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How to Photograph the Elusive Milky way
You have seen many spectacular photos of night sky and milky way. Have you ever wonder how those photographs were shot? No, those are not digital art made in image editing software. Those were shot in camera where some special techniques are involved. I'm going to give you all the tips you need to produce such image. But you would need to practice a lot before you can master them. I will first list the gadgets you would need, followed by the soft skills you need to master.
Dark Site:
This shot was taken in Nikon D850, Nikon AFS 14-24 mm f/2.8 at 14mm f/2.8 and ISO 3200, exposure duration 25 secs. The foreground was illuminated by the headlights of few passing vehicles. I had several images that were washed out duo to the bright headlights of the approaching cars. This is the only one where no cars was approaching from the other side.
This shot was taken in Nikon D850, Nikon AFS 24-70mm f/2.8 at 24 mm f/2.8 and ISO 3200, exposure duration 20 secs.This was shot in Davenport Beach, California. Here I did the light painting on both the stones.
The Gadgets:
- A Sturdy Tripod
- A Camera with capabilities to shoot for 15-30 secs exposure at ISO 1500-4000.
- An Wide Angle Lens ( focal length 24 mm or lower) with wider aperture (f/2.8 or lower)
- Remote shutter release or cable release - recommended but not mandatory
- A flash light - maybe a powerful one
The Time Table:
If you live in rural area where the light pollution is minimum, you may have noticed the milky way is not visible throughout the year. You can only see it at certain time in the sky. Besides the moon also interfere a lot with milky way visibility. So you need the visibility time table handy to photograph the milky way. If you can't see it in the sky, your camera can't see it either.
Here is the approximate time table for your reference:
Month | Best Time | Moon's Phase |
January | Not visible | N/A |
February | Not Visible | N/A |
March | Visible just before sunrise but not good for photography | N/A |
April | About 4 am to Sunrise | New moon to 1 QTR |
May | From 3 am to 6 am | New moon to 1 QTR |
June | From 10 pm to 3 am | New moon |
July | Right after Dark to midnight | 3 qtr to new moon |
August | Right after Dark to 11 pm | 3 qtr to new moon |
September | Right after Dark to 10 pm | 3 qtr to new moon |
October | Visible just for a while after sunset for not good for photography | 3 qtr to new moon |
November | Not Visible | N/A |
December | Not visible | N/A |
Dark Site:
The cities and it's neighborhoods are too bright to see milky way, let alone photographing it. You would need to drive off to a less light polluted areas where you can see the night sky clearly. An examples of such place would be mountain tops, remote beaches, or national parks etc. Here is a link to Dark Site Finder that you can use to locate nearest dark area to you.
The Foreground:
A milky way shot need to be nicely composed with some interesting object in the foreground of the frame. Just the sky with full of stars would not be as interesting as one with some different object in the foreground of the frame. Be it something like a stone, a road, a tree, a house or some people. Use your creative mind to decide on your foreground object. As you practice with different types of foreground, you would find the right balance soon.
The STAR Trail Problem:
One of the main problem in night sky photography, especially for milky way is the star trail. If you keep your shutter opened for too long you would get star trail in your photo. This is because the Earth is rotating and it's relative position with respect to those stars changes in time.
One way to get ride of the star trail is to use a computerized tripod that can be programmed to compensate Earth's rotation, thus keeping the stars in the same sport in your image sensor. However, such tripods are expensive and mostly used in astrophotography. It would be an overkill to go for such tripod just to shoot milky way. You just need a regular tripod that can hold your camera lens combination steady.
To avoid star trail, your need to choose the right shutter speed based to the focal length of your lens. There are complex rules that includes aperture too but I would keep it simple. This is known as 500 rules where you divide 500 by the effective focal length of your lens. The number you would get would be the maximum shutter speed you could use.
Please note, I said "Effective Focal Length" and you need to pay attention here. The focal length you see in your lens is for the full frame cameras. The effective focal length for crop sensor cameras is 1.5 times of actual focal length. Here are 2 examples of maximum shutter speed calculation. However, below 15 secs is not recommended as the stars would not be bright enough in the frame.
