How to shoot Milky Way Panoramas?

[@TimShieldsPhotography]

Wow, wow and wow!!! I LOVE your shot! So incredible. Very well done. Congratulations james!

[@roberthennessey5702]

Beautiful capture James, thank you for the very informative blog…….I will have to try these tips next Milkyway season…thanks again.

[@georgepistikoudis]

Great video and valuable information. I like your panorama very much. Great shooting location for such a panorama.

[@johnwheeler5271]

Thankyou James really enjoyed listening to all your tips and techniques.

[@paulcomptonpdphotography]

Wow mate you absolutely nailed it wish I had the patients to work that all out.

[@JamesBrewphoto]

Thanks Paul - the editing was a brain melter for sure 😬

[@iainmc9859]

A stunning image (I don't use those words lightly) and a really good and clear recipe for success. Now I just have to get up in the morning.

[@JamesBrewphoto]

Thanks vey much Iain - that getting up bit is actually the hardest part 😂

[@DG-mg8zr]

This is one of the best video I’ve seen about panoramic astrophotography. Thank you.

[@darranmilne9944]

Amazing picture of the Milk way great video

[@JamesBrewphoto]

Thanks Darran 🙏

[@kkhamly]

That photo is mind-blowing, James. Something to aspired to. Thank you for an incredibly detail tutorial.

[@brendanforward7322]

Fantastic explanation, really appreciate how detailed but plain spoken the language is. Keep up the great work

[@shootthebreeze8169]

Cannot thank you enough for this information. My goodness- the end result is stunning.

[@trevornelson4198]

Good to see you back. A very thoughtful vid and really liked the end result. Hope it won’t be too long before we see you again.

[@johndownes319]

Great video and advice, James. Now you got me interested in astro photography.

[@JamesBrewphoto]

Cheers John - give it a go, its awesome!

[@fabriziobues5786]

great James. This is a clear, well-explained and detailed tutorial.

[@JamesBrewphoto]

Thanks very much Fabrizio 🙏

[@cesarm8811]

I am not into astrophotography for two reasons, I am 67 and love my sleep, but the main reason I don't have the proper gear (camera, lens, etc). As always your teaching, that I why I love your channel so much. Awesome image of the Milky Way...

[@JamesBrewphoto]

Thank you Cesar - I appreciate your kind words 🙂

[@brianhoskins1979]

The Astrophotography hobby makes you suffer as well Cesar. The amount of times I've stayed out into the early hours only to be scuppered by clouds is ridiculous. You don't realise quite how rare a fully clear night sky is until you're looking for it all the time. Add to that a requirement for no moon, so that the clear skies has to fall into a specific window of the month, and the fact that many of us (certainly me) have work to get to on a weekday, and you find that you have to suffer many frustrating misses before you can enjoy a hit.

[@cliffterpher]

James, that is one beautifully captured milky way. Congratulations

[@velikanas1]

Stunning image and great tutorial

[@JamesBrewphoto]

Thank you 🙂

[@mchjubjub6915]

Excellent as always James. Brilliant image😀

[@JamesBrewphoto]

Thank you very much 👍

[@Enigmavelo]

Great image James, and very useful tips, thank you.

[@JamesBrewphoto]

Cheers Andy 🙏

[@peacockmick2]

Super shot well done James

[@Zocral]

Stunning image - love it. Thanks for a great tutorial and explanation.

[@noreenoshea2883]

Amazing shot! Very well explained.

[@richardsingleton697]

Amazing image. I love how Andromeda appears on the photo

[@JamesBrewphoto]

Yeah that was a nice little cherry on top of the cake. Thank you!

[@ahmadbilalcheema6]

the Product is Stunning,,,

[@tcchen6885]

Great turorial. Love it.

[@jtbuilds1]

That was a brilliant insight in how to take a good milky way picture without been too complicated. Thanks very much James.

[@garymatthews4039]

Absolutely brilliant image well worth the early start

[@Chris_2023_]

Great work! Love your tips! Thank you!

[@Batch2103]

Outstanding mate. Love the information about the preparation and execution. Cracking image!!

