Landscape Astrophotography Tip #1

When framing up a nightscape / landscape astrophotography shot that is based around the milky way, be as certain as you can that the image would standalone as a good compositon even without the milky way in the frame. It’s all too easy to become narrowly focussed on capturing as much of the milky way as possible without thinking about the components within the rest of the frame. The problem with this is that the composition as a whole can feel unbalanced, flat, bland, messy, or simply repetitive.

What I try to do is consider what the image might look like with a moody sky or a colourful sunrise or sunset, instead of the night sky.

I ask myself these questions when planning compositions:

• Would the image still stand up as being interesting during the daytime?

• Are the foreground shapes/structures strong, dynamic and engaging, given that there will not be much light or colour on the foreground in a natural nightscape shot?

• Will the image encourage the viewer to skip past the (boring) foreground and go straight to the milky way as the subject?

• Is my focal length going to be too wide or too narrow? Does the frame suit 14mm or something narrower like 20mm or 24mm? Would the spring milky way (lower in the sky and more horizontal, suiting ‘landscape’ mode) be better at the location or the late summer milky way (higher in the sky and more vertical, suiting ‘portrait’ mode)?

• Will the milky way be the main ‘brightish’ subject in the frame or will other ‘brightish’ elements compete? If they will compete, where are they placed within the frame and can I manage them so that they do not become distractions? I’ve found that coastal astrophotography can be really tricky as there are often light sources on the horizon from ships, distant towns or lighthouses: and ships can come and go.