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12 outstanding astrophotographers worth following

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We are proud to present twelve gifted astrophotographers—each with their stunning photos. Night photography isn’t the easiest genre to master – there are so many things to consider. On top of your usual composition and exposure, you have to deal with noise, shadow detail, preserving highlights, and special gear considerations for night lovers. However, this collection of photographers have mastered the craft.

Being out alone in the dark isn’t for the faint-hearted, but astrophotographers have learned to handle any fear of the dark when conditions are favorable. Some night images take a lot of planning: full moon and milky way images with specific foreground, for example. Interestingly, there are actually very few photographers who specialize solely in astrophotography. The majority are versatile and shoot various types of landscape images.

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Photographer captures stunning blue moon image over lighthouse in Spain

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Pablo Ruiz Garcia captured a spectacular image of this Halloween’s blue moon. A full moon occurring on Halloween is rare and only happens every 18 to 19 years, and a super moon is even rarer. We do not know for sure why blue moon is the name of this super moon. To the casual observer a full moon in general can have a slight blue tint due to smoke or particles in the atmosphere.

Pablo captured this image at the lighthouse of Isla de Mouro, Santander, Cantabria Spain. He will in the following tell us a little about how he captured the image.

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Canon’s ISO4,500,000 camera was used to shoot this documentary in the Amazon

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When a company like Canon, or, well, any company, really, produces a camera that claims to shoot as high as ISO 4,500,000, such as the MH20F-SH, it makes one wonder if it’s all just a marketing gimmick or if it’s actually really any good at the extremely low light levels that demand such high sensitivity.

Well, when Award-winning artist and director Lynette Wallworth released her documentary Awavena in 2018, which documented the Yawanawa in the Amazon and the Ayahuasca vision quest, it was met with much praise. The film’s director of photography, Greg Downing, has now spoken about some of the filming challenges and how the MH20F-SH helped to overcome them.

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Topaz DeNoise AI for night photos review

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Topaz has recently launched its newest version of DeNoise AI, and I have tested the software on a night image. Does this latest iteration of Topaz’ noise reduction program live up to the hype? According to Topaz, DeNoise AI has received several updates and improvements.

When you run the program you can choose between two modes: manual and auto. Auto comes with only one slider (Chroma Noise). In manual mode, you can also adjust the level of sharpening and noise reduction applied. In addition, you can also decide how the program displays the changes in real-time. I have only used the split-screen option when testing the software. The real-time preview isn’t very accurate. The processed image looks quite different from what the preview suggests.

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How to double process a Milky Way image

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From the middle of August, it is dark enough for night photography here in the southern parts of Norway. The milky way season lasts to approximately December this far north. I try to head out as often as I can when there is no moon and the forecast predicts a clear sky.

It is always a delight to see the milky way in-camera, but bringing it out in post can often be challenging. One of the key challenges is that the night sky requires quite a different approach than the ground.

When it is very dark I prefer to shoot a few extra very long exposures for the ground to make sure I have enough shadow detail to work with.

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This landscape photographer paints stunning images with light

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Mike Muizebelt is a Holland-based photographer, who among other things, is known for his diversity with subject matter. His most common subjects are animals and landscapes, and he is hitting it hard with light painting as well. To paint with light as Mike does requires both a fine-tuned technique and the right gear.

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11 Secrets to up your night street photography game

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I’m going to share with you 11 Secrets to up your night street photography game that I teach paying customers on our London Soho Night Street Photography workshops. Don’t worry if you’re coming to one I have many more secrets!

I love the way cities come to life at night with neon lights, the sound of laughter, street lights, reflection, shop windows, it’s a different world which I’ll equip you to not only shoot but shoot well. Before you ask, all of the images here are shot handheld on various Fujifilm cameras, mainly the XT3 with 35mm f1.4 lens which is their 50mm equivalent.

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Samsung Galaxy Note 10+ Night Mode reviewed – nice work, but a bit too late

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When it comes to adding a night mode camera, Samsung was late to the party. The Samsung Galaxy S9 and Samsung Galaxy S10 received that addition through an update last spring, whereas the Samsung Galaxy Note 10 came with a pre-configured Night Mode camera. Night Mode replaced Bright Mode which allowed you to take long exposures in low-light conditions. It was kinda automatic and you had no control whether to turn it on or not.

And this is my biggest issue with Bright Mode. It turned on automatically based on how dark it was. In other words, the software decided which mode to use in low light, not the photographer. Night Mode is a different story.

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This photographer creates complex portraits painted with light

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Light painting provides so many creative opportunities, and we’ve seen plenty of stunning images in this technique so far. French photographer Fabrice Wittner merged light painting with and stencils and created a series of complex and unusual portraits. They all look otherworldly and mystical – and they were all painted with light.

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Behind the scenes and some tips for shooting video in the dark at high ISO

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Shooting a wedding is a demanding task on its own. But add low light and no flash to the equation, and you get a bit more stress and challenge. In this video, Taylor Jackson takes you behind the scene of a wedding he had to shoot in very low light without the flash. He shows you his workflow but also shares a couple of great tips if you ever find yourself in a similar situation.

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