Updated ''Milky Way NightScape'' eBook Version 2.0

 

My NEW, updated eBook premiered March 30, 2024

My original "Milky Way NightScapes" version 1.1 ebook, published in 2015, has been an astro-landscape photography standard reference book, worldwide. The late Alyn Wallace called me the "founding father of landscape astrophotography."

This expanded edition has 198 pages and 725 illustrative images and includes tutorials from 33 "Guest Artists" experts that cover the latest tracking, stacking, blending and panorama techniques, and much more. Some are calling this "the Holy Grail of astrophotography" and the "nightscape photography encyclopedia."

SAMPLE pages. HERE are six (6) sample pages from my new eBook:

Sample pages - Click to view individually

TWO WAYS to GET my NEW eBOOK: You can do a one-time PURCHASE and download for $39.99, or you can become a supporting PATREON for as little as $3/month and get my eBook as one of your benefits of support.

    

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Private Night Photography Workshops by Royce Bair

Private Night Photography Lessons in the Field. For years I've done up to 10 group workshops a year. These 5-day group workshops typically cost about $1,995 (or about $400 a day). In 2019, I went into semi-retirement, doing only one group workshop a year (my group workshops often fill up in 48 hours or less). For the rest of the year, I only do private workshops. Private instruction allows greater flexibility for teaching and offers many additional opportunities for my clients! We can sometimes do as much photography in two or three nights than you can do in a group situation during four or five nights. Of course, we can also do as much daytime photography as you want (depending on how much sleep you require).

One of the biggest advantage of a private workshop is that my time is shared only with you and the friend(s) you choose to attend with you (I cannot tell you how many times I have seen one "bad apple" in a group workshop try to monopolize my time at the expense of others in the group).

Private instruction is only a little more expensive than a group workshop, but it can actually be equal to or less expensive, when you invite a friend or two to share the costs. A maximum of three photographers are allowed in a private group (you and up to two of your friends). Let me illustrate...

Day rate: I charge $1,200 for the first day of instruction and $950 for each additional day (some photographers book just one day). "Weather" days are $500. Here's a typical fee cost EXAMPLE for two or three photographers:

 1st Day/night .......... $1,200.00
 2nd Day/night ..........    950.00
 3rd Day/night ..........    950.00

                          ---------

   Total fee cost ....... $3,100.00

   Cost/photog (when 2).. $1,550.00

   Cost/photog (when 3).. $1,033.33

   (This is less than $345/day!)       

Definitions: A "Day/night" of photography includes up to 8 hours of my time in guiding and teaching. At least two (2) of those hours will be doing starry night photography. The daytime instruction can be in the field or in the classroom (i.e. image post processing). A tag-along spouse or friend, without a camera, is not considered a "photographer".

Weather Days: In many of the workshop I've ever conducted, there are nights where we have so much cloud cover that few stars can be seen or photographed. Although we always try to make good use of the night with "Blue Hour" photography and demonstrating light painting (or Low Level Lighting) techniques, this is probably not what you signed up for. When this happens in my private workshops, we just call it a night and rest up for better nights. If I cannot give you at least 30 minutes of starry night photography, I will charge you a flat $500 fee to cover my expenses for that day. Note: This "weather day" discount does not apply to the first day. The "weather day" discount is also NOT something I offer in my group workshops.

Travel Expenses: You will cover your own travel expenses for transportation, lodging and meals.

Locations for private workshop lessons can be any place in the world! Any workshop location within 350 miles of my residence includes my travel expenses in the first day rate fee. Examples of workshops that are within this 350-mile radius: Arches National Park, Grand Teton N.P., Yellowstone N.P., Zion N.P., Bryce Canyon N.P., Capitol Reef N.P., Canyonlands N.P. and Grand Staircase-Escalante N.M.

You will also cover my travel expenses for any workshop that is greater than 350 miles from my residence in Salt Lake City, Utah. I will cover my own lodging and meals. For distances greater than 350 miles, you will be charged the following travel expenses, in addition to my day rates:

 351-800 miles (car travel one 

    way): $0.95 per mile*
 Over 800 miles: Actual airfare

    charges + actual car rental

    fees (we can share this

    vehicle).
   

