This chapter presents the top twenty-five landscape astrophotography targets in alphabetical order. An example of each one is given along with a brief summary of suggested camera settings. Detailed descriptions of most of these subjects can be found elsewhere in the book. The suggested best times of night to shoot with respect to sunset/sunrise and the various stages of twilight are also noted. By doing so, you can easily make any necessary adjustments to account for your specific geographical locations or seasons. The number of images typically involved are also included, along with the suggested lens(es) that you might find appropriate. The majority of these images can be made anywhere in the world, with a few notable exceptions, so understanding these parameters can quickly get you up to speed.
Alpenglow
15.1
Alpenglow lights up luminous plumes of icy spindrift blown from the peak of Mt. Everest in the pre-dawn twilight.
LENS (MM)
All
START
Early civil twilight
ISO
Low: 100–500
END
Mid- to late civil twilight
APERTURE
Sharpest (minimum + 2 stops)
NO. IMAGES
Variable
SHUTTER (SEC)
Adjust as needed
COMMENT
Alpenglow fades rapidly—act quickly
Aurora Borealis/Australis
15.2
The shimmering lights of the Aurora Borealis have mesmerized people for generations. Here, intense curtains of light descend upon the shoreline of a frozen lake in northern Minnesota.
LENS (MM)
Fisheye, 14–50
START
Late astronomical twilight to full darkness
ISO
1600–12800
END
Early astronomical twilight (pre-dawn)
APERTURE
Minimum–sharpest
NO. IMAGES
Variable
SHUTTER (SEC)
Adjust as needed
COMMENT
Keep shutter speed low to retain structure
Belt of Venus
15.3
The soft pinks of the Belt of Venus gently blend into the serene blues of the earth’s shadow. Both make beautiful backdrops to a variety of scenes.
LENS (MM)
All
START
Sunset/early civil twilight (sunset) Mid- to late civil twilight (sunrise)
ISO
Low: 100–500
END
Mid- to late civil twilight (sunset) Early civil twilight/sunrise (sunrise)
APERTURE
Sharpest (minimum + 2 stops)
NO. IMAGES
Variable
SHUTTER (SEC)
Adjust as needed
COMMENT
The Belt of Venus changes rapidly—act quickly
Bioluminescence
15.4
The glowing lights of bioluminescent algae add an unearthly dimension to landscape astrophotographs.
15.5
The intense sky colors during blue hour provide the perfect backdrop to the warm colors of this capstone kiva in Utah’s desert southwest.
LENS (MM)
All
START
Evening: End of sunset Morning: Beginning of astronomical twilight
ISO
Low: 100–500
END
Evening: End of astronomical twilight Morning: Beginning of sunrise
APERTURE
Sharpest (minimum + 2 stops)
NO. IMAGES
Variable
SHUTTER (SEC)
Adjust as needed
COMMENT
Easy image to make; good silhouette opportunity
Cityscapes
15.6
“As the Moon rose and the Sun set on October 8, a lunar eclipse was in progress seen from Chongqing, China. Trailing through this composite time exposure, the rising moon began as a dark reddened disk in total eclipse near the eastern horizon. Steadily climbing above the populous city’s colorful lights along the Yangtze River, the moon trail grows brighter and broader, until a bright Full Moon emerged from the earth’s shadow in evening skies.”—Yannan Zhou (photographer)
Easiest when close to horizon and next to foreground subjects
Full Moon
15.9
The full moon rises over the Parthenon in Athens, Greece.
Source: Anthony Ayiomamitis / www.perseus.gr / The World At Night
LENS (MM)
50 mm and higher
START
Late golden hour—sunset Mid-civil twilight—sunrise
ISO
100–1600
END
Mid-civil twilight—sunset Early golden hour—sunrise
APERTURE
Sharpest (minimum + 2 stops)
NO. IMAGES
Variable
SHUTTER (SEC)
Adjust as needed
COMMENT
Easiest when close to horizon and next to foreground subjects
Golden Hour/Sunset/Sunrise
15.10
The warm hues of the golden hour are a reliable time to make beautiful images, such as this classic scene of a surfer getting ready to catch some waves in the last light of the day in Southern California.
Source: Scott Freeman
LENS (MM)
14–50
START
Golden hour (sunset)
ISO
100–1600
END
Golden hour (sunrise)
APERTURE
Sharpest (minimum + 2 stops)
NO. IMAGES
Variable
SHUTTER (SEC)
Adjust as needed
COMMENT
Good silhouette opportunity
Light Painting/Drawing
15.11
Light painting is a good way to include a high-resolution foreground subject, light-painted at a low ISO setting, with a nightscape created at a much higher ISO.
LENS (MM)
14–50
START
Mid-astronomical twilight (post-sunset)
ISO
100–1600
END
Mid-astronomical twilight (pre-dawn)
APERTURE
Sharpest (minimum + 2 stops)
NO. IMAGES
Variable
SHUTTER (SEC)
Adjust as needed
COMMENT
Wide variety of light sources available
Lunar Eclipse
15.12
The movement of the moon through the earth’s shadow during a lunar eclipse is seen clearly in this beautiful time-lapse image.
15.13
Both the Large and Small Magellanic Clouds are seen in this image of Mt. Kilimanjaro, as seen from Amboseli National Park, southern Kenya.
