Mastering The Lights Of The Night Sky - Lecture For Beginner and Intermediate Photographers

[@1972Russianwolf]

good overall, but you should have mentioned that the crop factor needs to be taken into account when using the rule of 600/500/400 (I thought you were going to hit it when you mentioned full frame camera). A 50mm lens on a full frame becomes the equivalent field of view of a 75mm on a Nikon Crop, 80mm on a Canon crop or 100mm on a MFT. So 10 seconds on a Canon 5D becomes 5 seconds on a Panasonic G7.

[@Milkywaymike]

Michael T Shue Studios definitely a great point!!! Thanks for sharing!

[@old4004]

You mentioned Photopills, Mike. When you record your camera model, it automatically adjusts for crop factor.

[@Q_QQ_Q]

Can we do it with point and shoot nikon coolpix l830 ? Is it possible ? 😎😎

[@scarpography]

I just got into photography and my brain already hurts reading this

[@M-Mir]

Could someone explain to me why a crop will enhance startrailing? It's the same lens and the same picture at the end of the cam why should sensorsize make a difference? There are two things that matter: pixelsize and focal length. Change my mind.

[@TomGrubbe]

I've seen people charge money for e-books that contain less content than this video. Outstanding work, thank you for putting this together!

[@Milkywaymike]

Tom Grubbe appreciate the feedback and supporting my channel!

[@ahnafpiash]

Yeah exactly... this video was sooo helpful 🤍🤍🤍

[@thevijayraj34]

Yes. You're absolutely right

[@RanjitSingh-ez8gu]

Bro this is such a crazy amount of quality information!

[@Milkywaymike]

Thanks man... I actually have some updates too so I may release a new version with some additional info in the near future! Thanks for watching!

[@RanjitSingh-ez8gu]

@@Milkywaymike Great! Also thanks for the advice when i mailed you personally! I hope to make great pictures like you in a few years.

[@larrynorth1176]

I am 76 always looking for ways to improve my photography you were very informative I can tell you worked very hard on it ! You have awesome skills keep up the good work once again thank you!!!

[@Milkywaymike]

Thank you very much for watching! I appreciate the feedback!

[@fafavoltzgaming8351]

Thumbed up just for that intro. More people need to just slow down and take it all in.

[@karim1485]

KZbin should add a heart button next to the like button to rate outstanding videos like this one. Liking this video felt soo insulting... thank you Mike, I learned so much!

[@Milkywaymike]

You are too kind! Thank you so much for watching and enjoying the content!

[@Tigeress8482]

I don't think I've ever seen a better video on KZbin. This was an incredible piece of work. Thanks for helping me get started on making my astrophotography dreams come true!

[@Milkywaymike]

Thank you so much for the kind words Angelina!

[@floatingrabbit3556]

those dislikes are probably coming from smartphone photographers. Yeah we see you.

[@Milkywaymike]

Lol

[@myroadtours6147]

Right lol

[@dotmatrix7383]

Not to knock smartphone photography. I managed to get some great night shots on my old Nokia 1020. It was great to practice exposure, ISO, and timing on them before moving a to a Canon Rebel.

[@soorajns247]

It's not always about the camera, what really matters is who is behind it

[@UNSCPILOT]

@@soorajns247 aye, and there are plenty of Smart Phones that can actually shoot pretty competent images. so long as your expectations are realistic it's a good way to get started on shooting stuff like the moon and planets when combined with even a fairly mediocre telescope, I should know since I've been messing with such a budget setup

[@markgilder9990]

Brilliant, Thank you. I’m visiting my son at Lake Tahoe in 2024. I hope he will take me to the mountains.😊🇬🇧

[@paulhancock7860]

You've inspired me to pull out my astrotrac which I've hardly used and start taking images with it again! Excellent presentation and great content on your channel!!

[@shanedurrance]

Who in the world clicked dislike! What a great video! I learned a lot from this. Thanks for posting

[@Milkywaymike]

Thanks for the kinds... maybe flat earthers.. I debate with them a lot LOL

[@darrylb4048]

There are some people that just cant be happy, for themselves or anybody else. I always put it this way: Those people would complain that they stubbed their toe on a walk even if the stone they hit was discovered to be solid gold!!