- Nikon D850 Full Frame Camera
- Lens 20mm f/1.8
- Maximum Shutter Speed: (500/20 ) = 25 secs
- Nikon D500 Crop Sensor Camera
- Lens 20mm f/1.8
- Maximum Shutter Speed: (500/(20*1.5)) = 17 secs
There are many Night Sky photography gadgets that can compensate earth's rotation when properly calibrated with Polaris ( or Sigma Octantis in south pole). These gadgets e.g. 'Star Adventure pro or SkyGuider Pro' are not really required for milky way photography, rather useful for deep sky photography that would need much longer exposure beyond 30 secs. However, you can still use them to create HDR, panoramas etc.
ISO Number:
Every camera is unique in handling high ISO noise. This is something you need to experiment with your camera before you get to the right number. I would start with ISO 1600 and increase it if the stars are not bright enough. Increase the ISO or shutter speed or both till you get a right balance between star trail and noise.
OTHER Setting:
The first thing you should do in your camera is to turn off 'Long Exposure Noise Reduction'. If you don't, your camera will spend time in NR job between each exposure, equivalent to your exposure time. You don't need this in-camera noise reduction for long exposure shot. The rest of the settings like ISO, manual focus, and shutter speed have already been discussed.
The Shoot:
Ready to start shooting! You are almost there. Here are the list of things to check before you press the shutter release button.
- While it is still daylight, focus your lens to infinity or to a far away object and then turn the focus selector button in manual focus mode. Turn the camera focusing and exposure also into manual mode. Most modern lens focus ring rotates beyond infinity. So you can't just rotate the focus ring all the way and assume your focus is right. You would end up getting blurred images. Also please check before you shoot that your manual focus position is not disturbed since you fixed it last time.
- Choose your foreground object and mount your camera on the tripod. Keep the frame in balance between foreground and the night sky. Usually a rule of 3rd may be handy. However, photography is an art, no rules are written in stone.
- Choose the shutter speed and then use the remote or cable release to open the shutter or just press the shutter release button.
- Your foreground may not have enough light. So use the flash light to light paint your foreground. This is where a lot of practice could make it perfect.
- At the end of each shot, check the image in your camera LCD. If you are not satisfied, adjust the exposure and try again.
- Good Luck
Here are few example shots I took.
Milky Way Over Bixby Bridge, CA-1, California |
Milky Way - Davenport Beach, California |
More Night Sky photos are available in my Fine Art America Portfolio.
If you find this tips useful, please leave some positive comments and share with others. You may subscribe to this blog for future tips on 'how to photograph'.
You can order prints for these shots from Fine Art America.
You can license a Digital Copy for your business or personal use from Alamy
Metal Prints
Amazing Actionshots Present 'Metal Prints' to decorate your living room wall.
There are terrific landscapes from our national parks or around the world to choose from. I also have amazing wildlife shots in the portfolio. Select your favorite image and order a metal print, the larger the size, more beautiful the wall would look like. Check the whole portfolio Here
Mourning Dove Mating
I've been watching birds in my backyard during the entire covid-19 lock down. Probably that's one of the best thing I could do when venturing out for pleasure is forbidden. We got two feeders in the backyard, one for the hummingbirds and the other for the regular backyard birds.
The regular visitors in the feeder are 'Dark Eyed Junco', 'House Finch', 'Oak Titmouse', 'Chestnut-backed chickadee', and few other backyard birds. My wife has been busy with the camera most of the time. She sets the camera early morning on the tripod and rush to take few shots whenever she hears the bird chirping in the backyard.
On Friday evening, June 12, I was wrapping up my remote work for the week when I heard these Dove pair cooing in the backyard. I went behind the camera to check. They were still enjoying the seeds from the feeder. The male finished first and went to the fence. The female followed and landed next to the male. She slowly went closer to the male and gave him a soft poke. I was already taking shots of their every move. The next few minutes, I was entertained with their amazing display of love making. Here are the photographs of the whole series for my readers to visualize. Prints and digital downloads of these photos are available through 'Fine Art America'.
