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Night skies and Tamron lenses

I live pretty far out from the nearest city, about 15 miles from a small town, 70 miles from a big town. It gets pretty dark out here so I have a great opportunity to shoot night skies. Today’s DSLRs do a great job of capturing the light of the stars. The Tamron lenses I mainly use are the Tamron 10-24mm Di-II lens and the new Tamron SP 15-30mm Di VC USD lens. These lenses are perfect for photographing the night skies with their incredible sharpness and the ability to focus them easily in the dark. Here are some basic tips and starting points to shoot the night sky with success. If you are doing post processing in LR or PS, you can even farther enhance your images.

I have a basic formula that I follow and make minor adjustments when needed. First I shoot in Manual Mode, 30 seconds, f2.8 or f4, ISO 3200, White Balance set to 3300K. It is critical to have a good sturdy tripod and a cable release or in a pinch the self-timer will do. I use manual focus, setting the focus at just shy of the limit past infinity. Rack the lens all the way and come back just a smidge. I always check the stars by zooming in to make sure they are sharp after the first exposure. There is a formula for the focal length of the lens you are using that will tell you the exact shutter speed to shoot without noticeable streaks but with a wide angle lens, 30 seconds is pretty good. Adding a foreground object is great and light painting with a flashlight can also enhance the image.

I typically shoot in RAW. In post processing I move my Clarity slider way over to the right and in LR the Dehaze slider as well. I will also use a selective brush and add a little more Clarity too. Since I am not using in camera Noise Reduction, I will adjust that as well in post processing.

Make sure you start with a fully charged battery, and have a spare if you plan to be out all night. It is very easy to get some great images of the night sky with a little practice and of course a good sharp Tamron lens! Give Mark a call at Camera Land to get one of the great Tamron lenses I mentioned above. Also make sure you get your sturdy tripod, cable release and backup battery from Camera Land. Be sure to let them know you are a member of the Campfire for the best pricing.

All images were made using Tamron lenses.

Beautiful.

Appreciate the advice and examples. Thanks,

Thank you guys!

Dangit!
This summer we went on a hunt on the slopes of Mauna Kea which is one of the premier astronomy sites in the world. We stayed in a cabin which was a ways below the summit, but was far away from any light pollution. When I saw the stars out I decided to try to get some shots. I stumbled on to similar settings (ISO4000, 20s exp at F4) for my EM-5 and a little pocket tripod, but didn't get results anywhere near as nice. I'm sure the wind, and being unprepared for a 35 deg summer evening didn't help...but still...I'm sure it helps knowing what you're doing

Nice. Never seen our home galaxy in a vertical like your first shot. Thank you.

ChrisF, Thanks. I have tried a few times with something less than a really sturdy tripod and had some issues. One time I used a sturdy tripod but left the Vibration Compensation on and it caused shake!
5thShock, Thanks. The "Center of the Universe" is easier to capture when shooting south on a late summer or fall sky.