[@johndoherty6448]

Agreed... but doing the maths, it's 1.03% dislike. I only wish that that many people who know, me dislikes me !!

[@creeperjoypeqce7236]

Anyone know wut camera best used for astrophotography?

[@ArcMediaFilms]

Amazing tutorial thank you so much for all the information.👍

[@ramiroramirez9066]

Great video. Thank you for sharing!

[@markjenkinson3004]

I have been teaching photography at a major university for over 30 years and been a professional photographer for almost 50 years working for virtually every major magazine in the world, but I have never done any star photography. I happen to be teaching in Abu Dhabi this semester so I decided to give it a try. This tutorial is amazing!!!!! In my teaching career I have never given a lecture this complete, solid, or informative.

[@Milkywaymike]

Thank you very much for those kind words! I made this a few years ago so I definitely think I make improvements if I had to do it all over again, but I’m happy it has helped peak photographers interest to capture the stars. Hopefully you get a shot of the Milky Way this year! Cheers 🍻

[@lazarohernandez6292]

Subscribed and Belled you -beautiful

[@AndriaMrs]

Stayed in Cyprus for a few months and in a place called Lania. Beautiful beautiful place and OMG the night sky and the Milky Way was incredible. The Milky Way went right over the house and it was though you could not see sky, only stars. Amazing absolutely amazing. I did not have a good camera then sadly for me.

[@VanishingKaizer]

Hi, I like this topic. Please can you advise how did you do the long exposure without losing the detail of the person holding the flashlight. If you are gonna set the shutter to 30 sec or bulb, the person have to be in his best not to move for that long. Your tip will be a big help.

[@Milkywaymike]

kzbin.info/www/bejne/jJXLnmuojcShobs kzbin.info/www/bejne/d6bKfotjdt2Zh7M kzbin.info/www/bejne/oaG6pHyFgN-gnNU Check out these 3 videos for more detailed info on Milky Way Selfie shots.

[@JamesErb00]

So, for all these self portraits... Do you stand there for 20-30 seconds for the whole exposure? Or is that just 2 separate exposures (one of the milky way, one of the portrait)? How would you do a silhouette in front of the milky way?

[@Milkywaymike]

James Erb I stand still for the exposures...here is an edit example kzbin.info/www/bejne/oaG6pHyFgN-gnNU

[@PureNordicVibe]

😃 😄 WOW Cool Video, Keep up the good work

[@in2gadgets]

Fabulous video - thanks!

[@LisianeWinkler]

One of the best video-tips I've seen so far. You managed to compress pretty much all the main struggles in one single video. Thank you for sharing your knowledge, appreciate it!

[@Milkywaymike]

Thank you so much for watching.. hope it helps!

[@ramakanthdvv]

This is a very good video. Thanks for your efforts.

[@oggysgamingoggy6171]

This video information is amazing ❤️

[@5xXelementalXx5]

Love this! Thank-You!

[@WilliamVirkin]

Thanks so much for this presentation I learn a lot.

[@dev.dfilmmaker2048]

thanks for sharing such good info in one video.

[@thePHXstudio]

Spectacular. Great video, thank you for teaching!

[@sbrenden]

Thank you for this awesome upload! Great work, and very inspiering :) Recently bought a FF camera, and trying to understand night photo.. This video will come in handy :) Cheers

[@nordic5490]

Always focus on site. Use live view @ max magnification. Start with a bright star, then fine tune with the smallest stars you can.

[@Milkywaymike]

It's definitely my favorite way! Thanks for sharing

[@Twobarpsi]

Excellent presentation!!

[@apachawee7463]

Got my Canon ESO T7i last month. I've been learning a lot from your video's. Excellent explanation. Thank you. 👍👍

[@Milkywaymike]

Awesome!!! I’m happy to help

[@CelebrityLyrics]

Can someone tell me the BEST astrophotography lens that can mount a Canon like Canon T8i or Canon 90D? I heard of IRIX 15mm f/2.4 as well as Rokinon? Any suggestion of the BEST lens that is amazing in all aspects that can take nice shots of the Milky Way as well as Orion Nebula?