I've taken more than 100 shots starting from their foreplay till the end of their mating. I've put about 30 of them on Fine Art America. You can view the remaining shots in the collection, all compiled together and arranged from foreplay to end in the order. Please visit the collection here: Mourning Dove Mating
Amazing Action Catalog
The best way you can support my photography would be buying a print for your walls at home or office. You can browse and order from the catalog below. Your order will be processed and shipped by 'Fine Art America'. They offer excellent customer service with 30 days money back guaranteed, if you aren't satisfied for any reason
If you are looking for a digital image license for your advertising or any other needs, please follow the link for Fine Art America - PIXELS Store
Contact me if you need a discount on my commission part for any print or merchandise of your choice.
Whale Watching at Moss Landing
This was my 3rd whale watching trip, just wanted to see the magnificent animal leaping out of the water and slamming back on the ocean surface. Watching a whale breaching is really amazing and photographing that moment would be every wildlife photographer's dream. It does require a lot of luck and I was third time unlucky. Yet, this was the best whale watch trip, far better than my other two.
This is just outside the harbor, not far from the shore, you can see people on Kayak in the frame |
A pair diving Together |
A tail with white back |
Waterfall from the tail |
Barnacles on the tail |
More Barnacles |
Another pair, almost going down together |
This one is completely black |
Waterfall from Whale Tail |
The White Patches |
Anchovies all over the whale's back. These are the one escaped from the whale's mouth but some of them ended up as Sea Gull's Lunch. |
Rainbow |
Awesome Barnacles |
Beautiful WaterFall |
WaterFall from the Tail |
How I Got These Amazing Action Shots
Presenting some of my best action shots with the story about How I Got These Shot . I would appreciate your comment.
Photographing Havasupai - The Land of Turquoise Blue Waterfall
Deep inside the heart of Grand Canyon, Havasu Creek flow through the Supai Village where the American Indian has been living for more than 800 year. The Havasu Creek and Supai village together make it Havasupai, a land of many majestic waterfalls and natural beauty. There is not just one, or two but many waterfalls that you can touch, get soaked in, swim into or just sit on a rock with your feet immersed into the water. That's what make the place spacial. We have waterfall at many places around the world, but there are not many where you can swim around it. The best part of it, the water temperature is just perfect, about 70 degree Fahrenheit year around.
The Havasu Fall at Full Moon Night |
The Beautiful Canyon Walls |
- Hike Down the 10 miles trail with your full camping gears
- Give your hiking bags to pack mules (fees apply), then hike down with your day pack & photography gears.
- Take a helicopter ride to Supai and miss all the fun
From a photographer's point of view, option 2 is favorable. It's not easy to photograph everything you want to, while a 40 lbs hiking bag is attached to your back. There are time when you would need to go low on the ground to frame your shot which you can't do with such a huge bag attached to your back. However, you could take your bag while hiking in, and give it to pack mules while hiking out.
Recommended Camera Gears:
In present days, anyone with a cellphone is a photographer. They obviously take some good pictures with the phone camera but sometime they would argue that the phone camera could do everything that those bulky DSLR can. If you are one of those, then this blog is not useful for you. My recommendation is for advanced photographers or hobbyist who see photography as an art that can be perfected with practice and an appropriate gears.
- A Camera that allows bulb exposure: You will need bulb exposure / long time exposure to shoot milky way, waterfall at night.
- Extra batteries and memory cards: There is no electricity to charge your batteries and you don't wanna run out of memory card on day 2. So carry some extras.
- Cable Release / Remote ( for bulb exposure ): Anytime your shutter speed drops below 1/30 sec, it's better to use a remote trigger.
- A sturdy Tripod: Without a tripod, you can't shoot silky smooth waterfall, or the milky way.
- Wide angle lens : Everything is so close to you that you can feel them. So if you wanna fit them in your frame, you need wide angle lens. I've used a 16-35mm f4, and a 16mm fisheye. That was enough for me.
- ND filters and UV filter: You need the UV filter to protect your lens's front element from the abrasive mineral residue from the mist.