*Example: One of my favorite places in eastern California are the Alabama Hills, near Lone Pine. From this area, you can also visit Mono Lake and the ancient Bristlecone Pines. Google says it's 582 miles from Salt Lake City to Lone Pine —that's 232 miles over my free base distance of 350 miles. At 95 cents per mile, that would be a travel expense of $220. As for your own travel expenses, you would want to fly into Las Vegas and rent a car for driving to Lone Pine (232 miles).

Reserving your date: I charge a $300 deposit to reserve a date. You can reserve up to a six days at a time. There is a deposit fee of $300 for each day you wish to reserve. This one deposit covers all the photographers in your group. I am happy to help you with your travel arrangements and hotel recommendations.

CALL: 801-558-2701 to make your reservations, or EMAIL me at royce.bair[AT]gmail[DOT]com (to prevent spam email, I ask you to substitute the "[AT]" with the "@" symbol and the "[DOT]" with the "." character).

Final payment: I request the balance of my fees (and any travel expenses) 90 days prior to the starting day of your private workshop.

Cancellations and Refunds: You can cancel and receive a full refund (less credit card fees), up to 90 days prior to the event. If you cancel between 60 and 89 days prior to the event, I will refund all but $100.00 of the fees you have paid. If you cancel between 30 and 59 days prior to the event, I will refund 50% of your fees, unless we can find a replacement attendee to take your place. If you cancel less than 30 days prior to the event, none of your fees will refunded, unless we can find a replacement attendee to take your place. The workshop participant acknowledges that if Royce Bair cancels this event, all fees paid will be refunded. Other than this refund, no guarantee or warranty is given or implied.

Eliminating days from your scheduled event: If, after completing at least two of your reserved workshop days, it is decided that you no longer need one or more of your additional reserved days, you will be refunded up to $450.00 for each of those unused days (less credit card processing fees). Travel expenses cannot be refunded.

Extending your workshop: If we are less than two weeks away from your workshop, and you wish to extend the length of the workshop (and I can make arrangements to do so), you will pay my first day rate ($1,200/day) for each additional day. You may also be required to pay my lodging expenses for any extra days (as last-minute lodging costs are often at a higher rate).

Recommendations: Read what others have said about my workshops.


PRIVATE INSTRUCTION: In addition to private workshops, I also offer:

This is currently priced at $75.00/hour. Please text me at 801-558-2701 or email me at royce.bairATgmailDOTcom for details.

My photography expertise goes beyond astrophotography: three decades of full-time magazine and commercial photography.

 

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Video Access to the 2021 NightScaper Conference

 

Defining Nightscapes. When you combine landscape photography with the cosmos, you get astro-landscapes or nightcapes — one of the newest and most exciting genres of landscape photography! Imagine the challenge and satisfaction of bringing together a starry night sky and an interesting foreground into a single landscape composition! The above image was taken in a single exposure, with a 15mm lens on a Canon 5D Mark III, using Low Level Landscape Lighting (photo by Royce Bair in the White Pocket area of northern Arizona).

38 Hours of Nightscape instruction. The 2nd annual NightScaper Conference brought together 40 legendary nightscape speakers from nine nations. These photography experts gave 69 program presentations for every skill level, from beginner to advanced. All this was recorded; over 38 hours of video content. 

SAMPLE videos: Here's a video program example from our 2019 conference and a similar program example from an earlier conference. Many video programs are similar to entertaining learning tutorials, presented to a live audience, with Q&A's at the end.

Get access to the recorded conference videos for as little as $14/month — Read on...

Scenes from the 2021 NightScaper Conference
Photos by Bethany Blair & Saunders Clark

Program Examples. You'll receive instruction on such things as "Making Panoramic Images of the Milky Way" by Yuri Beletsky. "The Importance of Planning" by Alyn Wallace. "Editing Techniques for Blue Hour Blends" by Jess Santos. "Photographing the Milky Way with Moonlight" by Brad Goldpaint. "Low Level Landscape Lighting by Wayne Pinkston.

ORDER ACCESS TO ALL THE VIDEOS: Those who attended the 2021 NightScaper Conference paid $599 for an in person ticket (or $399 for a virtual ticket). You can ORDER access to the conference videos for $14 per month (cancel at any time).

Hear what others are saying about the conference and the video programs.

Get access to the recorded conference videos for as little as $14/month — Read on...

Our PATREON Access to the Conference Videos

GET VIDEO ACCESS via my Royce Bair PATREON account: Instead of paying $399 upfront to get access to all the program videos at once, you can select either my $14/month or $19/month membership. 