[@Ed-bj5eq]

thanks Mike really helpful tips and great photos !

[@Milkywaymike]

Thank you very much!

[@IanHelmcke]

A-FRICKING-MAZING!!!!! dude. Wow. I think this is the single best tutorial video I've ever seen on KZbin.

[@jca5023]

When you stack photos, do you stack the raw files first and then process, or do you process the raw and then stack?

[@Milkywaymike]

Typically I adjust my white balance and export the files as tiff files since I don't think Starry Landscape Stacker allows RAW files at the moment. Then I stack them and save the stacked image as a tiff file as well which allows me to push the photo more then a JPEG. You can process your photos a little bit before stacking if you want, but I recommend doing it sparingly to avoid adding more noise into your night photos.

[@henriquecristo]

Really?! Did you write it all on a piece of paper?! Dude... that's why I'm not a blogger.

[@Milkywaymike]

Yea, but it is a presentation that I use for Camera Clubs that ask me to come speak. So while it takes a week or two to put the information together, I can reuse it over and over for various photo clubs which pay for me to present it. Also it helps me memorize key points when talking about specific topics!

[@henriquecristo]

Oh I see, you've made a video out of it :) it is really good! What I meant was that it looks like it was very "labor intensive" in comparison to what other people are doing. But no doubt very good intel ;) I've saved it to my playlist! Cheers

[@rishijoshi5808]

friggin amazing brother! Much love :)

[@peggygilmour8905]

Great photos, I think I have seen some of yours posted online.

[@Milkywaymike]

Mostly likely! Thanks for watching

[@aandm7772]

Thank you so much! I recently bought a Sony 35mm 1.8 lens, do you think this will be good enough?

[@Milkywaymike]

Yes, a 35 1.8 lens is really good for night photography. You can always take a panorama if you want to create a wide angle image.

[@aandm7772]

Milky Way Mike thank you!!

[@knightclan4]

Brilliant video mate

[@cdaworldnav]

What web site has the light polution using the scale you indicated?

[@Milkywaymike]

www.lightpollutionmap.info/#zoom=2.796666666666666&lat=4759323&lon=2062277&layers=B0FFFFTFFFF

[@wytchywmn9]

Excellent tutorial. Heading to the Mojave National Preserve soon and bought a new DSLR just for this purpose. Good info. Thanks!

[@JazzLowrider]

Great tutorial and instruction but not perfect, the 600 rule is out of the question, even the 500 and 400 they're not good for every camera, you will see star trails, the best rule is trial and error, because it depends on sensor size, pixel size and focal length and aperture, there is a website that you can enter your camera model, lens focal length and aperture and will the give you the most accurate shutter speed for sharp images, but like i said before, trial and error is the best for any situation. Nebula Photos Channel has a great explanation about the 500 rule and why not to use it.

[@bitsurfer0101]

How do you find Bortle scale mapping? Is this available in Canada?

[@Milkywaymike]

Definitely! darksitefinder.com/maps/world.html#5/56.753/-108.171

[@peterlemke3468]

I knew of light pollution before l saw this fantastic informative video but not of the Bortle Scale. The things you learn on YT.

[@mikenco]

You keep mentioning fear of the dark, like it's something we all have..I love the dark, but I'm glad you overcome your own fear! ;)

[@Milkywaymike]

mikenco More so the fear of nocturnal animals or poisonous reptiles. I’ve come across scorpions, snakes, a bear and a pack of coyotes by while myself at night.. I don’t think people should be afraid of the dark but they should respect it, as we are at a disadvantage from other animals that thrive at night.

[@mikenco]

TBH, I didn't take your local fauna into account. You make a very good point because in my part of the world the most ferocious attack I'm ever likely to encounter at night is stubbing a toe on a hedgehog (and I have done that!). I enjoyed your vid, thank you.

