How to take pictures of the starry sky on a smartphone. How to photograph stars and meteors

In this tutorial, I will talk about how I photograph the starry sky myself and give you some important, in my opinion, tips. We are all fascinated by the beauty of the night sky, and especially when the Milky Way is clearly visible, and we all want to capture this beauty in the picture. How to do it?

You can easily master the technique that I use when photographing the starry sky. If you are interested in the post-processing process, then I advise you to read the lessons of Michael Shainbloom and.

Photographing the Milky Way

I'll start the lesson by answering the most frequently asked question: How did you find the Milky Way in the sky? The answer will probably disappoint many, but if at night you can’t see the Milky Way above your head with the naked eye, then photographing is almost pointless.

What you will need:

• A very dark night. I always check the phase of the moon before scheduling a shoot. If the light from the Moon is too bright, then it will not be possible to capture the Milky Way in all its glory.
• Dark place for shooting. To find such a place, I use a special light pollution map from Google and NASA Blue Marble Navigator's Dark Skies Map.
• Tall and stable tripod. I use a 72” tripod from Really Right Stuff, which is perfect for our task.

Things that will certainly improve the quality of your photos of the starry sky:

• A very fast, in other words fast, wide-angle lens (allows you to set a small f-value). Such a lens allows you to absorb as much light as possible in a minimum period of time.
• I shoot with Nikkor14-24mm f/2.8G or Nikkor 16mm f/2.8 Fisheye. At f/2.8, both of these lenses are very fast. Other lenses may also work fine.

Now I will list a few programs and applications for the phone that I find very useful and that I often use when I plan to shoot stars.

1. PhotoPills (only supported on Iphone). I have been using this application for about two months, it has become indispensable for me. The application has many functions that you can familiarize yourself with by clicking on the link.
2. Star Walk Astronomy Guide (for Android and Iphone) is a real guide to the starry sky, this app is second to none. It is enough to raise the phone to the sky, and the screen will display the planets, constellations and other space objects currently above your head. With it, you can also find the place from which it is best to observe the Milky Way.
3. The Photographers Ephemeris (for Android and Iphone). I use this app almost every time I'm going to shoot at sunset or sunrise. For shooting the night sky, it is useful to have information about the phase of the moon, the time of its rise and set and brightness, and this application will provide you with this information.
4. Stellarium is an excellent program thanks to which you can learn a lot about space, stars, and planets. You can download it to your computer or install the application on Android.
5. Google Sky Map - A free application developed by Google in which you will find the location of all space objects.

The 500 rule for star photography

What is the shutter speed for a night sky photo?

Some people use the 600 rule, but in my opinion the 500 rule results in sharper images and is a starting point for taking good photos of stars. Divide 500 by the focal length of the lens you plan to shoot with to find the maximum shutter speed at which the stars will stay sharp and not create tail blur.

If you set the shutter speed higher than the maximum, then most likely unwanted blurs will appear. Do not forget that the value that you get after the calculation is just a starting point, do not be afraid to experiment.

If the stars in the picture leave a blurry trail, then reduce the exposure time by a few seconds. If the stars seem not bright enough - on the contrary, increase.

It's all about practice and understanding how your camera works within this rule.

Below I have presented a table with already calculated excerpts, which will make the preparation process a little easier for you.

Those who shoot on non-full-frame cameras, pay attention. In this table, I have included the most common matrix sizes and the maximum exposure time for them.

focal length- Focal length; Sensor Size, Full Frame(35 mm) - Matrix size, Full frame (35 mm); Crop Sensor 11.5X, 1.6X(mm) - Crop matrix 11.5X, 1.6X (mm); MaxExp. Length(seconds) - Maximum exposure length (seconds)

I will list the technique and settings that I use myself. But this does not mean at all that shooting with a different camera or a different lens, you will get a worse image.

