How to Photograph Starry Nights
Capturing the beauty of the night sky doesn't have to be challenging. With the correct equipment, photographing a starry night is something that is easy enough for beginner photographers. A well-executed star photo can be satisfying to show others and a worthy addition to a photography portfolio.
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Things You'll Need
- 35 mm film or digital SLR camera
- 100-, 200- or 400-speed film if using a film camera
- Spare batteries
- Tripod
- Shutter release cable
Instructions
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Set up your tripod in a dark area such as a rural location. The tripod will keep the camera steady so the stars will be crisp. Failure to use a tripod will cause blurry pictures in most long exposures. A rural location is important because city locations often contain too much light pollution and your exposures will be too bright. Choose a night that is dark and moonless. The moon gives off too much light and will dominate the photo.
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Set the focus of your camera to manual. Set the focus to infinity and set open your aperture as much as your lens allows. Put the camera on your tripod and aim for the sky. Ensure there are no large objects blocking the sky from view unless you want them to be part of your photo.
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Set your exposure time to a few seconds at first: 5 or 10 if you are using 400-speed film and the stars are bright. If you are using a digital camera, set the ISO to 400 also. Try to stick to exposures under 30 seconds so as not to drain the battery. Long exposures will use a lot of the battery's power. You may need to change your batteries at some point, so make sure to keep spares on hand. Use your camera's cable release to avoid shaking the camera and causing motion blur in your photos. Vary the length of exposures for different results. Longer exposures will lead to brighter stars but they will have "star trails" because of the Earth's movement.
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If you are using a film camera, try using up several rolls of films with different ISOs so you have a better chance of getting a good shot. If you are using a digital camera and checking your results on the display, you may still want to try different ISOs, because the higher the ISO the more digital noise you will have on your photograph. The higher the ISO with 35-mm film, the more film grain you will have.
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Tips & Warnings
If you are looking to capture "star circles," aim for Polaris, the north star, as it is near the North Celestial Pole. If you have that in your photo, the other stars will circle around it.
References
Resources
- Photo Credit Jupiterimages/Photos.com/Getty Images