- Lens Cleaning Kit: It's dusty in the trail and mist near the water fall. You should have a lens pen to brush of the dust and a microfiber cleaning cloths to wipe the moisture.
- Flash Light: If you wanna hike near the waterfall at night and lit up the fall, you need a flash light. It also help to lit up some foreground object while you shoot milky way.
- Rain Cover: If you wanna get too close to the waterfall, you need to protect your lens and camera from getting soaked.
Photographing Opportunities
The Canyon Trail:
The Trail |
Whether you are hiking down to Supai or returning, you will see the majestic beauty of the canyon that invites you to click the shutter release button in every few steps you take. The temptation would be enormous. Only, if you ferry your bag with the pack Mules, you would be able to shoot as much as you desire.
This giant rock would come to your sight once you hiked down to the flat land inside the canyon. It is just beautiful. You can't probably guess the size, unless you are really under it | |
The Giant Rock |
Mystic Trail Under the Canyon Wall |
t |
Another Beautiful Rock |
There are rocks everywhere but some would stop you to look back and appreciate their beauty. This one is huge and the erosion made the edge wavy.
The Waterfall:
Then there are waterfalls. This is the land of waterfalls. If you love swimming, then this would be the toughest moment for you. You can't decide whether to jump into the water or stay dry to shoot the waterfall.
Mooney Fall |
The Mooney Fall is the most challenging one to photograph. There are mist everywhere. You take your camera out, before you knew it, the lens would be covered with the mist, and if you are not careful enough, soon it would be soaked. So take all the precaution to protect your gears while photographing Mooney .
Havasu Fall |
The Havasu Fall is the most admired and easiest to photograph. It is easily accessible, closest to camp (north side), does not require any ladder climbing. You will find lots of people swimming here. This is the place where you can photograph the fall from a distance without worrying about getting your camera wet.
When you enter the campground area for the first time, you see the Havasu Fall first.
When you enter the campground area for the first time, you see the Havasu Fall first.
The Beautiful Fifty Feet Fall |
The Creek and Rapids:
There are rapids in every few hundred yards of the creek. And there are places where the creek is calm, but with the combination of vegetation and canyon walls, the beauty is enormous.
Beaver Fall |
The Milky way:
This is the kingdom of far far away, with no light pollution around it. There ain't a better place to shoot milky way. However, you need to check the lunar calendar and time your travel date accordingly to shoot milky way. I was there during a full moon night, so there was no chance of shooting milky way. But I did shoot my tent with the night sky while others were sleeping.
The Campground at Full Moon Night |
The People:
Last but not the least, you get a lot of happy people to photograph. Just make sure you have their consent.
There are several friends who wanted to have their picture taken with a silky smooth waterfall in the background. That requires long exposure, but human can hardly hold still for that long. Result, I got blurred faces with silky smooth waterfall. My friends were obviously disappointed. But I did learn from this experiences. Such shot could only be done in two steps. The first frame you shoot the water fall with long exposure, and in the 2nd frame, you take the person's picture at regular shutter speed, faster than 1/60sec. Make sure your picture frame does not move between those exposures. You can post process those images to combine them as one.
Useful Information:
The land belongs to tribal and access to campground needs permit. All the useful information related to reservation and etiquette are well documented in this Facebook page Havasupai and Havasu Falls
Usually reservation for campground opens in February and sold out within 30 minutes. The online reservation site is Havasupai Campground Reservations
If you have any photography related questions, you could contact me for the same.
How To Clean DSLR Image Sensor
Back in the old days, we only cleaned our camera body. It was limited to external cleaning and blowing out dust from the mirror & focusing screen. The digital era added another component in that list, i.e. the Image Sensor. It is also the most delicate part of any DSLR. If you shoot in outdoor or change lens frequently, the chances are pretty high that your image sensor will gather some dust, maybe even few stubborn dirt that ruins your images.
