Photo tip of the week: How to shoot the milky way

By Luke Tscharke | 27 April 2017

While it’s one thing to be struck by the splendour of the Milky Way, capturing it in a single photo can be challenging. Here's how to plan and execute the perfect Milky Way photo shoot.

This is a composite of two frames, the top being a long-exposure zoom on the Milky Way and the bottom a self-portrait. I wanted to create a dramatic scene – what could be more dramatic than an exploding galaxy? Sony A7S, Canon EF 24-70mm f/2.8 II lens and Samyang 14mm f/2.8 lens, both exposures 25s @ f/2.8, ISO 8000, tripod.

Planning your location is key

In order to capture clear images it is hugely important you choose a location that doesn’t have much light pollution. To get shots of the Milky Way you need to adjust the ISO so the sensor is very sensitive to light. The downside is that any ambient light in your field of view will also be brighter and can have the effect of washing out the stars.

Light pollution is generally worst around big cities, and for that reason you will generally get better shots in the countryside. There are websites like darksitefinder.com, which are really useful if you want to find the perfect spot away from light pollution. Once you’ve scouted out your dark sky location it is useful to pay a visit during the day. This will help you pick your composition before you return in the dark.

You don’t have to leave the city limits of Sydney to capture the Milky Way. Barrenjoey Headland offers spectacular viewing and I had a super clear evening on this visit. Sony A7S, Canon 17mm TS-E tilt-shift lens, 15s @ f/4, ISO 12800, tripod.

Check the moon phase and Milky Way position

An illuminated moon can do just as much to wash out a starry sky as nearby city lights, so you need to pick a time for your shoot when the moon phase is favourable. For super dark skies pick a time around the new moon. Having a little bit of moonlight can be beneficial to naturally light the scene, so if the moon’s luminosity is less than 15 per cent it’s still worth a try. You can still capture the Milky Way in other moon phases, just check the moon-rise and moon-set times as skies will be darker after moon-set.

Understanding where and when the Milky Way will be in the sky is crucial to a successful shoot. Programs like PhotoPillls (iOS), Plan it for Photographers (Android), The Photographers Ephemeris (Android, iOS, desktop) and Stellarium (desktop) will help you work out where and at what time the Milky Way will be positioned relative to your subject. I personally use the augmented reality mode in PhotoPills to plan the Milky Way position for my shoots.

The galactic core of the Milky Way changes position in the sky depending on the time of year. In early January it is visible on the eastern horizon for only a brief period in the early morning before the rising sun washes out the sky. By the months of May and June the Milky Way rises over the eastern horizon just after sunset, allowing amazing shots of it hanging over the ocean in the eastern states. Towards August and September the galactic core becomes visible in the western sky as a large arc in the evening. Eventually by late November the galactic core is only visible as a small sliver on the horizon in the western sky after sunset. From early December you will not see it in the night sky again until January.

I got up early one March morning to photograph the moon rising over Mount Banks in the Blue Mountains, NSW. Luckily there was a beautiful cloud inversion in the Grose Valley and the moon wasn’t so bright that it washed out the Milky Way. Sony A7RII, Samyang 14mm f/2.8 lens, 20s @ f/2.8, ISO 2500, tripod. Median stacked in Adobe Photoshop.

Pick the weather

There are few things more frustrating than a huge bank of cloud moving in and ruining your shoot after all that preparation.
Apart from the standard weather apps like WillyWeather and Weatherzone, you can check the forecast conditions for your shoot using websites like skippysky or cloudfreenight.

The dewpoint is another parameter worth checking. If the dewpoint is above the ambient temperature, then condensation is more likely to form on the equipment. A common solution is to strap an activated hand warmer (you can buy them at outdoor supply shops) to the lens using a rubber band. By raising the temperature of the lens above the dewpoint, it should stop condensation from forming.

The ‘Superman’ barn in Breeza, NSW. We received permission from the owners to shoot here and were treated to a great display of the stars before sunrise. This image was taken in the second week of January showing that the Milky Way can be photographed quite early in the year if you’re prepared for a 3am wake up! Sony A7S, Samyang 14mm f/2.8 lens, 25s @f/2.8, ISO 8000, tripod.

Understand your camera’s low-light performance

These days, most digital cameras are good enough to capture the Milky Way, though it certainly helps to have a camera that’s capable of producing clean images at high ISO settings. In astrophotography you often need to set the camera’s ISO above 4,000, just so the sensor can pick up the faint light of the distant stars. At those kind of sensitivity levels, the background noise in your images will increase. The question is, how much, and this varies from camera to camera.

I use a Sony A7S camera for my astrophotography, which lets me shoot at ISOs as high as 12800. This camera has a large, full-frame sensor but offers a relatively small 12-megapixel resolution. The advantage of this setup is that the photosites on the sensor are much larger than higher resolution cameras. If you think of a camera sensor as millions of little light cavities or ‘buckets’ then the bigger these buckets are, the more light they can capture.