NOTE: You can cancel your membership at any time, and still RETAIN ACCESS to ALL the VIDEOS your membership originally allowed you to view!

FREE eBook Gift. With either level of Royce Bair "NightScaper" PATREON membership, you get free access to my Milky Way NightScapes eBook (a $19.99 value.)

The $14/month membership gives you access to up to 33 videos of your choice (see the list below). The $19/month membership gives you access to all 69 video programs. JOIN my PATREON now, and select your membership level.

A Quick Topic List of the video programs:

• The Colors of the Night Sky by Yuri Beletsky
• Mastering panoramic images of the Milky Way by Yuri Beletsky
• More than the Milky Way by Alyn Wallace (here's a similar video on Alyn's YT channel)
• The Importance and Joy of Planning by Alyn Wallace
• Perceiving and Portraying Reality by Derek Sturman
• Know Your Cosmos! by Aaron King
• Astrophotography in our National Parks by Matt Dieterich (here's a preview of his program)
• Astronomy 101 for Nightscapers ("Navigating the Night Sky") ~ Block I by Mike Shaw (here's a pre-conference interview with Mike)
• The Wonders of all Things Mobile by Russell Preston Brown
• Photographing the Milky Way with Moonlight by Brad Goldpaint (here's a preview of his program)
• Illusion of Lights: A Journey Into the Unseen (time-lapse) by Brad Goldpaint
• How to capture more detail using Single Exposure Imaging by Amir Shahcheraghian
• Tracking Mounts - Block I by Eric Benedetti (here's a preview of his program)
• Saving Dark Skies Locally by Joyce Harman
• 9 Ways to Improve Your Astro Photography with Timelapse by Ron Risman (here's a sample of his timelapse work)
• Tracking Mounts - Block II ~ Dispelling the Myth by Eric Benedetti
• Humans in Night Photos – Yourself or Others by Ben Canales
• Ancient Skies by Marc Toso
• Nightscapes and Science: what stories are your photos hiding? by Bryony Richards (here's a preview of her program)
• The Southern Australian Milky Way by blntpencil
• Round Table Discussion - Women in Astro
• Low Level Lighting - Step-by-Step by Wayne Pinkston (here's a preview of his program)
• DEEPSCAPES ~ Deepscape Photography: What, Why, and How? by Paul Schmit
• DEEPSCAPES ~ Landscape Astrophotography Going Deep by Ralf Rohner
• DEEPSCAPES ~ final session by Dheera Venkatraman - with Q&A's
• Natural colors in the night sky by Roger Clark
• Post processing to preserve star and nebula colors by Roger Clark
• A revolution is coming to photography by Roger Clark
• New England Night Photography by Mike Taylor
• Astronomy 101 for Nightscapers ~ Block II - "Mastering the Moon" by Mike Shaw
• 6 Ways to Improve Your NightScapes by Royce Bair (here's a preview of Royce's program)
• Planning Night Photography in an Easy Way ~ Block I by Wenjie Qiao
• Adding the Moon to Milky Way Photos ~ Block II by Wenjie Qiao
• How to Plan Your Nightscapes in Seconds by Rafael Pons
• Creating Extraordinary Night Panoramics by David Swindler
• Save the Stars by Bettymaya Foott
• Milky way Panoramas! by Aaron King
• Being Creative With Your Nightscapes - Forget The Milky Way by Gavin Hardcastle
• Meet Our Youth Scholarship Winners
• Photography, the Perfect Side Hustle by Ryan Smith (here's a preview of his program)
• Moonscapes by Manish Mamtani
• Telling Stories Using Composition by Jess Santos (here's a preview of her program)
• Editing techniques for blue hour blends by Jess Santos
• Maximizing & pushing the limits with GoPro cameras by Shreeni Manievannan
• Chasing the Northern Lights by Alan Dyer
• Diving into Deep-Sky Photography by Alan Dyer
• Introduction to Making Milky Way Portraits by Ken Childress
• Round Table Discussion - What Makes a Good Nightscape Location?
• The Art of Chasing the Shot by Jack Fusco
• Capturing vs. Creating by Jack Fusco
• Nightscaping on Tour by Stefan Liebermann
• Know Your Cosmos & Milky Way Panos - Extended with Q&A's by Aaron King
• Finding Variety in Night Sky Photography by Miles Morgan
• Twilight Photography and Photoshop Techniques by Miles Morgan
• Light Painting with Tubes by Jaime Amaya
• Understanding Exposure for the Moon Time-lapse ~ Block III by Wenjie Qiao
• Come Along on a Virtual Nightscaper Adventure by Christine Kenyon
• The Night Sky Variety Show by Christine Kenyon (here's a preview of her program)
• Capturing Starscapes on a Budget by Shreeni Manievannan
• Photographer or Artist? by Ryan Smith
• Photography Life is a journey, not a competition by Ryan Smith
• Blending Blue Hour Photos with Night Sky Images by David Soldano
• Deepscapes: Discovering Deep Sky Nightscapes - Block III by Mike Shaw
• Leaving the Herd and Finding Your Photo Vision by Royce Bair
• Heavens on Earth (time-lapse) by Vikas Chander
• Art in Nightscape by Mohammad S. Hayati
• Round Table Discussion - Popular Location Shooting Etiquette

