The Milky Way photo Tips:
1. Look at sky report, try to avoid moon, eg, Sky Report in Southern Cal: http://www.griffithobs.org/skyreport.html
2. Avoid city, find dark place.
3. Use some apps on the phone/computer to identify stars: Stellarium, Startracker,.etc
4.DSLR,Tripod,Shutter Release. Use wide angle: 24mm, 14mm,.etc
Then ->Compose photo->Mirror Lock up->Shutter Release(Or self-timer)
5. Manual mode, set manual focus (MF) to infinity or far away
set 30 sec exposure time
Use max aperture available: f/2.8 f/1.4 .,etc
ISO: if F/1.4 -> 1600 if F/2.8 -> 6400
6. Set White balance to Tungsten (try around 4000k) or adjust later in photoshop. Also increasing contrast.
Star Trail tips:
1.Using the above method to get multiple shoots, eg: 100 shoots. (It’s better to point at the North Star) Use some shutter release cable, or use the camera build-in interval shooting function(if have).
2. Using Photoshop: File->Scripts->Load files into stack
3. choose all the layers and set “Layer Blending options” to “lighten”
3. Adjust other parameters as you like.
Done
Continue reading Photograph the Milky Way and Star Trail photos