› ›kelbyone.com111If you prefer to add detail and color, moonlight can illu-
minate your landscapes; however, as a light source, it can
also potentially obstruct stars. Clear skies are another option,
although some clouds can add a dynamic touch depending
on the scene. Finally, understanding where the Milky Way
is located and which way the stars move depending on the
direction you face—north, east, south, or west—can also
assist your nocturnal compositions. From Dark Skies to The
Photographer’s Ephemeris, there are sites and apps to assist
with all of these decisions, helping you determine optimal
shoot dates and locations.
Step Two: Documenting scenes of nature can be tough, but
fumbling around in the dark to catch a night scene in all its
glory is yet another challenge. Make sure to include a head-
lamp for hands-free camera operating, and an extra flashlight
as a backup or to paint the landscape with a touch of artificial
light for additional detail. Also essential are a remote shutter
release and tripod, a sturdy easy-to-use model to keep your
camera locked in position for long exposures.
Creating a pleasing composition is another hurdle to
overcome, so previsualizing your final scene can give you an
idea of what lens you choose, direction to face, and what
you may or may not wish to include in the shot. Reviewing
your scenes on your LCD screen after the capture can help
you straighten horizons or force you to recompose to include
important elements.
Focusing is yet another issue to tackle since the accuracy
of the infinity mark on most lenses is off just enough to blur
stars, and autofocus fails in such low-light levels. Let your eyes
adjust to the darkness for a few minutes, enable manual focus,
use the infinity mark on your lens as a starting point, then look
through your viewfinder to fine-tune focus. The LCD can then
come into play to determine how accurate you are with sharp-
ness by reviewing the image and zooming into specific star clus-
ters. Live View may also help here, digitally zooming into a few
stars for tack sharpness through manual focus, avoiding any
bokeh effect. A tripod, remote, and LCD preview for sharpness
were all used for this image of Half Dome on a moonless night,
captured with a 70mm lens, f/2.8 for 8 seconds using ISO 6400.Step Three: When operating in extreme low-light situations
such as star-filled skies, meters begin to fail; therefore, critical
exposure settings and camera functions must be considered
to capture the detail needed for postprocessing. Shooting in
RAW should be a given because of the amount of detail and
latitude the format offers. Using a solid DSLR or mirrorless
camera system with manual controls is another good tool to
have. The better your image sensor is with ISO, the less noise
and more detail captured.
Exposure charts combined with past trial-and-error expe-
rience can give you the proper settings needed since some
shutter speeds may take as little as 8 seconds, or run for hours
in bulb mode. A larger aperture setting, low f-stop number, is
preferred since the amount of light is so low; exposures can
lengthen greatly if you attempt to capture more depth-of-
field through a smaller aperture.
ISO, the measurement of your image sensor’s sensitivity to
light, for the most part should be set above 1000 but below
6400 since noise build-up can create a nightmare with star
detail. Higher ISOs also keep stars from becoming trails, due
to the rotation of the earth, by ensuring shorter exposures.Step Two› › Lightroom Magazine ADOBE PHOTOSHOP