• Camera model:
  Nikon D800
• Lenses:
  Nikkor14-24mm f/2.8G
  Nikkor 16mm f/2.8 Fisheye
• Tripods:
  BH-55LR Ballhead
  TVC-34L Versa Series 3 Tripod
  BD800-L: L-Plate for Nikon D800/800E

1. If, after taking a test shot, you find that the stars are not bright enough, then using the 500 rule described above, set the maximum shutter speed. If, after increasing the shutter speed to the maximum, the stars are still not bright enough, increase the ISO value. But do not spoil the image quality and resort to ISO, if the situation can still be corrected by increasing the shutter speed. You can also try using Rule 600 instead of the Rule 500 I described.
2. If your camera has a built-in level, turn it on and use it.
3. When photographing, don't forget to take your camera away from time to time and look for something really impressive not through the viewfinder.
4. Remember the Golden Ratio and use it when composing your shot.

Camera settings

Mode: Manual

Format: RAW

Metering Mode: I personally use Matrix Metering on my 800. The brand's cameras also have this mode, but it's called Evaluative Metering. As an experiment, I tried all the metering modes while shooting the starry sky, and Matrix was out of the competition.

White balance: I set the white balance manually to get the most natural look of the sky. Good results, of course, are achieved by trial and error.

Focal length: From 14-31mm, I like to shoot at 14mm or with a fisheye lens that has a focal length of 16mm.

Focusing: As a rule, I focus on infinity. To get started, take a few test shots, and, starting from the received, adjust the focus. If you need to capture an object in the foreground, then I advise you to take two shots: one with this object in focus, and on the second, capture the stars separately. Then these photos can be combined into and get a sharp picture.

Diaphragm: f/2.8 or whatever the smallest f-number available on your camera. I prefer to shoot in the f/2.8 - f/4 range.

Excerpt:

ISO: I get good results at ISO 2000-5000. Depending on your camera, increasing the ISO can affect the quality of the photo (the appearance of noise). Experiment, take ISO1000 as a starting point. But remember that you should resort to ISO adjustment only after setting the shutter speed, according to the 500 rule.

Experiment with the big three: aperture, shutter speed until you get the result you want. The smallest change in each of the components significantly affects the result.

A lesson on shooting star tracks

When taking photos of stellar tracks, you don't have to focus on the accuracy of calculations, which is necessary for filming the Milky Way. But, nevertheless, some useful tips and understanding of Rule 500, which we already mentioned above, will not be superfluous.

Please note that some of the tips that I will describe below have already been said in the previous lesson, as they are relevant for both types of photography.

What you will need:

• You can take pictures on any night, the main thing is a clear sky. I like shooting star tracks better when the Moon illuminates the sky well, in which case I don’t have to raise the ISO above 1000, so I avoid noise in the photos.
• Stable and tall tripod. I shoot with a 72” Really Right Stuff tripod, which is great because its height allows me to look at the screen of the camera while shooting.
• A camera with the ability to work in manual mode.
• Timer/intervalometer. A key factor for shooting at shutter speeds over 30 seconds.
• PhotoPills is an app that doesn't have to be downloaded at all, but it can help you calculate the exposure time needed to capture star trails. Also in this application you can find information about the phases of the moon.
• Photos of star tracks are also, of course, better to shoot with fast lenses. For this type of night photography, I recommend f/4, although I tend to shoot in the f/1.4 - f/2.8 range.
• Fully charged battery. You have to shoot continuously for several hours, so make sure that the battery is fully charged. I carry a couple of spare batteries with me just in case.

The 500 rule for shooting star tracks

Be sure to read the Rule 500 I described above, without understanding and mastering this simple rule, it will be much more difficult for you to take a good photo of star tracks.

Equipment: What do I use

I will not describe all the equipment that I use, since I partially did it in the previous lesson, you can return to it and look again.

I want to note that it is not at all necessary to photograph with a wide-angle lens. I shot tracks using all the lenses I have and I must say that all these photos looked great, although they differed due to the crop factor.

Camera settings

When it comes to shooting star tracks, I prefer the multiple exposure method to all other methods. During each exposure, a small fragment of the tail following the star is captured. The camera settings remain unchanged, and the only thing that changes is the position of the stars in the sky. Next, I combine all the photos I took in Photoshop to make a single long trail behind each of the stars. I like this method because it keeps the ISO and exposure time (about 15-45 seconds) small.