Know When To Clean Image Sensor:
The only thing you need to do is to view your digital image at 1:1 enlargement. Almost all photo viewing / editing software has 1:1 enlargement setting. At 1:1 enlargement, scrutinize the image for tiny black ( or dark) dots or lines. You may not see anything in landscape shots if the whole frame is covered with objects / trees etc. They are more visible in blue or white cloud sky shot covering the whole frame. The best reference would be the blue sky covering the whole frame, or just a white screen. This is a 1:1 crop of blue sky shot, showing dart in the image sensor.
Tiny dots at 1:1 crop |
At 1:1 crop |
How To Clean The Image Sensor:
The fist place you should look into is your camera setting menu. If it has a 'clean image sensor' ( most Nikon camera has) in the menu, select that and press 'OK' button. I've no idea what it does internally, but I know it could remove small dust that are not so stubborn. Once, you have done this, take a shot of blue sky ( white cloud is OK too) and view your image in 1:1 magnification. You are in luck, if the image is clear. If not, read on.
Please note that image sensor is very delicate & sensitive component. It can be easily damaged by a tiny scratch from any foreign object. If you are not sure of handling sensitive electronic component, you must send it to any professional service center for cleaning. Nikon charges only $50 + shipping for cleaning image sensor. However, a damaged image sensor would need replacement that often cost more than $1000 for high end cameras. If you wanna do it by yourself, you risk damaging the sensor.
What You Need To DIY:
The first task is to identify the image sensor size. The full frame camera image sensor is 36 X 24 mm across the brands. Whereas APS-C camera sensor size varies by brand. You will need to get sensor cleaning swab as per your sensor size. Purchase that as per your sensor size. There are few other items you would need, here is the full list.
- Sensor cleaning swab as per the sensor size ( at least 2 )
- Rocket Blower ( also known as blower brush )
- A small flash light
- A magnifying glass
- Lens cleaning solution
- Fully charged camera battery
The complete cleaning kit I used to clean full frame sensor |
The Process:
Insert the fully charge battery in your camera and remove the lens. Turn on the camera and go to the setting menu. Select the option that says 'Lock Mirror Up For Cleaning' and press OK. This will pop up a dialog that says "When Shutter Release Button Is Pressed, The Mirror Will be Locked UP, Turn the camera off to return to the main menu".
BTW, Nikon cameras will not allow you to perform this step unless the battery is fully charged. I don't know about canon or other brand, but they must be having similar restriction.
Now, press the shutter release button and verify the mirror is really up. You should be able to see the image sensor directly.
Next hold your camera up, with the opening face down. Gently pump the rocket blower, the nozzle tip should be at least 2 inches away from the sensor. Make sure, your hand do not shake and the nozzle tip of the blower never touches the sensor surface. This will remove all loose dust & dirt. You should not be needing more than 5 to 10 blows.
Once you are done with blowing, put the camera down on it's back, with the opening face up. Grab the flashlight and magnifier and inspect the sensor. Look at the placed where you see dirt in the image. Even if you don't see anything, you should still do the next step.
Unwrap one of the sensor cleaning swab. It might have instruction printed on the packaging. Gently place the swab at 60 degree angle at one end of the sensor and then slide toward the other end. You will need to make it 120 degree when you reach near the other end of the sensor, but make sure you go all the way, till the end. Now, do a reverse sweep till the start point. Put the swab back in it's wrapper, we might need it soon. This will remove moderately stubborn dirt.
Inspect the sensor with the magnifier and flash light again. If you are satisfied, switch off the camera, attach a lens, and shoot a image of blue sky or white screen. Transfer the image in your computer, and inspect at 1:1 magnification. If the dark spot are gone, your sensor is clean.
If you still see dirt from magnifier & light inspection or from 1:1 image on computer, we need to do a wet cleaning. Unwrapped the second new swab and spray it with lens cleaning solution. Now, repeat the step you did with the dry swab. If you saw any stubborn dart from magnifier & light inspection, you can sweep over that spot few more time. Now, put away the wet swab and run the dry swab again first forward and then backward. The chances are very high that all dirt are gone by now. Only in rear cases, you might need to repeat with first wet and then dry swab. Don't forget to verify with 1:1 magnification in the computer before you close this DIY project. Good luck.
Shot the blue sky post cleaning, all stubborn dirt are gone. |
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