[@Sunil_Veeramuthu]

@@Milkywaymike Alright, where did you encounter these? Just so I can scratch them off from the list of places I would go to, to shoot at night lol. :D

[@NobleElite]

The only possible risk for me when I go out to do some astronomy and astrophotography are foxes and bats :P Funny thing is, I feel much safer going to my local priory, which is particularly dark, than a lit town high street :P That's definitely saying much for where I'm from (U.K). Bats and foxes are pretty harmless, and will go away if left alone :)

[@cristibaluta]

I take star photos for years but never bothered with multiple images, you convinced me, i'll do it next time, maybe even buy a tracker.

[@Milkywaymike]

Cristian Baluta at the very least, definitely stack your images in sequator or starry landscape Stacker. The results are astounding!!

[@ViVuGo0574]

Mình rất thích chụp ảnh milky way, bạn chụp nhữ tấm ảnh tuyệt lắm...! 🤝

[@TotalBarber]

Dude this was the best and most informational video about astrophotography I have watched on KZbin and I have probably watched every single astrophotography video!!

[@Milkywaymike]

Thank you so much! Hope it helps you out this next milky way season!

[@TotalBarber]

@@Milkywaymike I have been shooting photography for about a year now and I'm really interested in astrophotography so yes it has helped alot! Thank you!

[@malcolmpierce825]

Thank you Mike! I'm starting to learn!

[@WesWarner]

Thanks, Mike for an informative video. So much to take away from it.

[@_Patrick_]

but how do you take a picture of a person with the night sky a quick flash? im not sure if i missed it but my subjects always blur due to slight movements against the night sky over a long exposure. do you photoshop the foreground with the night sky with two seperate images? Or is there a trick to do it on site?

[@Milkywaymike]

OldManStoneSoup You can capture the night sky and yourself with a speed light set to rear current sync. So for example to capture the Milky Way you use a shutter of 20 second, iso 6400 F2.8... keep those settings the same but attach a trigger to the camera and a speed light so can use the light off camera. Then set the light to manual and try 1/16 or 1/8 power. This will allow you capture the Milky Way and yourself with the light. Make sure it’s in rear curtain sync so the pop of light is at the end of the exposure so you are sharp. Here is a video with my speed light. kzbin.info/www/bejne/jJXLnmuojcShobs

[@_Patrick_]

@@Milkywaymike Ah cool, Thank you for this!

[@jerryeisner1]

Wonderful Tutorial!!! What a gift you have given us!!!

[@Milkywaymike]

Thanks for watching and leaving some kind words! Cheers

[@joshsandman9461]

I like how u disclose all your settings and edits

[@DovydasRybakas]

The world would definitely be a better place if the sky did always look like that.

[@luukdeboer1974]

Now THAT was a great tutorial!!! This is a quality video that's in another leage! Thank you for putting so much effort and experience into this video

[@Milkywaymike]

Thanks for the kind words!

[@bulldogstrut1]

Excellent video. One note of caution though. Before using any burning material such as the flaming steel wool shot near the end, you should check with the authorities about any burn restrictions to avoid receiving a substantial fine, and take measures to avoid torching your surroundings.

[@Milkywaymike]

Excellent point, thanks for sharing!

[@fucazzo8097]

Settle down Smokey the Bear.! 😂 “I must call the Authorities and ask if I may take a shit in the woods too.....” Christ everyone has to add something. Make your own video if you want! ***It is a great tutorial***

[@vasiliskarkalas]

What a great video I just witnessed! Thanks for that!

[@diyimprover6887]

Another gear option. If you haven't already invested in a system and you're really into shooting stars, look at the Pentax cameras. Their full-frame K1 has a built in Astro Tracer function. Crop sensor Pentax dslr's use a $150 WiFi hot shoe mounted accessory that does the exact same thing. These allow exposures of up to 5 minutes and makes irrelevant the 500/400/300 and NPF rules.