Note: You can shoot star tracks with a single slow shutter speed. But, in my opinion, this method seriously degrades the quality of the photograph, although under good conditions quite acceptable results are obtained. After learning the technique described below, you will be able to calculate the exposure time yourself.

Focal length: Any focal length will do for star track photography. But keep in mind that the larger the zoom, the longer the tails that follow the stars will get in a shorter amount of time. If you do not want to spend half the night shooting, then zoom lenses are what you need. In the event that you want to capture the entire trajectory of the star in wide-angle format, then the process will drag on for several hours. To see for yourself, for the sake of experiment, try to take several test shots with different lenses or different focal lengths in a given period of time and look at the length of the tracks.

Focusing: As a rule, I focus on infinity. If you need to capture an object in the foreground, then I advise you to take two shots: one with this object in focus, and on the second, capture the stars separately. Then these photos can be combined in Photoshop and get a sharp picture.

Diaphragm: For star track photography, I usually set my aperture to f/2.8 (or in the range f/2.8 - f/4).

Excerpt: The standard for me is 30 seconds. Sometimes I shoot at 50 seconds to capture more distant and therefore less bright stars. The longer the shutter speed, the more light the camera absorbs, the better we can see objects that are far from our planet.

Advice: I usually add a few seconds to the shutter speed calculated according to the 500 Rule.

ISO: Since I shoot mainly in moonlight conditions, I can not set high ISO values. Start shooting at ISO 300, increasing the value as needed. Don't forget that you don't need long tracks, as the photos will still be combined later on, as we said earlier, in Photoshop.

Advice: Raising the ISO is the last resort, you can always increase the exposure time if the pictures are not bright enough.

Shooting time/Number of exposures

The PhotoPills app helps you calculate how long you need to shoot star trails of different lengths. Remember that the more space the sky takes up in the overall composition of the photo, the more time is spent on the process of creating a picture. But if you have a couple of hours of time, then take coffee with you, something to eat and, with peace of mind, set the required number of frames, delay and wait.

Timer setting

Once you have figured out how long it will take you to capture the desired length of star trails, you will need to set the timer. I recommend shooting at 1 second intervals or less if your camera can. This frequency is necessary to avoid empty areas between star tracks during processing in Photoshop.

post-processing

Now I will briefly outline the post-processing process in Photoshop.

1. Upload all the captured photos to a RAW converter like Lightroom or Adobe Camera RAW.
2. From the entire series, edit one photo to your liking, using the settings for White Balance, Highlights, Shadows, etc. Make the picture the way you would like it to be at the end of processing. Next, synchronize the processing of this photo with all the shots. This is easy to do using the Sync option in Lightroom.
3. Export all photos in the format you need. I recommend the JPEG format, since there will be about 100 pictures, and to work with, for example, the TIFF format, you need a very fast computer with huge RAM.
4. Open all images in Photoshop in one file as layers. I do this through Adobe Bridge using the "Load Files into Photoshop as Layers" feature (Load files into Photoshop as layers).
5. Select all layers except the bottom layer and change the blend mode to Lighten.
6. Ready. You should see a photo with connected star tracks, forming beautiful traces of the trajectory of the stars.

A few final words

Perhaps the hardest part of creating a star trail photograph is getting the length of the shot right. If you don't take enough shots, the final photo may not have the stellar tails long enough. Therefore, it is better to take more pictures and not worry about anything. It is also equally important to find a balance between and exposure time.

Translation: Anastasia Rodriguez

Everyone loves to raise their head to the sky and look at the stars. It calms, pacifies, gives a charge of positive and often just pleases. The starry sky is sung by hundreds of poets, romance is almost impossible without the flickering of thousands of lights, and school astronomy lessons left few people indifferent.

Photographers are no exception. To shoot buildings or models at night and not include stars in the composition means to exclude a valuable natural resource from work. And the night sky itself can be a great shot if you organize the whole shooting process correctly.
In order to shoot the stars correctly, it is not necessary to have a cool lens and years of experience behind you, it is enough to be familiar with the settings of your camera and carefully study the features of shooting at night. In fact, there are only a few important points:

• The right place for shooting and the right angle;
• Clear weather and clear skies;
• Necessary tools and equipment for filming;
• Correctly set camera settings;
• Competent processing of images in the editor after shooting.

