Learn how to photograph the Milky Way in less than five minutes
Dec 30, 2019
John Aldred
John Aldred is a photographer with over 25 years of experience in the portrait and commercial worlds. He is based in Scotland and has been an early adopter – and occasional beta tester – of almost every digital imaging technology in that time. As well as his creative visual work, John uses 3D printing, electronics and programming to create his own photography and filmmaking tools and consults for a number of brands across the industry.
Share:
Astrophotography is one of the most fascinating genres in photography. It allows us to see the world around us in a way that’s difficult or often impossible to see with the naked eye. For many of us, the issue is simply too much light pollution, but even when we do make the effort to go somewhere dark, we can still struggle, especially if we want to photograph the Milky Way.
In this video, Diana and Ian from Lonely Speck explain the basics of photographing the Milky Way from the gear and planning to the actual process of shooting it.
I’ve not had much chance to have a go at astrophotography. I’ve read up on it a lot and had a bit of a play occasionally, but I’ve never been able to really get anywhere with it, though, due to the light pollution in most of the areas I find myself. Since moving to Scotland, however, it’s something I’ve made more of an attempt to get out and have a proper go at because it’s relatively easy to get to areas with fairly dark skies. I even went camping with a friend in Glencoe over Christmas with one of the goals being to try to shoot the Milky Way.
I borrowed a friend’s Sony A7II and Sigma 20mm f/1.4 lens for a couple of days to take with me on the trip. I’ve definitely got a long way to go , but I was quite pleased with the results.
I wish Lonely Speck’s video had come out a few days earlier, though, and I’d have learned that this is completely the wrong time of year to capture the Milky Way in all its colourful glory. At least we got the right time of the month (the night before a new moon), even if it was the wrong month.
Oh well. I guess I’ll have to go back in the summer. I’m definitely not going to complain about having to go back to visit Glencoe again, though.
John Aldred
John Aldred is a photographer with over 25 years of experience in the portrait and commercial worlds. He is based in Scotland and has been an early adopter – and occasional beta tester – of almost every digital imaging technology in that time. As well as his creative visual work, John uses 3D printing, electronics and programming to create his own photography and filmmaking tools and consults for a number of brands across the industry.
Join the Discussion
DIYP Comment Policy
Be nice, be on-topic, no personal information or flames.
8 responses to “Learn how to photograph the Milky Way in less than five minutes”
You can still get usable Milky Way shots with light pollution. Single image shot with Canon 5D3 and Samyang 14mm f2.8.
Usable is a relative and subjective term, though – as is light pollution. :)
John Aldred all depends on like or dislike :-)
I really appreciate about the information you shared with us.Thanks & https://uploads.disquscdn.com/images/9891fe99366cd3e279e21400e93319a533d10bfe916c9131772edd1013c4c0ac.png Keep it up.
Thanks for the video, it used to take me way more than 5 minutes to shoot the Milky Way…
I have always wanted to take pictures of the Milky Way. But, I was fully unaware about the procedure of it. Now I think I know all the steps or procedure which I have to do to take pictures of the Milky Way. In the five minutes video tutorial every details was really clear and easy to understand. The five minutes video was really worth it and it was really good to learn about the whole procedure. Do you guys have any idea or suggestions about the darker places of India and Bangladesh?
Since childhood, I have always had a fantasy about the Milky Way. I was really interested to take pictures of the Milky Way. But, I was fully unaware about the procedure of it. Now, I think I know all the steps or procedure which I have to do to take pictures of the Milky Way. In the five minutes video tutorial every details was really clear and easy to understand. The five minutes video was really worth it and it was really good to learn about the whole procedure.
oh before reading this article i tried but i was totally failed. now i will try again after reading this post. thanks for sharing it.