ORDER ACCESS TO THE ABOVE VIDEOS: You can ORDER immediate access to the conference videos for $14 per month (cancel at any time) through your Royce Bair PATREON membership.

Check out the 2023 NightScaper Conference (May 18-21): Nightscaper.com

Low Level Lighting BLENDS

The Milky Way above Temple of the Moon in Capitol Reef National Park, photographed with Low Level Lighting, and then blended with an additional foreground exposure (using overhead starlight) to increase foreground detail in the shadow areas.

I love doing both Low Level Lighting and starlight blends. My colleague, Wayne Pinkston and I co-authored the Low Level Lighting technique (or LLL). LLL gives one the drama or character that one can achieve with moonlight, but without washing out or lower the contrast of your Milky Way sky. Starlight blends allow you to increase foreground detail (especially in the background areas) that one cannot achieve with LLL, and many think that starlight blends look more natural, even though they are "flat" due to the overhead lighting effect of starlight. By blending my LLL exposures with the foreground portion of a longer starlight exposure, one can achieve the best from both techniques. Let me explain in this tutorial...

1. A single exposure (15mm lens on a Canon 6D • f/2.8, 15 sec, ISO 8000)

2. Same EXIF, but with my LLL, and stacked 18 times to reduce noise. I like the drama and "character" one can achieve with LLL — it's similar to moonlight, but you get to control the direction of the light, and it doesn't wash out or lower the contrast of your Milky Way sky.

3. Longer foreground exposure, using overhead starlight (f/4, 120 sec, ISO 6400, with Long Exposure Noise Reduction turned on), then blended with the sky exposure in number one. I like the detail I get in the foreground, but I often do not like the "flat" lighting this technique gives you. (One remedy is to do a Blue Hour blend rather than a starlight blend, as these twilight blends have more of from-the-side directional light.)

4. My LLL exposure (from 2.) blended with the foreground exposure from number 3. This gives me the best on both techniques: more foreground detail (from the longer starlight exposure) AND more "character" from the LLL.

NOTE: As of May 25, 2021 there is no longer any artificial lighting allowed in Capitol Reef National Park due to a new Superintendent’s Compendium.

This includes LLL (Low Level Lighting) — even though the intensity of LLL on the monument is equal to the light coming from a Quarter Moon that is about to set.

Capitol Reef now joins Arches, Canyonlands and Grand Teton National Park (and Natural Bridges Nat'l Mon.) in this artificial light restriction.

ALTERNATIVE BLENDS: Where LLL is not allowed, a blended exposure of the starry night sky (as in #1), with a longer exposure of the foreground lit by overhead starlight (as in #3), produces beautiful results. Many feel this has a very natural look. I agree; but I also think it has a flat, and somewhat drab look.

An alternative is to use a Blue-Hour blend from a twilight exposure that is taken about 30 minutes to an hour after sunset, or a similar period prior to sunrise. The advantage of a twilight exposure is that it has directional light: the west side of the sky (after sunset) is brighter than the rest of the sky, and the opposite is true for a morning twilight. When these brighter portions of the sky are perpendicular to your foreground landscape features, they produce shading and sculpturing to your landscape, giving it more interesting "character." The disadvantage of this technique is the waiting: You have to shoot your Blue-Hour exposure and wait until the Astronomical Dusk to shoot your starry night sky exposure (or shoot your starry night exposure and then wait for the morning twilight exposure). With a starlight foreground exposure, you can take that foreground shot immediately after doing your starry sky exposure. Here is a tutorial for doing a Twilight Blend...