[@M-Mir]

Yeah but for 150 you could get a Minitrack lx2/3 for any camera, which will do the same thing

[@diyimprover6887]

@@M-Mir The Minitrack only works while pointed directly at Polaris while AstroTracer-equipped Pentax's can be directed at any point in the sky, so the Minitrack will not "do the same thing". I also don't think anyone is going to buy a Pentax just to shoot the sky if they are already invested in another system. I threw this out there for people who are considering getting into dslr and have not yet decided on a system. The K1-ii is one of the finest landscape cameras in its price range and also happens to be the only system with star tracking capabilities. The crop sensor Pentax's are also an excellent value and have native tracking functionality with an inexpensive accessory.

[@M-Mir]

@@diyimprover6887 And where is the problem with pointing the Minitrack at Polaris? Not everyone has 2k $ for a camera.

[@diyimprover6887]

@@M-Mir 1) No problem only shooting at Polaris if you're okay limiting yourself to one of the least interesting areas of the night sky and limiting your camera/lens to less than 4 1/2 pounds and struggling to put Polaris dead center to get the optimal effect. No problem at all. 2) You don't have to spend $1,700 for the K1. You can use the more economical but high-value crop sensor cameras Pentax makes. 3) Budgeting for any hobby is a personal calculation. What do you want to be able to do and how much money are you willing and able to expend. Pentax has a unique feature beneficial to someone who might want to try their hand at astrophotography. If they've already spent years and hundred$ or thousand$ investing in a Canon or Nikon system, it would make zero sense to scrap their existing system just to use the Pentax sensor shift capability. If they're just getting started in dslr and think they might like to do some astrophotography (and also be able to do high resolution pixel shifting for 140 megapixel imaging _and_ get some great landscape photography capability), then I'm just suggesting they take a close look at the Pentax system when they're deciding which system to buy into. 4) I don't quite get the point of your derisive tone when all I'm doing is sharing my opinion about one possible option for people to consider. There are lots of choices for systems and accessories. I'm just pointing out one very credible option. What's your problem with that?

[@M-Mir]

@@diyimprover6887 No problem, I am only offering an affordable alternative. Do you know that you can rotate your camera to any point in the sky and only your lx3 has to be polar aligned? There is a ballhead between your cam and the lx. I have no clue why you are so offended by my comment.

[@13_cmi]

I’m gonna see how good my high school’s photography stuff is. The internet is too hard to follow and it’s so hard to learn deep sky and Milky Way photography by myself. I also have a busted up camera that has crazy wobble on the lens mount and that makes it even worse. It’s so annoying that I picked up the most difficult and expensive hobby possible. My bank account and brain love being deprived of the things they need.

[@robertmcdaniel7788]

Very well done, sir. Lots of great practical information. Thank you for sharing your knowledge.

[@topper45]

Great job, Mike, and thank you!

[@tony_r_pierce]

This was great, thanks Michael!

[@Milkywaymike]

Thanks for watching!

Lots of knowledge! Thank you! Who's the hell dislike this video?

[@kenowens9021]

It's very easy to see the Milky Way out in the middle of the ocean. Just can photograph is from a moving and swaying ship.

[@Bsergei1975]

Subscribed. Thanks, very interesting. Q: Why in 2012 and 2016 photo you used f/3,2 if you have much wider aperture? Q2: In rule 600/500/400 how do you consider the aperture? Why MPixels effect this rule? Q3: When you take photos of 360 sec (11 minutes!) don't you get all those "dead pixels" and noise? I get them a lot (EOS 5D Mark III) even with lesser minutes and much smaller ISO like 100 and you shoot on ISO 2000. Q4: How do you remove noise? Cheers!