If all the points are performed correctly and wisely, then the frames will turn out to be of high quality and beautiful.

Choosing a location for filming

Preparation for filming begins with the search for a beautiful place with a gorgeous view. It is best to get out of the city into nature and look for a hill. It is necessary to leave for preliminary, or sighting, shooting during the day, so that on the finished pictures you will not find unpleasant surprises in the form of garbage and other traces of human activity. Mapping out the angle in advance, taking test shots and determining the necessary equipment - such actions will save a lot of your time and nerve cells. Looking for a beautiful landscape in the dark is not the most pleasant pastime.

The frame with the starry sky should be filled with other static elements: houses, trees, a river, beautiful lines of hills. Some photographers set the mood with a campfire, tent, and other camping paraphernalia. A good contrast is made by architectural structures, abandoned buildings, towers and houses standing alone against the background of the starry sky. Over time, you will be able to find your style and create your own compositions against the background of the stars, and you can start by copying the already created pictures.

Weather

To shoot the starry sky, you will need the help of the weather, the sky should be as cloudless as possible, and the world around you should be as calm and serene as possible. With a slow shutter speed, moving trees will force you to take a large number of frames to assemble the finished picture. Running clouds in the star track shooting mode (the movement of stars across the sky) will create unnecessary noise and it will be problematic to remove them.

In addition, the night should be absolutely moonless, the moon will give glare and additional light, which at higher ISO values ​​will give overexposed areas. So, we coordinate plans with the weather, choose the best place and start preparing a hiking set.

Necessary equipment for filming stars

Once you have decided on the location of the filming and started to wait for the right position of the moon and good weather, you can look for the necessary equipment for the event. Photographing stars is a night shoot, so the basic tools and gear will be the same: a tripod, cable release or remote control, wide-angle lens (you can also take a Fish-eye), hot tea and comfortable clothes. Let's go in order:

In addition to filming equipment, take comfortable shoes and clothes with you, in cold weather - warm tea and food. Working on the street with minimal traffic for 2-3 hours, and sometimes up to midnight, will require strength and patience. For long shooting you will need removable batteries and memory cards, they are consumed quickly enough.

Camera settings and options

On the spot, after installing the camera on a tripod and choosing the optimal angle, you need to set up the camera. You must select the correct values ​​for the following parameters:

• The degree of opening of the diaphragm;
• Light absorption, or ISO;
• Excerpt;
• Focal length;
• Focusing;

We shoot at night, and in other situations, in the manual mode of camera settings. This will make it possible to bypass the standard camera programs and get unusual artistic pictures. Consider the process of settings in stages.

1. First of all, select the manual adjustment mode (M) or the shutter speed adjustment mode (T). In the latter case, the camera will select the minimum aperture value, and the image quality will be adjusted by manual focusing and changing the “Shutter” parameter;
2. We choose the minimum possible aperture value, that is, we open it as much as possible. There is little light and information on the matrix at night, which means that with a wide open aperture, the stars will be bright, and you will not have to greatly increase the ISO;
3. Light absorption, or ISO, is set from 400 to 1600, if set less, then nothing will be visible, if more, then excessive graininess will appear, which is also undesirable. We choose the optimal value for each situation empirically, moving from the average value, for example, from 800;
4. Focus should be in manual mode, point it to infinity. There is an option - for luminous objects, if they are available and are far enough from the camera. Here, too, can only be determined empirically, each composition requires an individual approach;
5. Exposure is the main tool for creating artistic effects in starry sky shots. A fast shutter speed will allow you to get a sharper image, without tracers of stars. At the same time, a slow shutter speed will allow you to get brighter and more contrasting pictures and more details. You need to find a "golden mean", or the optimal value, usually from 15 to 30 seconds.