A Blue-Hour exposure of three obelisk spires in Capitol Reef National Park. Photo taken about an hour after sunset with a Canon 6D, using a 15mm Irix lens • f/4.5, 25 seconds, ISO 800, Daylight White Balance.

Same image processed to a warmer, more natural color balance. (Some people like to keep the bluish or purplish color balance that come with a twilight or Blue-Hour exposure. I do not.)

Milky Way sky exposure taken about 1-hour later, during the Astronomical Dusk: f/2.8, 15 seconds, ISO 8,000 • 8 exposures stacked to reduce noise.

Last two images blended together in Photoshop layers. Click on any image to enlarge.

Free Milky Way NightScapes Photography Lectures - MultiCity Tour

In January 2015, I begin my multi-city tour of free Milky Way NightScape photography lectures. If your camera club or photo organization would like me to give a free NightScape presentation in your area, contact me: RoyceBairPhoto@gmail.com. In every city, these free seminars have boasted local club attendance, and most fill up in 48 hours or less (example in San Francisco).

"Starry Night at Devil's Garden" (Metate Arch), Grand Staircase-Escalante National Monument ~ © Royce Bair

What I Cover: These free NightScape presentations are about how to photograph starry night landscapes. Many of my photos are shot as one exposure with very little digital manipulation. My digital slide presentations are loaded with lots of technical, how-to information, such as: planning when and where to shoot the Milky Way, forecasting, finding dark skies, calculating star alignment, choosing the right lens, exposure calculation, noise reduction techniques, light painting, and exposure blending. Many people, who come to my free lectures, are able to go out and capture very acceptable starry NightScapes without ever needing to take a paid workshop.

My presentations last about one hour, plus 15-30 minutes for Q&A's, but can easily be extended at the club's request. My only compensation is that some in attendance may wish to attend one of my paid workshops or do an online purchase of my Milky Way NightScapes ebook (available late March 2015). I rarely spend more than two minutes talking about my workshops or ebook.

2015 Workshop Schedule: All of my workshops next year are being produced and co-sponsored by IMAGE10 Photography Workshops. Click on the dates for more details about each workshop:

• Arches National Park: April 21-24
• Zion National Park: May 12-15
• Escalante: May 19-22 (Grand Staircase-Escalante National Monument)
• Grand Teton National Park: July 14-17 and July 20-23
• Bryce Canyon National Park: Aug 11-14 and Aug 17-20

Milky Way over the John Moulton Barn, Grand Teton National Park, with light painting ~ © Royce Bair

Milky Way over Zion's "Little Tree", Zion National Park, with light painting ~ © Royce Bair

RoyalCanvas is currently doing 16x20 canvas printing, starting at under $25.

How to Photograph Milky Way NightScapes

"Milky Way Rainbow" - a panorama of 5 vertical images - Grand Teton NP ~ © Royce Bair (click to enlarge)

This night photography blog contains a wide variety of nocturnal photography styles and features the work of many other photographers. However, just for today, I'm going to focus on Milky Way photography, and a style I've developed, called "NightScapes".

"NightScape" Definition: Starry night skies as points of light, with an interesting landscape feature that is light painted just enough to enhance recognition. Not all my my NightScapes have light painting, but many do; and that light painting often comes from moonlight or starlight via a second exposure.

Points of Light: Although I love star trails, the stars in my NightScapes are photographed the way you see them: as points of light, not trails via long exposures. My technique requires short exposures of 30 seconds or less. It also requires higher image sensor speeds (usually 3200 ISO and above), and fast lenses (f/2.8 or faster). The best results come from high-end DSLR cameras, but good images can also be made on a low budget.

NightScape "Recipe": A step-by-step recipe for taking NightScapes is freely given here on my blog. Phil Hart has also written an ebook about "Shooting Stars" that is very helpful for beginners. My recipe and the ebook will help you get started. David Kingham's new NIGHTSCAPE ebook will increase your starry night skills even further. Studying and following this blog will help you take NightScapes to a higher level, and improve the quality of your images. For even better results, I recommend taking one of my workshops.

Photographing the Milky Way: In every workshop I've ever taught, my students enjoy shooting the stars, but their real satisfaction comes from photographing the Milky Way. For many of my attendees, it is the not only the first time they have done this, but it is often the first time they have seen the Milky Way with their naked eyes —especially in such a dramatic and unpolluted state.