[@davida.8497]

Was looking for a good tutorial on this, and I am so glad you did this!

[@JamesBrewphoto]

Hope it helps

[@ahmadbarati6347]

great video James. Very informative.

[@chrisdeverill9857]

Excellent video and excellent shot!

[@joetagg1961]

Excellent video James. I’ll be referencing this many times as I try this myself. Keep the videos coming !!

[@AfricaMan44]

Excellent tutorial & final image was stunning!! Subbed !!

[@derekgillan7314]

nice on James.

[@JamesBrewphoto]

Thanks Derek 🙂 Hope you are keeping well

[@brianspicer8829]

Absolutely first class vid James , you explained the steps so well.

[@danrenshaw511]

What an amazing image, I would be proud of that. Bravo 👏

[@chrisdiamond4826]

Just come across your channel and am super impressed. This video is extremely informative and has given me the confidence to try the unthinkable (from my perspective) and try the panoramic of the Milky way within the next month.

[@LoveSundays]

Love the content mate. Only just found your channel but loving what I’m seeing so far. 👍. Hello from Cornwall

[@shuvrangshusuklabaidya4573]

This image takes me to another world ❤️❤️❤️

[@JamesBrewphoto]

Thank you 🙂

[@jamesoliver6625]

James, A technical tour dé force. Stylistically and compositionally(as fits you) in line with the best work being done. Artistically, ....simple stunning. I will be looking for this image to show up in the catalog. The entire presentation befits the execution it takes to receive a Masters License within the craft trades.I have some knowledge of what it takes to acquire a Master Furniture Maker's and Master Carperter's Licenses. It is way more than just the technical mastery. It involves the eye of the mind, communicating that eye to the eye of the beholder(client), and then the quality of the execution of minds eye to reality. I make no promises (among other things I just had to absorb the purchase of a new computer), but this would reside nicely with my "Neowise". Thank you for a present twenty minutes. Today is my wedding anniversary. Unfortunately I lost her four years ago so this was a refreshing respite. Well done. Pour yourself a pint.

[@JamesBrewphoto]

Hi James, thanks for your extremely kind words! I really don't know what to say as I'm not very good at receiving such glowing compliments. I'm really happy how the image has turned out and for me I see this image as almost a sequel to the Neowise image - firstly because its obviously taken at the same location, secondly because both required more planning than I've ever had to put into an image before and thirdly because they are the most technically difficult shots I've ever taken. I've really been lacking motivation on KZbin lately as you can probably tell but I felt this was a video worth making and I'm glad you enjoyed it. Sorry to hear that James, I'll raise a glass to your late wife 🍷

[@jamesoliver6625]

@@JamesBrewphoto The YT burnout is perfectly understandable and reasonable. In that regard your photography comes first and if that involves setting YT aside then so be it. The process you did for this shot is exactly the test in Europe to get a Masters license. You are given a project to first envision for the client and execute drawings for approval (usually a day is all, real pressure, you can loose the test before it even starts if not up to the expected quality) then you have a set amount of time to actually execute the piece to a certain level (typically two days running to complete the piece, could be a desk or wardrobe of bed etc.) without finish for approval or fail, then a set amount of time to complete the finish of the piece, again for approval or failure. That's essentially what you did and IMO the image is a Masterpiece (that's where the term comes from. Not just a quality term but a quality work of the highest order envisioned and executed under the pressure of time and expectation.) If YT fades, I still have the website through which I can enjoy your images and if need be, in my own need to fill my walls, support you in your work.

[@Retirement_Life]

What a beautiful image, James

[@warrenswales5693]

Awesome image and excellent process explanation. One for LPOTY for sure. 👍

[@rsrs7880]

Amazing Image!!! Benchmark!

[@spokesdog9958]

Just found your video. One of the best tutorials I have seen so far for this type of shot. Well done. As a Nikon Z9 shooter was interested in your lens choice and will look into the 20mm 1.8. Thank you

[@Astrobloke]

Wow what an amazing capture. I am happy with my deep sky imaging but I so want to take an image like this. Well done. Great channel

[@apfotografie8879]

Wonderful!!😀👏 Thanks for so much detail information how you could take this amazing shot. It encourages me to try this soon :)

[@tonyhales-BigT]

Stunning image, and excellent instruction as always. Thank you. Sun surveyor is also a good app for this. Worth a look.