Moreover, the longer the focal length, the more interference will be at slow shutter speeds. You can calculate the shutter speed using the formula: 600 is divided by the focal length, if the lens has a crop factor, it must also be divided by it. Sometimes slowing the shutter speed down to dashes instead of stars is an artistic effect, resulting in circular stripes around the polar star in the picture.

It is difficult for novice photographers to keep all the parameters and their combinations in mind, so choose interesting combinations empirically. You will most likely have to spend a little more time outside, trying different settings. But in post-processing there will be enough material to get interesting shots.
If, in addition to the stars, there should be other elements in the photo with sufficient sharpness and correct color reproduction, then it makes sense to take several shots with focus on certain parts of the frame. For illumination, you can use lanterns, spotlights, passing cars, light from buildings, so you can dilute the starry sky with other interesting details.

Star Trek - an artistic technique when photographing stars

Photographers who use unusual techniques in creating their work will certainly be interested in the star track effect for shooting the starry sky. This beautiful way to shoot stars is quite simple and does not require special skills and tools. There are two fundamentally different techniques: shoot one frame at a slow shutter speed or take many frames and combine them using a specialized program.

Long exposure (more than 5-7 minutes) leads to overheating of the matrix and the appearance of noise and graininess, but such shots require minimal effort in the post-processing process. The second method will require more work from you - you will need to shoot for a long time in frames with a shutter speed of 15-20 seconds, and then peck them. This method has its advantages - you can make the lines as long as possible, which cannot be done with a long exposure. The matrix does not heat up, and the free Startrails program will collect the entire picture into a heap.

The tricky part of the Star Trek technique is finding the center point of rotation. Some stars move faster, others much slower, the polar star moves so slowly during the night that it can be considered stationary for about 40 minutes.

Organization of the filming process

In practice, everything turns out much easier than it looks in theory - most of the tricks are performed intuitively, changing the settings and position of the camera. But there are some practical tips that can make shooting the sky easier for you.

Summarizing the above

Shooting the starry sky is quite simple, knowing the features of night photography. To do this, it is not necessary to have an expensive camera and powerful optics; an ordinary “SLR” with a Kit lens will do the job quite well. If you choose optics, it is better to give preference to widescreen. Shoot at slow shutter speeds, medium ISOs and wide open apertures. For settings, it is better to choose manual mode and focus clarity with the lens. Shoot in RAW format, so there will be more material for post-processing frames.

A novice photographer needs a lot of practice and at the first shooting you should not count on a high-quality result. On average, you need to go out several times at night to feel the peculiarities of filming at such a time and find the optimal combination of camera settings. Train and improve your skills, photographic vision, intuition and artistic taste

For photography stars we're going to dig a lot deeper. We will learn how to use manual camera control, which aperture, shutter speed, ISO, etc. to choose. By the way, for this purpose, be sure to choose mode night shooting. This will give more options when editing the final image. If you still have doubts, let's take a closer look.

Let's start with what we need:

Tripod- We're going to be dealing with exposures of tens of seconds, so this item is more than useful. We need to stabilize the camera.
Camera with manual settings- we will manually set the ISO value and shutter speed, which is of great importance for photographing stars.
Lens with wide diaphragm- we need a lot of light and f / 2.8 aperture will do. It seems to be a fuzzy zone for astrophotography. Combined with an ultra-wide-angle lens, depth of field won't be an issue.

With this set, you can already start. But of course there are still a lot of things that we have to discuss.

Location!

So, it’s not enough just to collect all the equipment, you need to find the right place to successfully photograph the night sky. A serious problem for astrophotography light pollution occurs. If you live within the boundaries of a major city, you will have to drive at least an hour to get away from the light.
As we can see in the image below, even a city of around 30,000 people a few dozen kilometers away can still result in some interfering light pollution.

Let's not forget that we are going to photograph the sky, so for a successful choice of location on earth, we also focus on the position of the stars and constellations in the sky. This has a great effect on the visual perception of the photo. You can use an app called Starwalk from your iPhone to track the celestial bodies. For example, a photograph of the Milky Way can give an amazing visual effect.

basic settings

When photographing these tiny points of light, we need as much light as possible. Therefore, it is important to use a combination high ISO, wide apertures and long excerpts.

