the details in the photo stand out.
• Increase the Clarity bar to 100% to make the banks appear clearer and brighter.
• Noise Reduction: In the Noise Reduction section, drag the Luminance bar until the image is less noisy, depending on the image, drag this bar to a moderate level.
• Drag the Amount bar in the Sharpening section to make the image sharp.

However, depending on the image quality and perception of each person, there are different levels of adjustment.

Instructions for taking photos of Milky with Smartphone

If you do not have a camera, rest assured because just a Smartphone can help you take beautiful Milky Way photos.

Similar to the above, to take pictures of Milky Way with Smartphone, you need to prepare yourself the following factors:

Shooting time

Similar to capturing the Milky Way with a camera, taking a good photo requires proper timing. Shooting time is about 11am – 3pm (in July).

Besides, you need to find yourself a location where there is no light pollution (excessive or annoying artificial light) or low light intensity. In addition, a good photo of the Milky Way depends much on the weather, you should not take photos when it is cloudy or the moon is not in the same direction or near the Milkway .

Necessary equipment

• Smartphones are capable of long exposures of more than 20s.
• A tripod ( tripod ).
• Remote or software that can take pictures on its own (e.g. Intervalometer ).
• If you are not an astronomical person and can’t find galaxies, you need help with galaxy finder apps. For iOS we have applications: Sky Guide, PhotoPills .

Shooting parameters

For phones, adjusting Milky Way photography parameters is relatively simple compared to taking Milky Way photos with a camera.

• First you need to set the shooting mode to save RAW images if your phone has support for the best image quality. Then switch to pro mode so you can control the speed, aperture, and ISO.

• Next, you should focus manually because the shooting environment is quite dark, your phone will hardly be able to autofocus. Next move on to adjusting the shutter speed as long as possible.
• ISO will vary depending on the lighting conditions you are shooting, usually in the range of 800 – 1600. However, you should choose the IOS level below 1600 to avoid making the image out of focus, poor quality.
• Next, you just need to take multiple photos to choose the best one . To avoid image shake during shooting, it is recommended that you enable the self-timer.

Post-processing

Post-processing will determine up to 50% of your photos whether or not they are good or not. After taking a photo, you should save the image as a RAM file for easy photo editing. To have good quality photos after processing, you should use Photoshop or Lightroom software to edit.

However, if you are not familiar with the editing parameters, you can also use mobile apps like Lightroom CC or Photoshop Mix to process photos.

For post-processing of images on a computer, after choosing a picture you like, you need to edit some of the following parameters:

• Exposure Bar: Swipe up to make your photo brighter.
• Highlight bar: drag to the negative part to help the details in the image stand out.
• Clarity bar: pull up 100% to make the galaxy visible on the image. However, depending on the image element, you need to align the Clarity bar accordingly.
• Noise Reduction: To remove Noise, you need to drag the Luminance bar until the image is less Noise.
• Amount bar: After noise reduction, you need to adjust the Amount bar to refocus the image.

Above is how to take pictures of the Milky Way, hopefully the above article can help you take beautiful galaxy photos. Any questions please leave a comment below!