[@JamesBrewphoto]

Thanks Tony! Good tip 👍

[@JTHare]

James, thanks for the inspirational videos on astrophotography. I will attempt this one day. I would like to connect with regarding purchasing a high definition image for use on a graphic design...

[@rodschweiger4195]

Fantastic image. Please share your settings like shutter speed and iso, I'm assuming full manual right?

[@JamesBrewphoto]

Thank you very much Rod - yes it is vital to shoot in full manual and keep all the settings the same for each shot. Use wide aperture f2.8 or wider, high ISO 4000 or higher and long shutter speeds 10-25 seconds.

[@EducatingDan]

Ahhhhh man... I'm broken. This is amazing!!

[@JamesBrewphoto]

Thank you Dan 🙏

[@EducatingDan]

@@JamesBrewphoto gonna attempt something like this at the weekend... Wish me luck!

[@AstroHBF]

Fantastic guide! So much detail covered! Final image was stunning

[@JamesBrewphoto]

Thank you 👍

[@giovannisciotti9972]

thanks now i just need to wait some months and go out to try it!

[@richardsmith8115]

Terrific image James. I'm inspired to try something similar myself in July when I go down south for a holiday. Might not be a panorama though. On that topic, thanks for your favourable comments about my panorama image on the Photography Online blog a couple of weeks ago. You wouldn't believe what a boost that was to me.

[@robertgeorge8166]

Hi James great explanation for panoramic photography and brilliant example 👍. Did you take a short break to IOMan? Love to visit myself but was under impression it was closed to outside traffic!

[@JamesBrewphoto]

Thanks Robert! I live on the Isle of Man, so this lighthouse is just down the road for me. Borders closed at the moment but reopening from end of June 👍

[@Markymuse]

Very inspiring and informative James, but as I live on the edge of London we do not get these magnificent skies. Would like to know the exposure details as well if possible. Thanks

[@JamesBrewphoto]

Thanks Mark - the images were taken using a star tracker so my exposures were around 2 minutes long each

[@paulm8157]

Welcome back, James! Just yesterday I was wondering when you would post again (no kidding). Star studded vid and stellar final image. You are fortunate to live where light pollution and sky view obstructions are not issues. Backyard shots work well, as do tripod segments. Indoor audio a bit of an echo. Spot-on advice for panos, in general. Re leveling aids, is there a role for in-cam level indicator? Did you try (for fun) PS new resolution boost - just one pic per SD drive, but what an image?😁 Say “hi” to Misty and Monty. Cheers!

[@JamesBrewphoto]

Thanks Paul! Yes I've been rather demotivated on the youtube front lately. I just don't like the way the platform is going with all its clickbaity nonsense. I really don't want to go down that rabbit hole myself. Id rather post nothing than rubbish. Light pollution here on the IOM is pretty low - I live in a Bortle 2 zone which is very good but that only applies when looking straight up. Look out over towards the UK and the pollution is pretty bad. If you look in the image you'll see the strong glow along the horizon. Yeah in camera spirit level is exactly what I use myself to level the camera. I've not tried that resolution boost mode myself - I might give it a try on this 27k pixel monster and blow my computer up in the process 😂 Misty and Mont keeping well...although very naughty!

[@koenpijpersphotography]

I planned a Milky Way pano for mid April as well in the north of the Netherlands. Only clouds 😅. Great photo and thanks for sharing the methodology and your planning. Just got the must own fifty 1.8 and the 14-30 f/4. Next lens will be the 20mm 1.8 like you use here. Have you considered getting a small star stracker for this kind of imaging? Best regards from Holland.

[@JamesBrewphoto]

I do have a MoveShootMove star tracker now - a very impressive bit of kit :-)

[@koenpijpersphotography]

@@JamesBrewphoto nice one I have one too !

[@SteveMitchell-bt8ez]

Great shot. How do you deal with the "movement" of the stars between so many shots?