For the kayaking under the stars I used ISO 1250 at f/2.8 and a shutter speed of 30 seconds. As you can see, there is some light pollution on the lower right side of the photo from the city, which is about 30 minutes away.

To flatten to minimum light pollution, necessary to figure out, where it comes out. To do this, it is best to take several consecutive shots across the horizon, using the highest ISO setting. We simply reduce the time spent on each frame. We won't use these shots in the final step, but they play an important role in letting us know which parts of the horizon we have off limits.

Concerning time excerpts, then it is better to withstand as little as possible. As much as possible. Otherwise, given the rotation of the planet, the position of the stars will change. For example, if you look closely at a photograph taken with a 30 second exposure, you can see some movement in the stars.

Below we see a somewhat exaggerated photograph of stellar trails.

Photo processing

Processing images of the night sky can be a bit intimidating. Don't expect amazing results from the first try. As we have already noted, use the RAW format in the camera, if it is provided for it, when you are going to shoot the starry sky.

The image above is specially presented in two versions to clearly show the difference before and after processing. LR4 instrument settings used. The experiment continues until you are satisfied with the result.

An article about how to photograph the Milky Way and the starry sky in general. In this type of shooting there are some features, knowing which, you can get an excellent result.

First we need to take care of the camera. Almost any modern SLR camera with a whale lens is suitable for photographing stars. We will not judge digital compacts with non-replaceable optics, this is a separate issue.

Advanced devices will have one significant advantage - a high allowable light sensitivity (ISO). For example, the photo below was taken at ISO6400, which is unacceptable for cheap cameras.

Lens for night shooting

As for the lens, for shooting meteors and stars, aperture is extremely desirable, which, as you know, does not happen much. f/2.8 is good enough. f / 3.5 - it's already a bit dark, but you can still live. The width of the angle is also of great importance: the stars are constantly moving, and this must be reckoned with. If you have a lens with a focal length (FR) of 18-24mm on a full-frame camera (or 12-16mm on a crop), then the shutter speed that you can set does not exceed 20 seconds.

Take a test shot, look at 100% zoom, and you'll see star tracks (the stars take on the appearance of lines instead of dots). If you do not need a high resolution of the final image, then you can increase the shutter speed to 30 seconds, and subsequently reduce the size and publish it on the Internet - no one will guess that the shutter speed was long. for example, 30-second exposure shots can be shot with a 10mm fisheye attached to a full-frame camera to avoid trailing. Or rather, they are, but visible only at 100% magnification.

For convenience, a table has been compiled. If you don't know what camera you have, see the third column

Focal length - Shutter speed for FF - Shutter speed for crop

• 10mm - 40s - 30s


• 14mm - 35s - 25s


• 18mm - 25s - 15s


• 24mm - 20s - 12s


• 35mm - 12s - 8s


• 50mm - 8s - 6s

How to use the table? Very simple. Find the focal length of your lens in the left column (for example, 18mm), then if you have a full-frame camera (if so, then you already know this), then look at the second column - this will be the maximum shutter speed for you. If you have a cropped camera (Nikon d90, d60, d3000, d5000, d7000, etc., Canon 1000d, 50d, 7d, etc.), then look at the third column, your maximum shutter speed will be indicated there.

But you don't have to blindly follow the rules described above! If you want to capture the movement of the stars, then the shutter speed, on the contrary, should be increased up to 60 minutes. Accordingly, the ISO will have to be reduced, and the aperture should be covered so as not to overexpose the frames.

Elbrus at night, exposure 10 minutes. The sun has just set

Now let's talk about light sensitivity (ISO) for photographing the night sky

The higher it is, the better. But don't be foolish! Explore the possibilities of the camera! Nikon d7000 can safely set ISO3200, or carefully 6400. My Nikon d600 can safely set 6400. Almost all shots of the Bermamyt starfall were shot at ISO6400. But each camera has its upper limit, when the amount of noise starts to grow faster than new details of the starry sky are added. For example, on the d90, never set the sensitivity above 1600, and then you would have to thoroughly reduce noise. A low ISO can be compensated for with a wider angle and slower shutter speeds, so go for it!