Royce Bair has been a magazine photographer, international lecturer, and workshop instructor for over two decades. He has photograph for magazines i.e. The Smithsonian and National Geographic (both hard copy and online). Some of his workshop attendees have returned multiple times and their testimonials speak for themselves.

  Thor's Hammer, Bryce Canyon NP - Double Arch, Arches NP - Delicate Arch, Arches NP

© Royce Bair (click to enlarge)

Milky Way over Teton Range & Jackson Lake ~ © Royce Bair (click to enlarge)

Milky Way over The Watchman - Zion N.P. ~ © Royce Bair (click to enlarge)

Milky Way over Grand Canyon - Nankoweep area ~ © Royce Bair (click to enlarge)

Milky Way over Teton Range from Cascade Canyon Overlook ~ © Royce Bair (click to enlarge)

 Milky Way views over Teton Range, Jenny Lake and String Lake ~ © Royce Bair (click to enlarge)

Popular Links: How to Shoot the Milky Way • Post Processing NightScapes • Workshops and PhotoWalks • Tutorials and Tips • Overcoming Lens Coma • Video Hangout with my Friends

NightScape Photo Recipe

Milky Way over String Lake, Grand Teton NP. Canon 5DM2 • 15mm f/2.8 Fisheye • 30" @ f/2.8 • ISO 6400 ~ © Royce Bair

I am constantly asked to supply a simplified, step-by-step list of "ingredients" necessary to create my style of astro-landscapes (NightScapes), so here goes:

Your best photos of the Milky Way are taken without the moon present, and between 2 hours after sunset and 2 hours before sunrise.

1. Set your camera on a tripod.
2. If you have a remote release, use it. Otherwise, you can use your self-timer to set off the shutter (set it for the 2 seconds delay instead of the normal 10 seconds).
3. Turn your lens to manual focus, or shut auto focus off (otherwise the camera goes crazy trying to focus in the dark).
4. Set your focus manually to infinity. Check the accuracy by auto focusing on an infinity subject in the daytime, marking the position on the lens barrel, and returning the lens to manual focus (you can tape the position down as a precaution). You can also use your camera's "live view" function to manually focus at night on the brightest stars (enlarge the image on the LCD monitor for accuracy). Note: your camera has a one to two seconds video feedback delay (depending on the brand and model), so fine-tune the focus slowly.
5. Set your camera mode to manual (usually "M" on most cameras).
6. Select the highest ISO you have (but no higher than 6400).
7. If you have a prime wide-angle lens with a fast aperture, use it. Otherwise, zoom to the widest angle of view.
8. Set your shutter speed to 30 seconds. This is the longest exposure most cameras will give you without going to "B" for "bulb" ("B" does require a remote release).
9. Set your lens aperture ("F" stop) to the widest aperture (smallest number), which is usually f/3.5 (f/2.8 is better, but f/4 is acceptable). Here are good starting point combinations:

          f/2.8 - 30" - ISO 6400

          f/2.0 - 30" - ISO 3200

          f/1.4 - 30" - ISO 1600

          f/3.5 - 30" - ISO 6400 (-0.5 EV)*

          f/4.0 - 30" - ISO 6400 (-1.0 EV)*

          f/3.5 - 30" - ISO 3200 (-1.5 EV)*

          f/3.5 - 30" - ISO 1600 (-2.5 EV)*

*These underexposures are not optimum, but are usable by compensating in post production.

10. Set your White Balance (WB) to Tungsten or Incandescent (on most cameras this is the symbol of a light bulb, also called "indoor"). If you prefer a numeric Kelvin setting, use 3500K, 3200K or 3000K (the lower numbers will give your sky a cooler or bluer color). My favorite numeric Kelvin setting is 4000K. I believe this produces a more natural sky that is still cool, but not quite as blue. This also works well when mixed with 3200K light painted foregrounds. Some people prefer an Auto or Average (AWB) white balance setting if they have a lot of post processing experience. Auto or Average will give you a dark gray colored sky (you can change this to a more colorful sky in post production using Photoshop, Adobe Elements, or Lightroom).
11. Frame the Milky Way or several interesting star constellations, (try to silhouette an interesting foreground subject) and take your shot. Light painting the foreground can add even more interest to the composition.
12. Composing in the dark can be difficult. If you have an ISO higher than 6400, use it to shorten your exposure times so you can review your composition on the LCD monitor much quicker. Be sure to return to the lower ISOs (6400 or lower) for your final exposures.
13. Fine tuning your exposure: The more light pollution (from artificial lights or the moon), the more you can reduce your exposure by lowering the ISO (one stop or more).
14. Fine tuning your image: You'll notice that 30-second exposures will have some star trailing (blurring) when the images are enlarged, unless you are using an ultra-wide angle lens (i.e. 114º or wider). You can eliminate this slight blurring by reducing your exposure time to 15 seconds (and compensate with wider apertures or higher ISOs). This technique is a simplified version of the "600" or "450" rule.