[@gabrielpena8412]

Amazing shot and awesome instruction… my question is, about how far were you from the lighthouse??

[@RussWeymouthPhotography]

Amazing panorama, would love to know how you edited the image to bring out the detail and colour in the milky way.

[@JamesBrewphoto]

Cheers! The video for the editing would be about 10 hours long...no joking! 😂

[@rob-cowell]

That's a great image so well done indeed. I follow your technique for a single row panorama, but if you tilt the camera upwards for the second row so it now isn't perfectly level vertically and horizontally, don't the images start titling out of horizontal as you you pan across? I see you use the Benro geared head, which I have too, so do you keep correcting for level as you rotate across the horizontal plane?

[@mikesimcox7932]

Thank you for the tutorial James, I made notes all the way through, as a newcomer I can’t wait to “give it a go” tonight. I’m hoping I can capture my first milky way image using the information you kindly gave. Superb image of the MW over the lighthouse ! Very clearly presented tutorial, thanks again.

[@Axonteer]

I am not a good photographer but in your voice i can feel that "OH MY GOD YES" i have when i finally manage to catch not only a good picture composition wise, but also technically challanging. And especially with Astro, you are NEVER able to judge the end result based on what you have on screen. I think its reminiscent of Film Photography where you had to wait way after the shoot to see if your pictures where usable. This is a stellar shot, it looks a bit busy but then i have to remind myself "im seeing much more on that picture than my naked eye could ever see". Im surprised that PS managed to stitch them together. I used PS to Stack images to boost the detail exposure (this technique is mostly used on telephoto lenses in astro settings) and its very challanging because i have no astro-tracker head. With wide shots you wont notice as much those slightly moving stars but at 600... anyhow, my images are really bad but im just happy that i managed to achieve something. I can only imagine how it must feel to capture such a stellar shot like you did. Thanks for inspiring, maybe im going to have a go again - eventhough i live in a heavily light polluted area (close to Zürich Airport in Switzerland). .. Greetings from Switzerland :D

[@JamesBrewphoto]

Hello! First of all thank very much for your very kind comment. I very much appreciate your nice words! Secondly that's a really excellent point about astrophotography having a film photography feel to it (particularly panos) in the fact that you can't see the image easily in the field. I think this is one reason why a lot of people get intimidated by it but it does make it very rewarding when it goes well. I would encourage you to give it another go and embrace your light pollution - it can have a beauty of its own to some extent 🙂 thanks again

[@nightscapejournals]

What a fantastic tutorial, James. Thank you. And a cracking final image. I spent last week in Cornwall and shot 3 separate MW panoramas there (the first I’ve ever done including the core). Each was about 9 panes and I shot between 8 and 10 separate exposures for each pane to reduce noise (and then stacked them in Sequator); I ran into the problem you described about sky rotation, and it took a lot of effort to get one particularly dodgy bit of stitching to look ok - I’d definitely need to speed up next time!! Your idea of shooting a separate pano for the foreground is excellent - wish I’d heard it before last week! Thanks so much for putting the video together. 👍

[@JamesBrewphoto]

Thanks very much Paul - yeah time really is key when shooting these. I think it's very hard to get the stiching absolutely perfect every time. Shooting foreground seperately does alleviate the time pressures somewhat as its easier to make the stiching work for the seperate bits of image but the blending can be pretty damn hard!

[@MacNeilsOnWheels]

That was an excellent video. Thanks

[@Lennymcgra]

Epic James, how did you find the Z7 handled noise? Would be interested to know your ISO, cheers.

[@JamesBrewphoto]

Thank you! The Z7 handles noise really well with the Z6 maybe having a slight edge when really pushed. The Z cameras are ISO invariant so the ISO's don't actually matter as much as you'd think.

[@TTaareKK]

Awesome Video! Would you advise shooting with a star tracker? Or just increase the shutter time to around 30seconds since star trails will be less noticable in a large panorama?

[@timelapsebylkunl72]

Thank for a great tutorial.

[@lexnaturae6638]

That is an amazing shot!! Is it available for purchase?