Aperture when shooting stars

When shooting a starry sky, and especially meteors, we need to get the maximum amount of light in the shortest periods of time, so the aperture will have to be opened. All lenses have their own maximum aperture, usually f / 1.4, 1.8, 2.8, 3.5, 4 - if you do not know what this is, then take a closer look at your lens. It's written there

The lower the number, the more light hits the matrix. BUT! For all lenses, at the maximum aperture, the image quality is worse than when it is closed. For example, shooting the sky at f / 1.4, you can be very disappointed: instead of stars, you get sad blobs. Once you've taken one frame, zoom it in 100% and examine it carefully. If the stars are not sharp and look like blobs, then first check the focusing accuracy, and only then cover the aperture, for example, to 2.8. Pictures will become darker, but picture quality will improve. If you have a cheap whale lens, then don't worry, set the maximum allowable 3.5 and shoot! You won't make it any worse.

Focusing when shooting the sky

There are problems with this, and big ones. The fact is that for most lenses, the position of the “infinity” icon on the focus ring does not correspond to real infinity. This is very easy to verify: on a sunny day, go outside, find the most distant object or horizon, focus and look at the focus ring. You will be surprised that the infinity icon does not exactly match the mark. Remember this position, but rather stick a strip of plaster on the lens, on which make a mark with a marker. In the dark, you don't have to take thirty-five thousand shots, frantically turning the focus ring from side to side, trying to catch the sharpness and missing the falling meteors. And do not hope that in complete darkness the camera will be able to focus on the machine. Only pens!

You will also need a tripod and a remote control (or at least a delay release). But I hope you figured it out anyway. However, you can shoot stars without a remote control and not use the shutter delay: you will need a very rigid tripod, firm hands, and when shooting a black sky, small vibrations of the camera during the first second do not affect anything at all.

Well, we have studied the technical part of the issue, now let's get down to practice.

Where to shoot stars and the Milky Way?

First of all, when you are going to photograph the stars, remember: there is nothing to catch in the city. The city creates a lot of light, which highlights the moisture and dust suspended in the atmosphere. In itself, this phenomenon does not prevent us from seeing the brightest stars, but it is impossible to see the Milky Way from the city (unless there was an energy catastrophe with a total shutdown of everything and everyone). Therefore, first of all, take care of the shooting location. From the settlements you need to leave as far as possible, further, and even further. Even from Bermamyt you can clearly see the light pollution from CMS cities:

As you can see, the lower part of the sky above the horizon turned out to be illuminated by the lights of cities (and in the cities there was a haze in general, and the stars were almost invisible, ha ha). Although in Bermamyt such a phenomenon is no longer able to interfere, but only decorates the frame. In the city, with the same shooting parameters, we would get a bright yellow sky without a single star.

When is the best time to photograph the starry sky?

When there is no moon in the starry sky!

Yes, the moon can really spoil your nightlife, especially the full moon at Zenith. Therefore, when planning to go on a star hunt, check out the lunar calendar. For example, during a trip to Bermamyt, the month was very young and hung low above the horizon, and then completely disappeared, leaving only an interesting orange stripe on the horizon and a beautiful reflection on the slopes of Elbrus. And this is good.

View from the top of the plateau after sunset

In addition to the moon, you will have to take care of good weather. How you will do this, no one knows. Someone helps to make a sacrifice to the gods, someone to pray, some luck helps if you stroke a cat, and some eccentrics even use weather forecasts. But the fact remains: we need clear skies!

Where in the sky are you looking for shooting stars?

They say that the most successful part of the sky for shooting falling meteors is 45 degrees from the zenith. This is somewhere in the middle between the horizon and the line going exactly up (forgive my denseness, astronomers). However, interesting results can be achieved if you shoot vertically upwards with a wide-angle lens. And if you are shooting the Perseids, then it would be logical to turn the lens towards the constellation Perseus, here is an example:

The above shot was taken on Nikon d7000, ISO6400, shutter speed 15 seconds. BUT! Make no mistake, not all meteors hit the frame at once. More on this below. That's exactly where you should not look for falling meteors - on the horizon. Firstly, the optical properties of the atmosphere will not allow you to see almost anything, and secondly, the horizon is usually bright.

