Nature Photography How To

If you’ve never tried capturing the splendor of starlit skies because you thought you lacked the necessary skills and gear, today’s straightforward tutorial will change your mind. After watching the five-minute video below, you’ll understand why “nighttime is the right time” and know how to get the job done.

In this episode of Canon Quick Tips, Senior Technical Specialist Mason Mason Higa discusses the best gear to use, explains how to dial in the appropriate camera settings with whatever camera you own, and provides several shooting tips for getting started in astrophotography.

Higa is on location in the desert, where light pollution is less of a problem that in highly populated urban areas. He discusses the reasons he recommends a full-frame camera for this purpose. His choice is Canon’s EOS R6 mirrorless model. It’s a 20-MP camera that delivers great low-light imagery—in part because of less pixel density than super-high resolution cameras that tend to exhibit more sensor noise.

When it comes to optics, Higa recommends a fast, wide-angle zoom like his go-to RF 15-35mm f/2.8 IS USM lens. The zoom capability provides important compositional versatility. As for the bright maximum aperture, Higa says “I want as much light as possible coming in through the lens and reaching the full-frame sensor.”

Higa moves on to configuring the camera, and he discusses why shutter speed is the most important exposure setting for astrophotography. He explains that, depending upon your choice, “you’ll either have nice sharp stars or slightly blurry stars.” And nobody wants the latter.

Once an appropriate shutter speed in selected, Higa demonstrates several other key camera settings for achieving optimum results. As you’d expect, he says a sturdy tripod is an essential tool for minimizing camera shake with all forms of shooting at night, and astrophotography is no exception.

There are several more helpful tips in this concise video, so take a close look, grab some gear, and head outside one night soon. You can find more great shooting tips on the Canon USA YouTube channel, so be sure to pay a visit and subscribe.

And with autumn right around the corner, don’t miss the tutorial we posed recently explaining three simple editing tips for landscape photos with stunning fall colors.