Learn how to shoot jaw-dropping Milky Way galactic core photos
Watch video: How to take photos of the galactic core of the Milky Way
Whether you’re just starting out in astrophotography or have been groping in the dark for years, one of the most fascinating parts of the night sky is the galactic core of the Milky Way. And the great thing is that you don’t need any special equipment or powerful telescopes (opens in new tab) or start tracker (opens in new tab) systems to capture it.
All you need is a camera, a tripod, and a decent wide-angle lens. In this project, we’ll show you how to shoot for the core, what settings you need, and how to add impact to the resulting shot by painting the foreground with light.
• These are the best cameras for astrophotography (opens in new tab)
A shoot like this is all about the planning. We need to know where and when the star cluster that forms the core will be, and we need to know that it will be visible—otherwise there is little point in staying up late. The core of the Milky Way is only visible at certain times of the year, depending on whether you are in the northern or southern hemisphere. It’s easiest to capture when the sky is darkest.
That means waiting until the brightest object in the night sky – the moon – is in the new moon phase. However, that doesn’t necessarily mean you can’t capture it at other times. We went out with the moon in its first quarter phase, with a light at 56% of its full moon strength. By waiting until after moonset (when the moon disappears below the horizon), we can get a clearer picture of the stars.
1. Schedule it with an app
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With an astrology planning app, it’s easy to predict where the galactic core, moon, or constellations will be. This allows you to plan your shooting days in advance – or even weeks or months in advance. An app like PhotoPils has a nighttime AR mode that overlays star positions on your phone’s camera view.
2. Minimize moonlight
The Milky Way is clearest at the new moon as the sky is darkest. But you can go out at other times; here the moon was in the first quarter. We waited until it dropped below the horizon (check your stargazing app for moonset), at which point the sky starts to darken.
3. Camera settings
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A high ISO, wide aperture and long exposure are key to capturing the Milky Way. Here’s a standard exposure to get you started: Set your camera to manual mode with ISO3200-6400 and set your lens to a wide aperture, e.g. f/2.8. As for shutter speed…
4. Calculate the shutter speed
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… stars constantly move across the sky due to the rotation of the earth. If the exposure is too long, movement will cause them to streak. The movement is more pronounced with longer lenses. A useful rule of thumb for maximum shutter speed is 500 divided by focal length – that’s 25 seconds for us.
5. Focus on infinity
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Focusing can be tricky in the dark as the autofocus can dart around without locking on to anything. Use Live View and zoom in, then use manual focus to lock on to a star or other distant bright point. After the first shot, zoom in to check that the stars are in focus.
6. Add landmarks
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Think of this as a landscape project and think about the foreground – what can we include to complement the night sky? Landmarks like the tower here add context to the scene and give you the opportunity to use a torch to light the foreground.
7. Light color with a flashlight
While keeping your camera’s sensor open for 20-30 seconds during the exposure, try using a flashlight to paint over objects in the scene – like the tower here. The time it takes to paint depends on the power of your flashlight and your distance from the subject, so it takes trial and error to get it right.
8. Paint from the side
Do not shine your flashlight off-camera as this will make the scene appear flat (as in the left image). Instead, walk to the side or behind the objects or buildings in the scene (watch your footsteps!) and radiate from here instead, as a side angle makes the lighting more dramatic.
9. Crossfade frames afterwards
You don’t have to get everything perfect in a single frame; You can paint over different areas of the scene in multiple shots and then stitch it all together. Open the images as layers in Photoshop or Affinity Photo, then paint layer masks to control what’s visible or hidden on each layer.
10. Correct high ISO noisy images
When editing your Milky Way photos, one of the main concerns is how to deal with the noise that naturally occurs when using ISOs from 3200 and up. A good noise reduction workflow is essential, and while Adobe leads the way in most areas of image editing, the noise tools in Lightroom and Photoshop lag behind the best.
See DxO PhotoLab 5 for more information (opens in new tab) (and the stripped down DxO PureRaw (opens in new tab)) as it offers the unprecedented DeepPrime tool that automatically cleans up noisy photos. The results on your high ISO images can be amazing. Then there is Topaz deNoise AI (opens in new tab) and On1 NoNoise AI (opens in new tab). Like DxO, these also use artificial intelligence for results beyond what Photoshop, Lightroom or Affinity Photo can achieve. Check out the best noise reduction software (opens in new tab) for more recommendations.
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