How to find the constellation Perseus? Here's a picture from the internet:

How to find the constellation Perseus

How to capture a meteor in a frame?

Point the camera at one point, make it continuously shoot, and wait, and wait, and wait. Sooner or later, meteors will start to fall into your lens, and you will have to choose the very 30 pieces with tracks of falling space debris from thousands of frames, and bring them together. And it's not a joke! In the example above, the author took about 1200 frames, selected 38 of them with meteors, and then combined the pictures together. This is possible if you are shooting in the direction of the North Star. Then, when the frames are rotated around an imaginary center - the North Star - they will be exactly aligned with each other. We cut something superfluous, and such a rosette of a meteor shower will remain.

In any case, patience, work and a dead shutter will grind everything!))

Successful shots!

Text and photo Pavel Bogdanov

Night is a special time: its own life, its inhabitants, its own rules. And if during the day the shadow makes the picture, then at night everything is decided by the light. Mobile phones at night, as a rule, are used for their intended purpose - to make calls. But with a good camera and following some tips, you can achieve good results even at night with a mobile phone. Toward evening, the intensity of the light becomes less and less, the colors become faded. The HDR function, which draws out shadows and colors so well during the day, becomes unnecessary in the evening: in the absence of the sun, the picture is smoothed out and turns out to be flat.

However, an hour after sunset, it again acquires value. Tip: use HDR in contrast images, at night - before the stars appear, otherwise the “grain” appears.

Use all possible reflective surfaces for interesting shots. But best of all in the period after sunset and the complete “blackening” of the sky.

To diversify the picture, you can take two shots - with calm water and ripples. Just move your hand along the surface of the water - the reflection will be artistically blurred.

Polished metal surfaces are no longer boring in the evening. The lights of passing cars, traffic lights, city lighting - all this is sometimes beautifully reflected in such banal things as, for example, a building fence.

The P8 has a night sky shooting function. The shutter speed can be any, so you can shoot both “frozen” stars and “with a trace”. Just keep in mind: for the best result, you need to go outside the city, and then the sky will be blue-black, not gray. To make the frame deeper, place a motionless dark object in it - a house, a tree, a bridge. The light in the window will add warmth to the picture.

For night shooting in the city, it is better to be prepared. Choose a place in advance and come to it with an existing idea of ​​​​the future frame. To do this, you will have to spend several evenings hiking to possible shooting points. But sometimes the picture appears “here and now”, so it is important to have a small pocket tripod with a swivel head, so as not to look for hard surfaces to lean on - they simply may not be there.

To be fully prepared, grab a mirror - then you won't have to lie down on the ground to control the picture on the phone screen when shooting from a low point (for example, when shooting the sky from ground level). Plus, with its help you can create pictures like in a kaleidoscope: just bring it to the lens and see what happens.

And do not forget a flashlight: it will come in handy for illuminating the foreground and in general will be useful at night. The P8 has a forced flash function (works as a flashlight and as a flash). By experimenting with it, you can achieve different foreground lighting.

When shooting on the move, it is more convenient to use the volume button to release the shutter: it is more convenient and the picture is clearer, since the phone moves less.

But the movement of hands can be translated into dignity. In some scenes where speed is involved, the “flickering light” can perfectly convey a sense of movement.

Use Kirill's advice and participate in - the winner will receive a smartphone!

For night shooting in the city, it is better to be prepared. Choose a place in advance and come to it with an existing idea of ​​​​the future frame. To do this, you will have to spend several evenings hiking to possible shooting points. But sometimes the picture appears "here and now", so it's important to have a small pocket tripod with a swivel head, so as not to look for hard surfaces to lean on - they simply may not be there.

To be fully prepared, grab a mirror so you don't have to lie down on the ground to control the picture on the phone screen when shooting from a low point (for example, when shooting the sky from ground level). Plus, with its help you can create pictures like in a kaleidoscope: just bring it to the lens and see what happens.