[@JamesBrewphoto]

Thanks Britton - yes it is. Drop me an email to [e-mail] if interested

[@lightonthelandscape]

I wish I watched this before attempting to do a milky way panorama in NW Vancouver Island. Ideal conditions with no moon and a cloudless night. 1am so plenty of time. I used a 14mm F/2 lens. I gave 50% overlap. My mistakes were: Not enough room to the left and right (I should have given a bit more) and too much distortion. I did get stitched shot in lightroom, but had to use photoshop warp transform to get it looking more or less normal. It worked out and is a nice enough shot, but next time I'll apply some of your info from this video to make the whole post work experience a lot easer. Thanks for all the info.

[@airship9637]

Brilliant -- well conceived, designed, and executed! Reminds me of the effort you put into your Neowise capture which was stellar in itself.

[@JamesBrewphoto]

Thank you! Little Winkie Lighthouse is the real star of the show in both images 😂 I love that lighthouse!

[@miguelvicente3996]

Great tutorial James, thank you so much! I was wondering how's your computer setup, as I own a laptop, which isn't really that powerful and you've mentioned your photoshop file was around 5GB and I don't know if my laptop could handle such a large file. Thanks in advance and congratulations on your result. Cheers

[@arielmaderna]

Hello James, a pleasure to greet you! I was watching some of your videos and you use a Nikon Z 7 for astrophotography, a lighter body than its Nikon d 850 twin, I use this last camera for my astrophotography but I am not entirely satisfied with the result, do you think that the Nikon D 850 is superior in terms of sensor performance in night photos compared to the Nikon D 810A? What do you think, is the Nikon D 810 A convenient in 2023?

[@villageblunder4787]

Amazing

[@thilinaalagiyawanna3680]

Thank you

[@carolelabrecque2799]

Great work ⭐️❤️⭐️

[@michaelmckeag960]

The Pacific Northwest of the US, like the UK, is not renowned for it’s cloud-free skies, but a particularly long spell continues, especially on the east side of the Cascade Range. The waxing moon, rising later and later each night finally liberated me from a marathon of nightly Milky Way panorama sessions. I noticed that after a couple days I became comfortable with a pattern of three naps, late afternoon, middle of the night, and morning. The next marathon will be processing the accumulated data. I can return to a normal sleep cycle for that. BTW, I’ve had no problem stitching panos shot with 14mm on full frame with 50% overlap. The camera is mounted on a pano gimbal with nodal slide set to place the horizontal and vertical rotation axes at the lens no parallax point. Perhaps that helps. The pano gimbal is mounted on a geared head which serves as a precise and easily adjusted leveling base. I hang my pack from the center post (with its bottom touching the ground so it doesn’t swing) to stabilize the tripod. I use spiked tripod feet which make a big difference in stability on soft ground and work fine on hard (just not on a smooth floor). Shooting protocol has been that required for processing in Starry Landscape Stacker, with a set of darks shot each session, flats and flats darks shot at home using an LED flat panel. Preliminary experiments using SLS were encouraging. Next marathon will be spent at the computer.

[@Retirement_Life]

Welcome back, James! Good to see you again… the images you took during your break are lovely, just what we used to see from you and the image you created in this video…well, you nailed it buddy! The lighting is exactly what you explained it would be. I have tried so many times to create images like this and never quite got them right. Maybe I need some one-to-one advice! 😆 keep your videos coming, but only when you feel it’s right. We will be here…👏👏👏

[@walterwiniana]

Hi James your videos are always very helpful! And great photo as well! In PhotoPills when calculating the pano 50% overlap in portrait do I use “Horizontal angle of view?” Or Horizontal field of view?”

[@JamesBrewphoto]

Thank you - pay attention to angle of view numbers 👍

[@walterwiniana]

@@JamesBrewphoto thank you so much 🙏

[@torreyance2468]

do you go in there and take out the satellites and planes? its so clean.

[@ciprian7243]

Absolutely amazing picture. Just happened to stumble upon your channel, as I am very much day 1 in my photography journey. Yet defo subscribing, as everything is so very well explained that even I can understand it. Hell, the picture alone deserves a billion subscribes alone... By the way, what happened with the samyang 14mm lens, is that still worth the buy?

