Beginners guide to taking your first milky way photograph – 4
This is the fourth blog in a series of posts in which I
share what I am learning on my ‘journey’ towards obtaining a good
milky way night time image. In my second year chasing down this aspiration,
last year was dabbling and learning lots. This year, I want to ‘nail’ one or
two good milky way landscape images. It’s a mission! Whether I can deliver on
it or not is a moot point though!
If you have just arrived at this page, you may want to go
back and read the first three posts in this series before reading this one.
They sort of follow a logical order.
This blog post series shares what I have learned thus far to
help encourage those of you seeking your first milky way image. Remember I am
still at the very beginning of my learning journey. I am no expert. I claim no
expertise in any way at all. A complete novice in photography and
astrophotography. This entire blog is written from that perspective – a
chronicle of my learning journey written by a beginner for other beginners.
I know very little about anything frankly but therein lies the attraction. If I
can do it with my very limited knowledge – then so can you; and probably
better, as I am a rather slow learner at the best of times.
As always, if I have made any mistakes in my posts, I
apologise. Please drop me a comment highlighting the issue and I will correct
it immediately.
Please note: I will not be going into huge depth about how
things work and why we do things the way we do. I’m not dismissing the
importance of having a theoretical understanding – its critical – I’m just
saying it’s not the focus of these blog posts. My aim, is to just get you
out there, obtaining a first milky way image.
To help you achieve this, I will outline some simple
answers to these questions:
1. What
equipment do we need?
2. What
advanced planning is needed to ensure success on the night?
3. What base
settings can we use to help us get success?
4. What
foreground composition considerations do we need to make?
5. What are
the different techniques for getting a milky way photograph?
6. What do
we need to consider if we want to do a milky way selfie shot?
7. How can
we improve our milky way photography skills?
8. What is a
‘beginner’ workflow for post editing our milky way photographs?
Our fourth question then - What foreground composition
considerations do we need to make?
This is the one area I am hopeless at. Knowing the theory is
one thing – remembering to put it all into practice on a night session – is completely
something else. I just don’t seem to remember it all! Maybe I need a simple
check list. If you have been following this blog – you will know I like check
lists!
What I do know, from quick internet image searches, is that
the Milky Way is a fantastic subject for a night time landscape photograph, as
long as some basic compositional thinking has been applied!
So, in no particular order, here are my tips for getting
a good foreground composition on the night.
This works for both single exposure images and for dual image shots –
where you shoot the sky and the foreground separately and blend together later
in post editing.
Before we look at the list of tips – when do we take a
separate foreground shot during our shooting session?
I personally try during blue hour just before twilight ends
and darkness begins. But, I have also done them when its been really dark. I
tend to do my foreground shots first and then any separate night shots
immediately afterwards – but that is just me.
The other thing I would emphasis at this point is this – find
your compositions during day light hours! I talk more about this in my ‘planning
post’ - what I do know is that your
choice of foreground composition will make or break your final image and it is
easier to find a good composition in the day time than in the dark! From
foreground to background will be in view and easily seen; you can align
features in the landscape more easily; and most importantly for me seeking
milky way compositions – I must be looking for things in a southerly direction,
for that is where the Milky Way will be in my northern hemisphere sky.
Watching a lot of videos by Peter Zelinka, ‘Nightscape Images’
and Alyn Wallace, I have always been struck by one thing. They are all very
clear that your nightscape image should tell a story and pull a viewer into the
scene.
What factors do I consider before deciding on a final composition?
·
What is the rationale/target audience for the
photo? What is the story I am trying to tell?
·
Which way is the Milky Way orientated?
(Vertically – then great for vertical compositions; low in the sky and in an
arc – then great for a horizontal composition).
·
What is the subject/context of the shot – how
does it connect celestial sky with terrestrial ground?
·
How can I use a milky way orientation to enhance
a particular night-time landscape shot? Is there a particular foreground
location that will enhance my focus on the Milky Way?