If you are not sure which ISO is best for your camera, a common starting point is ISO 3200. Start there and adjust up or down depending on how much noise you see in the final image. If there’s too much noise, reduce the ISO by half. If your images are still quite clean at 3200, double the ISO and try again.

It was so cold when I took this photo my breath kept freezing onto the front of the lens. I had to hold my breath each time I pressed the shutter button to capture a clear image. My friends waited patiently, looking towards the Milky Way – their breath is illuminated by the beams of their head torches. Sony A7S, Samyang 14mm f/2.8 lens, 20s @f/2.8, ISO 16000, tripod.

Keep it steady

As the shutter will need to be open for a long time during the exposure, you’ll need a sturdy tripod to keep your camera still. This is particularly important if you are shooting star trails, where subtle movements of the tripod can be a nightmare to correct in post processing.

A shutter release cable is handy if you need to use bulb mode. Most cameras have 30 seconds as the longest exposure time and if you need to go beyond this you will have to use bulb mode. To capture stars without trails you may find 30 seconds is sufficient, and therefore a shutter release cable may not be required.

There is very little light pollution in the Outback and with beautiful clear skies the Milky Way can be seen clearly with the naked eye. I was fortunate to get this photograph just after sunset – one of the highlights of my photographic career. Sony A7S, Samyang 14mm f/2.8 lens, 25s @f/2.8, ISO 5000, tripod.

The right lens

Wide-angle lenses are generally best for astrophotography as they fit more of the sky in the frame. The Samyang 14mm f/2.8 is great value and quite popular for astrophotography – I use it for most of my night images. Another advantage of wide-angle lenses is they allow longer exposures before star trailing is evident in the frame. When you use a lens with a longer focal length the stars are comparatively larger in the frame, and consequently the star movement is more noticeable earlier into your exposure. Use the widest aperture of your lens to allow as much light into the sensor as possible. Lenses with maximum apertures of f/2.8 are popular in astrophotography for this reason.

On the island of Tanna, Vanuatu, we planned the best time to capture the Milky Way. We got up very early in the morning and headed down to a long jetty. A 24-70mm lens helped compress the scene making the galactic core appear larger against the structure in the foreground.
Sony A7S, Sony 24-70 f/2.8 GM lens, 15s @ f/2.8, ISO 8000, tripod. — On the island of Tanna, Vanuatu, we planned the best time to capture the Milky Way. We got up very early in the morning and headed down to a long jetty. A 24-70mm lens helped compress the scene making the galactic core appear larger against the structure in the foreground. Sony A7S, Sony 24-70 f/2.8 GM lens, 15s @ f/2.8, ISO 8000, tripod.

Focus in the dark

Obtaining critical focus in the dark can be tricky. Even the best autofocus systems struggle at night so switch your lens to manual focus. From here, just set the focus distance to infinity. Just be aware this may render your foreground out of focus if it is close to your camera, especially if you are shooting at f/2.8. If the foreground is reasonably close you might find it helps to back off from infinity slightly. This is another advantage of working with wide-angle lenses as they deliver more depth of field, and most of the scene should be sharp even at f/2.8 – as long as you focus correctly.

Trial and error may be required to get it right, and don’t forget to review your images to confirm they are in focus. It’s a lot better to check in the field and reshoot as required, than to get home and find all your images are soft. I am speaking from experience here!

The Warrumbungles, NSW, is now designated as a dark sky reserve. I noticed these fire-ravaged trees pointing back towards the imposing figure of Belougery Spire, with the Milky Way behind. Sony A7S, Samyang 14mm f/2.8 lens, 25s @ f/2.8, ISO 6400, tripod.

Get your exposure right

Selecting the best shutter speed (exposure time) depends on some of the factors we’ve already mentioned. The key is to know your focal length as this will determine your maximum shutter speed in order to avoid star trails. As a general rule, dividing 500 by the focal length of the lens (full frame equivalent) will determine this maximum shutter speed. For example 500 divided by 24 is 21. Therefore, for a 24mm lens on a full frame camera, your exposure time should be 21 seconds or less if you want your stars to appear nice and sharp. This is just a rule of thumb and it’s worth experimenting to see what works best for you and your camera. If I’m shooting with my 42-megapixel A7RII I tend to find that using 400, rather than 500, produces a more accurate maximum shutter speed.

Post processing

Post processing is really important with Milky Way shots. Good noise reduction software like Nik Define will help you clean your shots up. You can also increase the black level and contrast to bring out the sky and make the stars pop. The clarity and dehaze sliders in Adobe Lightroom and Adobe Camera Raw can have a big impact in bringing more detail out in the sky, but be careful not to overdo it. ❂