How to Photograph the Milky Way

Photographing the Milky Way? Here’s how!

Peterjan Jansen is a passionate architecture photographer who has already created many impressive images. Despite his love of architecture, he has recently been focusing heavily on astrophotography — a completely different discipline that requires its own techniques and equipment. Peterjan Jansen’s growing collection of astrophotos includes the images featured in this article. He has even managed to capture the Milky Way several times. He’s happy to share his tips and tricks with us.

What do you need at minimum?

• A DSLR or mirrorless camera
• A wide-angle lens
• A good, sturdy tripod
• A remote control (preferably wireless)
• Flashlight
• Your smartphone with the Photopills app
• Extra camera battery
• Extra penlight batteries

Beautiful, isn’t it — a photo of a starry sky? These images were taken in the Netherlands and on Menorca, one of the islands in the Mediterranean Sea. Although there is a lot of light pollution in the Netherlands (streetlights, cars, building lights), most modern cameras can still capture a stunning star photo — as long as you have the right accessories. The photo above was taken with a Nikon D7100 DSLR and a Tokina wide-angle lens. You’ll also need a sturdy tripod and a wireless remote control. And the final ingredient: a clear night sky and a dark location.

Photographing the Milky Way works best with a DSLR or mirrorless camera, as these allow you to select long shutter speeds (B – bulb mode). You’ll need that to capture as much light as possible. A high ISO setting is also essential. With a wide-angle lens, you can capture as much of the Milky Way as possible — ideally with an object in the foreground to add extra visual interest. The tripod ensures your camera stays perfectly still during the long exposure. To eliminate any remaining movement, use a remote control together with the Captur Receiver to trigger the camera. Then all that’s left is to keep an eye on the weather forecast!

Dark Sky Park in the Netherlands

On websites like darksitefinder.com you can look up the best locations to photograph the Milky Way. Use this website to check whether your holiday destination also has any dark spots nearby.

The photo at the top of this article was taken in the nature reserve “De Alde Feanen” in Friesland. There is even a “Dark Sky Park” in the Netherlands, located on Terschelling. “De Boschplaat”, a nature reserve east of Terschelling, is maintained by Staatsbosbeheer. Eight spots have been specially designated there for stargazing and photographing the Milky Way.

Camera settings

These photos were taken with the following settings: Camera in RAW, M mode, ISO 6400, aperture f/2.8 and a shutter speed of 28 seconds. Shutter speed is essential for these kinds of photos! Because the Earth keeps rotating, a shutter speed that’s too long will cause the stars to turn into streaks. Of course, you still want your camera to collect as much light as possible. This is where a remote control is very useful. Current DSLRs offer fixed shutter speeds — try it on your own camera. The values go up to a maximum of 30 seconds in steps of 5 seconds, after which you switch to Bulb mode, where you determine the shutter duration yourself. You can calculate very precisely how long your shutter can stay open before the stars begin to streak. You’ll need your sensor size and lens settings for that. Various apps and websites can calculate this for you (such as Photopills) — in this case, 28 seconds. You can’t set that on your camera, but you can set it on the Hahnel Captur Timer Module (or the Module Pro). It uses a 2.4 GHz radio system with a range of up to 100 metres — which also makes a Milky Way selfie possible…

Focusing in the dark — how do you do it?

Of course, it’s important to focus properly — but how do you do that in the dark? You can manually set your lens to infinity, but that isn’t always very precise. Another method is to use Live View to zoom in on a bright star and focus on it. However, I’ve had great results using the “hyperfocal distance”. It’s a bit technical, but it works extremely well and is very useful for “regular” photography too. Photopills (the app makers) have an “Academy” filled with information on photographing the Milky Way. Be sure to read this article: The Ultimate Photography Guide to Depth of Field (DoF). You can even download it so you can save and reread it later.

Post-processing on your computer

Because there is a lot of light pollution in the Netherlands, it’s definitely necessary to edit your RAW photo with editing software. There’s a good chance you won’t even see the Milky Way on your photo at first. All of these images were edited in Adobe Lightroom. Here’s how: First, adjust the contrast and mid-tone contrast (Clarity). If there’s light pollution from a city visible on the horizon, use the Gradient tool to keep the light from becoming overpowering. Also try experimenting with the “Dehaze” tool — I’ve had great results with it. After all these adjustments, the noise in the image will naturally increase, so lastly, adjust the “Noise reduction”. Personal taste plays a big role in editing: Do you prefer a slightly bluer image, or more magenta? It’s up to you to find the most beautiful settings.