[@Milkywaymike]

A1) I always stop down a little from the widest aperture because I try to bring back sharpness towards the corner of the image. A lot of times when you shoot wide open (F1.4, 1.8, or 2.8) the sides of the image (in this case the Stars) become softer. By stopping down a little I can increase sharpness throughout the whole image. A2) Going back to the first question... I choose aperture depending on the lens and it's sharpness corner to corner capabilities. Some people say MP doesn't matter with the rule because if you stand at proper viewing distance you won't notice the star blur in your prints. I hate knowing that the star blur is more noticeable when pixel peeping on a higher mega pixel camera so that's where the other rules come into play. The goal is for you to find a rule that works with your camera to create an acceptable amount of star blur vs an acceptable amount of noise. Since I shoot a lot for Stock agencies they want as little of noise as possible (even in night photos) and they want everything sharp. This requires shorter exposures and stacking for the stars (or tracking) and longer lower ISO shots for the foreground to reduce noise. A3) For the shot that was 360 seconds it is a 6 minute exposure (360 seconds / 60 secs per min). For that shot I had Long Exposure NR turned ON which internally creates a Dark Frame which is used to remove hot pixels and reduce noise. When using Long Exposure NR just be aware that it will take a Dark Frame the same length of time as your exposure. So if you take a 6 minute exposure then immediately after it will take a dark frame that is 6 minutes so the total wait time for one photo is 12 minutes. If you camera does not have built in Long Exposure Noise Reduction you can actually do this yourself. For example if you take a 30 second exposure you then put your lens cap on your camera and take another 30 second exposure. Then in photoshop you use that dark frame to remove your hot pixels. Their are numerous videos on YT to help you out with this. I will eventually do one as well in the future. A4) I remove noise by stacking my foregrounds and stacking my skies. Check out Starry Landscape Stacker for MACs and Sequator for PCs! Thanks for watching and subscribing!

[@hariishr]

Good one

[@Keychainproduction]

Wow, I learned so much that I need to re watch this video haha, great great great video! subscribed instantly

[@Milkywaymike]

Awesome, thanks for watching!

[@sivasankarshakthivel5852]

That was one pack of information. Thanks a lot for sharing ...🙏

[@kineticbe]

Very useful. Thank you!

[@thomaswiik3810]

Thank you very much! Great tutorial :)

[@Ptcz3891]

I have only 50mm lens which i believe is not wide enough. It's really challenging to cover Milky way.

[@cy1512]

Great video. Thank you for sharing your knowledge!

[@catrionathomson8981]

I’ve watched this video several times as I find it so informative having tried AP for the first time last month. A naive question perhaps; rather than the post processing in the lighthouse photo do you think it would be possible to achieve the same using a double exposure? Again many thanks for sharing your passion and knowledge.

[@Milkywaymike]

Thanks for watching my videos! You can definitely try a double exposure, but I though that was more of an effect and I'm not sure how well that well that will work out. In the past I would do something similar which is taking 2 exposures on a tripod - 1 really Long exposure at a low ISO to illuminate the foreground and 1 shorter exposure (15-20 seconds at a higher iso 3200-6400) to capture the stars. Then I would blend the 2 images together for a cleaner night image. It worked well for many night situations and definitely worth a try! Hopefully that helps :)

[@walt3223]

What about taking pictures of constellations? What about taking pictures of stars and showing their deafferents in brightness? What about showings the Stars true colors?

[@polakskater101]

I know this is an old video, and you probably won't read this, but how did you get that effect of the whirlpool star trails?

[@Milkywaymike]

I try to read all my comments to help people out. There are several different ways to create “whirlpool”, “vortex” or “spiral” star trails. The hard way is by building a device to rotate your zoom lens very slowly over a 2-3 hour time span. This is how I started doing them after seeing Lincoln Harrison create one. Then I figured out an easier way using LRTIMELAPSE and Adobe Lightroom kzbin.info/www/bejne/lYnMeoWlr9lrn7c This technique you are zooming in by cropping your image. You will need 2-4 hours of normal star trails to make this work. Lastly people are making vortex star trails using photoshop which you can do a KZbin search and find tutorials for that as well. Hope that answers your question! Good luck

[@Milkywaymike]

My motorized zoom machine m.kzbin.info/www/bejne/inSai4GIhr1nfqM&feature=emb_logo

[@polakskater101]

@@Milkywaymike wow man, that is insane in the best way. I love that effect it looks so trippy!

