Learning Astrophotography: A Beginner’s Guide to Shooting the Night Sky
Astrophotography can feel intimidating at first. There’s unfamiliar gear, strange camera settings, and probably the hardest part is creeping around in the dark not knowing what's moving in the bushes behind you. But at its core, astrophotography is simply landscape photography at night, working with low light, and composition, just on a very different scale.
If you already enjoy shooting landscapes and want to start photographing the stars, the Milky Way, or night skies over familiar locations, this guide will help you get started without overcomplicating things.
Start Simple: You Don’t Need Fancy or Expensive Gear
One of the biggest myths about astro is that you need expensive cameras or lenses. While high-end gear helps, it is absolutely not required to begin. I shot for many years with low end gear, which helped me learn so much more than if I had of just gone out with the best new equipment on the market.
At a minimum, you’ll need:
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A camera that allows full manual control
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A sturdy tripod
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A wide-angle lens (the wider and faster, the better)
Most modern mirrorless and DSLR cameras handle high ISO far better than older models. If your camera performs well at ISO 3200 or 6400, you’re already in a good position. As for lenses, something in the 14–24mm range with an aperture of f/2.8 or faster is ideal, but even slower lenses can still produce good results with the right technique. My old Nikon 16-35mm f/4 was my go to lens for years!
Understanding the Three Key Settings
Astrophotography revolves around the same exposure triangle you already know: aperture, shutter speed, and ISO. The difference is that you’re pushing each of them close to their limits.
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Aperture: Shoot wide open or close to it. f/1.8 to f/2.8 is best. But f/4 to f/4.5 will also work if that is all you have.
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Shutter speed: Long enough to gather light, but not so long that stars turn into streaks. A good starting point is 15–20 seconds.
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ISO: Higher than you’d normally use. ISO 3200–6400 is common for night skies.
A simple beginner starting point is:
20 seconds, f/2.8, ISO 6400
From there, adjust based on how bright the sky looks and how much noise your camera produces. Turning down your camera screen brightness will also help you see the image better in the dark. Leaving it bright will trick you into thinking the image is much more exposed than it really is.
Focus Is Everything (and It’s Tricky)
Autofocus rarely works at night. Manual focus is the way to go.
The easiest method is to:
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Switch to manual focus
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Use live view
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Zoom in on a bright star or distant light
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Slowly adjust focus until the star becomes as small and sharp as possible
Once focus is set, avoid touching the focus ring. A small piece of tape can help lock it in place, or mark your lens with a white marker on the edge of the focus ring so you know where the sharpest point is. The amount of times I've returned home late at night thinking I've had a successful shoot, only to find I've somehow slightly unfocussed my lens is a little embarrassing.
Location and Timing Matter More Than Gear
Light pollution is one of the biggest challenges in astrophotography. Dark skies make a huge difference, often more than new gear ever will.
Look for:
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Locations away from towns and cities.
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Clear nights with little cloud cover
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Minimal moonlight (new moon is best)
Apps and planning tools that show moon phases, Milky Way position, and light pollution maps are super useful. Planning your shoot before you leave home saves a lot of frustration in the field. My favorite app for this would have to be PhotoPills. Showing you when and where the Milky way or other night sky object will be at certain times. Even if you are at a location you can use a feature that'll show you in real time with the camera where the Milky way and moon will rise.
There are plenty of light pollution map apps out there, choose which you like best. Finding an area that is either rated as a Bortle 1 or 2 night sky be a much more successful shoot.
Think Like a Landscape Photographer
The most compelling astrophotography images are rarely just stars. A strong foreground, coastlines, trees, rock formations, or mountains, grounds the image and gives it context.
Use the same compositional thinking you apply during the day:
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Leading lines
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Foreground interest
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Balance between sky and land
Scout locations during daylight if possible. Knowing where to stand and where hazards are before nightfall makes the shoot far more enjoyable.
A Few Intermediate Tips to Level Up
Once you’re comfortable with the basics, here are a few ideas to improve your results:
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Expose for the sky, not the foreground: You can always lift shadows later or blend exposures. Either with Bulb or Time mode on your camera, take a 2 or even 3 minute exposure of the foreground to retain detail later to blend in on your sky.
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Shoot multiple frames: Stacking images can significantly reduce noise in post-processing.
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Watch star movement: If stars are starting to elongate, reduce your shutter speed slightly.
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White balance matters: Auto works, but a fixed value around 3800–4200K gives more consistent results.
These techniques add polish without requiring complex tracking mounts or advanced setups.
Processing Is Part of the Process
Astrophotography files often look flat straight out of the camera. This is normal. Post processing is where contrast, colour, and clarity are carefully brought out.
Focus on:
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Noise reduction (without overdoing it). Lightroom has awesome easy to use noise reduction features now.
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Gentle contrast adjustments, don't throw sliders around like crazy.
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Enhancing Milky Way structure while keeping stars natural. Adding radial filters using dehaze to enhance parts of the Milky Way and even using the Texture slider to make the starts softer and less punchy.
If you already process landscapes, many of the same principles apply just with a lighter hand and more patience.
Take Your Time and Enjoy the Learning Curve
Astrophotography rewards patience and persistence. Not every night will be perfect, and not every image will be a keeper. That’s part of the process and makes the end result so much more rewarding.
Start simple, focus on enjoying being out under the stars, and build your skills gradually. Over time, you’ll develop a feel for night light, exposure, and composition, just like you did with landscapes during the day.
And perhaps most importantly, remember to look up occasionally without the camera. The night sky is worth experiencing, not just photographing.