[@AykutArgun]

Great video as always James. I am having a lot of banding issues due to exposure differences and vignetting, even if all pictures taken with same settings, do you have good tips how to fix those?

[@Stillfilm1]

That is such a great image James. Your tips and technique are so inspiring. I've been dabbling with astro landscape for 5 years now and still feel very much like a beginner. Thank you for another fantastic video.

[@musiqueetmontagne]

WoW...😮😮😮

[@martinsarre]

Fantastic work. I hope I can create a Milky Way image as good one day. Your tips and explanations are top notch 👏👍. Did you use your z6 or z7?

[@JamesBrewphoto]

Thanks Martin! This image was taken using my Z7

[@chris123chris82]

So I’m completely new to this and wondering if I should even try.. seems like I need a lot of equipment and I need to learn a lot of editing? Pretty amazing stuff, though extremely overwhelming

[@JohnJones-xy9pg]

Hi James, what were your settings for your foreground and what were they for the Milky Way ? I take it you used a star tracker for the Milky Way row, I use the Move Shoot Move tracker. For single shots using my star tracker I do a time of about 3-4 minutes. But as I said these are single images and not rows of images. TIA

[@brianhoskins1979]

Given that you were in pre-dawn hours, did you use that to your advantage for the foreground - essentially waiting a bit to get a small amount of light to wake up the scene a little bit? Or was it fine to do the foreground immediately after the sky?

[@Mr09260]

I have just got the Nikon Z 20 mm f1.8 for Milky way as my 14-30 required long shots and High ISO

[@JamesBrewphoto]

The 20mm 1.8 is an awesome astro lens 👌

[@rptaraporevala]

Thanks for the detailed video. I have a question: I did not hear you talk about stacking frames, so I am presuming that you took only one shot per frame. Do you have any experience in stacking images for a panorama?

[@kristinaziegler6603]

QUESTION: To optimize an image for the foreground, do I take the entire panorama again using those settings? Not just the foreground images?

[@vanthiepdang1528]

can i use Sigma 16mm f1.4?

[@petercorbett1610]

Great image James, i love the symmetry. The lens is indeed an great glass for astro, also for "one shot" star photography! Bye the way, who does your printing? ;-)

[@JamesBrewphoto]

Thanks very much Peter - I get a lab to do my printing for me. I'd love to print myself but the costs are too prohibative at the moment

[@IamTheHira]

Nice video. Just one question... Did the Milky way really have that curvature? Or is it kind of a postprocessing consecuence? Thank you!

[@zijadzikedzehovic6206]

Can i do this without L-bracket, it is hard to find it for Olympus?

[@Iphonmm]

I literally wonder a lot of Milky way shooting multiple shots even on each vertical frame for stacking. For instance, they take 4-5 shots (same setting) on 1st frame then pan the camera for the 2nd and take another 4-5 shots. Finally, come up with approx. 5 shots multiplied by number of frames, could be like 5 shots x 6 frames = 30 shots. Then stcking each 5 shots before stitching them for one final panoramic image. But it they make one beautiful Milky image. Do you recommend taking multiple shots on each frame? Or better sticking to take quick framing in a roll to avoid earth orbit distorting the Milky way too much?? Lots of techniques convince to only to get confused with my shooting lately hahaha ^^ Please kindly share your opinion if you may.

[@JamesBrewphoto]

For best quality taking between 3 or 5 shots per frame makes sense, but you have to be very quick and efficient at doing so

[@zefrem1]

Dude I've a nikon z6 with a samyang 14mm lens will this work

[@JamesBrewphoto]

It will work yes - stitching might just be a bit hit and miss. Overlap the shots heavily

[@hardyboi1593]

1:29 which app is that ??

[@Wam7]

Stellarium - there are versions for the various desktop or mobile OS.

[@hardyboi1593]

@@Wam7 thanks mate !

[@JuanRojas956]

Timewise, how far apart do you take one picture from another?

[@JamesBrewphoto]

Take them as quickly as possible - minimal downtime between each shot