Astrophotography: Photographing Constellations

Stargazing with your partner beside you is definitely fascinating and romantic. But believe me, if you have a keen interest in the cosmic phenomenons then you will also find identifying constellations very interesting.

But there are a few things you need to know before you step out with your camera. For shooting the perfect images you need to plan very well.

A few tips for the camera settings: Try using a prime lens if you have one, because of the wider aperture it provides. Your aperture should not be more than f/3.5. Your shutter speed needs to be more than 3s but lesser than 20s because you don't want those star trails. ISO should not be more than 400. Use a tripod. If you don't have one, do try and fix your camera somewhere.

What really matters in astrophotography is the time and place when you would be photographing the constellations. You will never get shots like these in the cities. So your location should be outside cities, preferably towns, if not high altitude areas. Here are a few apps that can help you out with astrophotography.

So firstly you need clear skies in order to see the stars. You could use apps like AccuWeather, which gives in-depth forecast. If you want more in-depth details then you can use Clear Outside.

Try to shoot at nights when the moon isn't there in the night sky. For that, you can use the app named PhotoPills. It gives details about the moon phases and also provides information about when the milky way would be visible. It also has augmented reality features that show the exact location of the moon and its cycle. This is a paid app but has tons of useful features.

You probably don't want those hazy shots after so much planning. This is where Plume comes into play. This app helps you check the air quality in an area.

With these apps, you can plan that amazing shot with ease. Don't be surprised if you have already spent hours on the day of the shoot. Well, that's the beauty of astrophotography!

METADATA for above image: ISO 100 | f/2.2 | 5s