Here I focus firstly on the nature of the terrain – Valley sides? Cliff lines?
Rolling hills? Having decided on the ‘framing’ I then focus on what is the
potential horizon line like; what details are there in the mid and immediate
foreground? At this point, I am moving around a little seeing what features I
can use and align.
·
What does night AR show me in PhotoPills at
possible milky way shoot locations? (see my previous post on planning)
·
Is the scene truly dark? Will it require any
light painting? (topic for a later post when I have tried some this season) How
much light pollution is there and how will that affect any shots?
·
Will I go for a single exposure shot; separate sky
and foreground shots; stacked shots of sky and foreground; use a tracker?
·
Is depth-of-field important– if so, will I need
to do focus stacking? (see previous blog post)
·
Will
there be any movement in the composition e.g tides, tall grasses, tree branch
movement in wind etc?
·
Do I want to do a milky way selfie shot? (me in
the landscape looking at the Milky Way)
Here then, are my foreground composition tips:
You are NOT trying to get all of
these tips in one photograph! As a beginner, I found just trying to get one or
two things right in a photo is a good start – baby steps and little experiences
– and build on those. There again, I am coming from a low base – I am, bluntly,
‘a spray and pray’ photographer – take loads and hope one comes out OK! Appalling
confession! Sorry!
·
Have a focal point for your
photographs – the milky way and then a particular foreground/landscape element which
will draw a viewer into your photograph. Someone told me to imagine I was
standing in front of a stage on which a story was going to unfold about the
landscape in front of me – what elements in the landscape would I need to
include in order for the ‘landscape story’ to be understood visually?
·
use leading lines in the
foreground to create a flow in the picture - back to the milky way in the sky
e.g. road/path/track, wall/fence/hedgerow, river/stream etc. Leading lines
create a sense of depth in the image. They catch your eye and lead you to
something in the image – the Milky Way in our case. They might pass an
interesting object on the way! Combine them
with a vanishing point, where such features disappear into the background. Don’t
let the leading line/edges lead the eye out of the frame!
·
Have your rule-of-thirds grid switched on
in your LCD rear screen and use it to place foreground objects/focal points/leading
lines – the horizon on one of the horizontals; foreground objects on the
vertical lines at intersection points with horizontal lines. Leading lines
within the thirds etc.
·
Get some of your foreground interest
objects to break the horizon line. (Good foreground objects to seek out
include: rocky outcrops, old buildings, old machinery, fence posts etc; mid
foreground objects – trees) Create a sense of space (negative space) around
central foreground objects in your scene. Shoot foreground objects at an angle.
·
Have something in the landscape framing either side
of your milky way element
·
Aim for some symmetry and balance vertically
and/or horizontally in your image i.e. Use the grid to help you equally
distribute your foreground elements so that they are pleasing to view. Too many elements on one side may leave a
viewer thinking the picture is over-weighted one side, empty on the opposite
side etc.
·
Ensure that as much of your landscape is in focus
as possible – see previous blog post about planning – focus stacking and
hyperfocal distance
·
Keep tripod lowish to ground and level
– use camera ‘spirit level’ tool to get horizontal horizon line – good for
getting reflection of stars in calm pools and lakes.
·
Keep all of your landscape elements within
the frame – don’t let them get cut off at the edges – this is back to
the earlier point about creating space around foreground elements – breathing room.
So don’t cut off mountain ranges in the distant horizon; or a good rocky
outcrop in the very near foreground of a beach scene; or the wild flowers on a
cliff top shot along a cliff line back to the arcing milky way.
·
If there is moon light present – if moon
is partial and low in the sky – keep it to side or behind you when shooting and
use higher F-stop for greater depth or field or reduce shutter speed
I hope that these tips will give you something to aim for when taking your first milky way shot. If you have any further tips then drop them in a comment box below so we can learn some more. In the meantime, have fun, stay safe, clear skies and good luck.
Steve
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