For hands-on instruction, visit my workshop page on Meetup.com.

Featured Post: Shooting Stars eBook Review — How to Photograph the Stars and the Moon

Hangout with Starry Night Landscape Photographers

A Google+ Hangout w/8 "Starry Night Landscape Photographers" (click to see YouTube video)

Last night I hosted and moderated a Google+ video "Hangout" with seven other starry night landscape photographers. There was some great information shared during this hour-long broadcast, which was recorded and saved on YouTube. We discussed and reviewed 21 of our night photos. And because video quality can sometimes be lacking, you can also follow along with higher resolution views at this website.

Our eight "star" panelist were Ben Canales, Brad Goldpaint, David Kingham, Greg Gibbs, Jack Fusco, Mike Berenson, Mitchell Prout, and myself, Royce Bair.

Learning curve: There are some production errors in my first attempt at hosting this many people—such as not moving the "camera" screen to the person who is talking (I eventually get better, so bear with me).  In future broadcasts, I may bring in a full time producer, so I can concentrate on hosting my guests.

Behind the scenes: After we ended the broadcast, we all stayed online for another hour, talking, sharing stories, information, and experiences (too bad this wasn't recorded, as these off-the-record chats were the best part of the evening).

In future hangouts: I plan to do some one-on-one interviews and bring in more public discussion and interaction. Your suggestions would help me plan these future events.

Links mentioned in the broadcast. Here are some of the items mentioned in last night's hangout:

International Dark Sky Association
RegiStar by Auriga Imaging (Mike uses for stacking sky exposures)
Rigel Systems Starlite 2-RED LED Flashlight (preserving your night vision)
...Starlite Mini 2-RED LED Flashlight
Brinkmann MaxFire Marine Dual Xenon Spotlight (used by David and Mike)

Night photography forums and tutorials:
...via Mike Berenson
...via David Kingham
...via this blog (there are dozens of tutorials and how-to articles here)

Night photography workshops:
...by David Kingham
...by Mike Berenson
...by Brad Goldpaint
...by Royce Bair

Featured Post: Shooting Stars eBook Review — How to Photograph the Stars and the Moon
Advertisement: Hot Weekly Photography Deals - Amazing discounts (updated twice a week).

Purpose and Scope of this Night Photography Blog

This blog was created for three reasons:

1. To show the wonders and beauty of the night sky.
2. To share as many varieties of night photography as possible.
3. To share techniques and equipment for nocturnal photography.

Many of my posts will be how-to tutorials on the art of night photography, and I plan to provide many links and references.

To accomplish this goal, I will share not only my images and knowledge of nocturnal photography, but I will bring to this blog the vision and skills of scores of other photographers.

My definition of night photography is fairly broad. They are dusk to twilight photos that require a long exposure, or that require high ISO's for short exposures. They are photos of the the stars, planets, and/or the moon lit sky, with a land feature (i.e. "nightscapes"). They include light-painted objects and cityscapes at night.

I hope you will join me and share this blog with your friends. You can see additional night images on my Flickr group with the same name as this blog: Into the Night Photography.

"Milky Way Dawn over Grand Teton Range" ~ © Royce Bair MMXII

This photo was taken about two hours and 45 minutes before sunrise, from the Elk Ranch Flats Turnout, in Grand Teton National Park. I had several things happening in my favor this night: prismatic colors due to recent wildfire smoke and a considerable amount of airglow in the sky above the smoke. The photo was taken with a Canon 5D Mark III • EF 24mm f1.4L II lens • 15 seconds @ f2.8 • ISO 8,000. This image is part of my NightScape series. You can also watch a video tour of my NightScapes, set to music.

Royce Bair is the editor of this blog and the photographer of the above image. Here is my gallery of NightScape images. My schedule of workshops, tutorials, and other events is available here. 

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