Source: Steed Jun Yu / NightChina.net / The World At Night
LENS (MM)
14–50
START
Mid-astronomical twilight (post-sunset)
ISO
1600–12800
END
Mid-astronomical twilight (pre-dawn)
APERTURE
Wide open (minimum f-stop)
NO. IMAGES
Variable
SHUTTER (SEC)
Focal length (mm)/ 500
COMMENT
Southern Hemisphere only
Meteor/Meteor Shower
15.14
“You might say it’s a matter of luck to get nice Northern Lights and an amazing fireball. Well, it’s not quite true. When you shoot the Lights every clear night, chances increase by a good factor. So, as in many other fields, dedication gets your job done in night sky photography. During the three or four nights before the shot, I observed many bright meteors and I just felt this one coming.”—Alex Conu (photographer)
15.16
The mid-summer Milky Way arcs gracefully over campsites next to Florence Dome in California’s High Sierra. This panorama image is comprised of two rows of thirteen images, or twenty-six images in total.
LENS (MM)
Fisheye, 14–50
START
Mid-astronomical twilight (post-sunset)
ISO
1600–12800
END
Mid-astronomical twilight (pre-dawn)
APERTURE
Wide open (minimum f-stop)
NO. IMAGES
Variable
SHUTTER (SEC)
Focal length (mm)/ 500
COMMENT
June, July, August best months; panorama head valuable
Moonlit Landscape with Starry Skies
15.17
“Night arrives in the remote Saharan Desert of Tassili National Park; a World Heritage Site in southern Algeria. While the Sahara man (Taureg people) prepares their traditional mint tea, stars of Scorpius rise from the east, the Centaurus shines in the southeast, and the Southern Cross barely rise above the cliffs in south. The view is made in adventure The World At Night (TWAN) trip to the heart of Sahara. Prehistoric skygazers surely witnessed a similar sky. Tassili region is noted for rock paintings and archaeological sites dating to neolithic times.”—Babak Tafreshi
15.18
The Aurora Borealis arcs gracefully over one of Minnesota’s thousands of lakes in this panorama image, comprised of three rows of eight images, or twenty-four images in total.
LENS (MM)
24–50
START
Golden hour (pre-sunset)
ISO
1600–12800
END
Golden hour (post-sunrise)
APERTURE
Wide open (minimum f-stop)
NO. IMAGES
Variable
SHUTTER (SEC)
Adjust as needed
COMMENT
Wide opportunity for creativity, planning helpful. Act quickly to avoid changes in exposure.
Planetary Conjunctions
15.19
A relatively rare, four-planet planetary conjunction (five if you include Earth!), clearly illustrates the flatness of the solar system.
LENS (MM)
14 and higher
START
Mid-civil twilight (post-sunset)
ISO
100–1600
END
Mid-civil twilight (pre-dawn)
APERTURE
Sharpest (minimum + 2 stops)
NO. IMAGES
Variable
SHUTTER (SEC)
Adjust as needed
COMMENT
Rare; requires planning
Rocket Launch
15.20
A rocket launch is a stunning nightscape subject, as seen here for this Atlas 5 rocket launch from Cape Canaveral, Florida.
15.21
“The evolution of the 2006 March 29th’s total solar eclipse above Apollo’s temple in Side, Turkey.”—Cristina Ţintǎ (photographer)
Source: Cristina Ţintǎ/ www.flickr.com/photos/cristinatinta /The World At Night
LENS (MM)
14–50; telephoto for just eclipsed sun
START
Sunrise
ISO
100–1600
END
Sunset
APERTURE
Sharpest (minimum + 2 stops)
NO. IMAGES
Variable
SHUTTER (SEC)
Adjust as needed
COMMENT
Extremely rare; requires planning and travel. Note: totality only lasts a few minutes!
Star Trails
15.22
Over three hours of star trails combine in this mesmerizing composite image made in northern Minnesota.
LENS (MM)
Fisheye, 14–50
START
Late nautical twilight (post-sunset)
ISO
1600–12800
END
Early nautical twilight (pre-dawn)
APERTURE
Wide open (minimum f-stop)
NO. IMAGES
Hundreds
SHUTTER (SEC)
Adjust as needed
COMMENT
Easy image once learned
Time-Lapse
15.23
Dusk blends into complete darkness over Hovenweep National Monument in southern Utah.
LENS (MM)
Fisheye, 14–50
START
Golden hour (pre-sunset)
ISO
1600–12800
END
Golden hour (post-sunrise)
APERTURE
Wide open (minimum f-stop)
NO. IMAGES
Hundreds
SHUTTER (SEC)
Adjust as needed
COMMENT
Easy once learned; new frontier of nightscapes
Volcano
15.24
“This image was made on the 1st of October 2008, on the summit of the volcanic island of Stromboli. I wasn’t expecting to make such an image, as time was very limited. You can’t climb the Stromboli volcano on your own these days, so it’s always a guided climb. But it turned out to be just at the right moment: shortly after sunset, already dark enough to see the Big Dipper, but not quite too dark to lose the foreground.”—Philippe Mollet (photographer)
Source: Philippe Mollet / The World At Night
LENS (MM)
14–50 mm
START
Mid-astronomical twilight (post-sunset)
ISO
100–1600
END
Mid-astronomical twilight (pre-dawn)
APERTURE
Sharpest (minimum + 2 stops)
NO. IMAGES
Variable
SHUTTER (SEC)
Adjust as needed
COMMENT
Extremely rare; requires extensive planning and availability
Zodiacal Light
15.25
The faint cone of zodiacal light reaches upwards from the horizon (left) to intersect the arc of the summer Milky Way (right) in this fisheye lens view created in a dark location just outside Sydney, Australia.