[@VictorGoodpasture]

Terrific presentation Mike! One thing that I haven't seen explained is in creating Milky Way panos, how do you accommodate for the motion of the earth? By the time you shoot Image 7, it's been a few minutes since Image 1 and the stars no longer align. How do you fix that? Thanks in advance!

[@Milkywaymike]

While the stars are changing positions slightly it isn't really an issue when creating a panorama if you exposure are around 15-25 seconds long. So if we use your 7 image example...image 1 is aligning with image 2 so the change is not that much... image 2 is aligning with image 3 and so on. The change is so minor from shot to shot that most panorama software (lightroom, photoshop or ptgui) easily align. Now it does get harder when you do a 2 row panorama... I have run into issues with aligning 2 row panoramas with lightroom... this is where PTGUI performs better. Here is a video I made on milky way panoramas--> kzbin.info/www/bejne/gKKlo3mjjKurgNk

[@Knivesrme]

Awesome video. I can’t wait to get started.

[@antonellacisco6978]

Awesome. Thanks for sharing your knowledge.

[@rodriguezro9999]

Great video. Thank you.

[@mikehenry4743]

Not only do you post great tutorials, I also compliment you on the way you take the time to respond to questions.

[@Milkywaymike]

Thanks man!! Appreciate the kind words! Have a good one.

[@StarBattle08]

"Let the love for your stars overcome your fear for the night" wise words

[@day1tech]

Very nice video lots of information I especially like the part at the end where you shows your first picture in 2012 and how it progressed very inspiring

[@Milkywaymike]

Thanks you so much!

[@carmenspratt7290]

Just starting to come across your videos and enjoying them very much. You are so clear and concise. The post processing tips have been very helpful and I look forward to applying them in my workflow. Would love to shoot with you if you’re ever out on Long Island or hold workshops. Thank you so much for sharing your valuable knowledge!

[@Milkywaymike]

Carmen Spratt thanks for the kind words!! If I’m in that area I’ll let you know!

[@old4004]

Excellent coverage of the subject...........great, concise presentation. You may not want to answer this, but do you ever get any flack from light painting in national parks?

[@Milkywaymike]

Thanks! No I haven't had any issues with NPs about light painting. If I do light paint I typically use Low Level Lighting LEDs which can be bright but I typically use the lowest setting since the brighter they are the more harsh the light is for the foreground. From my experience, National Parks don't have many people working night shifts so I rarely ever see Rangers at night. In major parks like Yosemite I know they might work at night looking for illegal campers, but most parks I don't think it's in the budget.

[@mogyman5753]

I’m also from New Jersey (Essex county) and it’s hard for me to start astrophotography. Do you have any recommendations for good stargazing sites?

[@Milkywaymike]

Check out the best photography locations for astrophotography in New Jersey --> kzbin.info/www/bejne/n6nKn3l5nqyIhdE Also if you are willing to drive 3.5 hours then you may want to check out Assateague Island in Maryland which is much darker than NJ and you can camp on the beaches!

[@ThatIndianBlader]

Jesus bless :)

[@alexcarroll9774]

Thanks for this! 🙏

[@Milkywaymike]

You’re welcome!

[@rufusburgess1693]

Incredible video. Thank you

[@bosadipos1454]

Haha nice got the same fish-eye . Are you happy with it?

[@Milkywaymike]

Yeah definitely... it's not the sharpest wide open but it gets the job done for my time lapses through tents - example at the (1:45) mark on this youtube video kzbin.info/www/bejne/iqnGaoJ6iL2cibs

[@bosadipos1454]

@@Milkywaymike thank you for reaching out and the content you're doing. I'll definitely take the lense with me on the next hike for some timelapse action close to a glacial lake. Let's hope for better conditions on the next new moon :) May the light be with you!

[@MoviesSam]

Great vid. I just started getting into Milky Way photography. I did my first shoot out at Grand Canyon and was pleased with the result (even though its near the end of the season). I have one question. I see the Milky Way in many shots going in an arched fashion horizontally across the sky, but everything I see in Stellarium shows in vertical (the way I saw it in Grand Canyon). Can you help me understand when and or where I would find it arched horizontally ?

[@Milkywaymike]

Thanks Sam! The Milky Way will be more horizontal in the beginning of "Milky Way season"... So from March, April, May and probably June you will be able to get it more horizontal in the sky or arching over the sky.

[@bobkoss280]

Ignorant question - are we looking in towards the galactic center, or out to the rest of the universe and we're seeing the outer spiral of the milky way?

[@Milkywaymike]

When photographing the Galactic Center we are looking towards the middle of our galaxy. Here is an illustration to help visualize it: Earth is in the Orion "arm" of the Milky Way Galaxy en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Orion_Arm#/media/File:Milky_Way_Arms_ssc2008-10.svg

[@paultaylorphotography9499]

Awesome presentation, chock full of useful info. I love shooting the milky way, we have some amazing dark skies in New Zealand our local region Central Hawke's Bay is going through the process of becoming a dark sky reserve. We have two DSRs in NZ already at Lake Tekepo and the Wairarapa coast, absolutely crystal clear skies. I'm fro England originally and can honestly say I never saw the milky way as there was far too much light pollution, but over here in NZ it's breathtaking. I generally shoot single images 2.8 3200 25/30 seconds and I'm happy enough with the results, I dont use photoshop just lightroom but I like the look of those star stackers. My latest vlog was shot on a heavily clouded night, I wanted moody cloudy shots but I got lucky with a gap in the cloud creating a window to the stars, gotta admit I really like the effect. New subscriber for you mate, looking forward to checking out your other vids. Regards Paul

[@Milkywaymike]

Thanks for watching! New Zealand is on my bucket list of places to visit, especially since there is some amazing landscapes there that I would love to photograph. Definitely check out stacking software... It makes a huge difference in the quality of your night photos!

[@paultaylorphotography9499]

@@Milkywaymike You gotta get here mate, NZ is moving fast towards a dark sky tourism industry.

[@FeatherzMcGraw]

Great video Mike, I wish this was up a few months back when I started trying to capture some Astro photo's... I managed to impress myself but looking forward to seeing more of you're videos and thanks for mentioning Sequator as i've been after something to try stacking images for a while without a Mac :).

[@Milkywaymike]

Thanks a lot Lee!

[@michebre]

Mike thanks so much. This is a great tutorial. Very informative!

[@Milkywaymike]

Happy it helped!

[@johnnydrone8547]

That’s was nice... best of luck

[@RakeshVigVlogs]

Sir before shooting milky way, i tried shooting the stars as milky way is not visible these days as per software. And i used sonya7iii with 50mm f1.8 and one thing i noticed that the stars become like butterflies at f1. 8 but when i lower it to 2.8 or above they are almost okay.. I used manual focusing and tried to focus a single star but don't know where i was lacking. And I'm unable to create compositions means like if I want to come in my frame I'm de focused and stars are in focus. And if i focus on near by tree so that I'm some what in focus but then only tree is in focus me and stars are out.. I want to do different compositions but I'm lacking how to focus Kindly guide about focus in compositions in ur video if possible. Thanks

[@Milkywaymike]

RV Rider it is a little more complex shooting with a 50mm instead of with a wide angle lens between 14mm up to around the 35mm range on a full framed camera. A 50mm will require taking your foreground separately from your sky if you foreground object is too close. If you want sharp stars and foreground in 1 shot it is better to get a wide angle like tamron 15-30mm or similar. Some photographers use a wide angle for the foreground and then switch to a 50mm for the sky and blend the 2.

[@RakeshVigVlogs]

@@Milkywaymike tamron 15-30 mm is compatible with sonya7iii??

[@pepetrueno4]

Man, what a great video. Really pro! Thanks for sharing your overcome in mastering the night photography. Master!! Helped me a lot!

[@Milkywaymike]

Thanks for the kind words and feedback!

[@ChileThailandtravel]

Thanks for sharing and I have subscribed

[@paulogden7417]

Awesome, thanks for great information and a beautiful photo sequence!

[@Milkywaymike]

Thanks for watching!