PROJECT 1: Astrophotography

Drew Buckley shows you four of his favourite techniques to capture amazing star-filled skies in landscapes at night

- Drew Buckley

Just because the sun goes down doesn't mean you should pack up your gear and head home! Some of the most fun you can have with a camera is after dark.

From shooting starry skies and capturing whirling star trails, to painting with light, you can get creative and even shoot the elusive Northern Lights if you're far north enough to see them.

After-dark photography is a great string of techniques to add to your bow and will help you get to grips with shooting in low light and mastering settings such as high ISOs, wide aperture, and getting to grips with fast wide lenses, shutter release cables and tripods.

THE MISSION

Capture stunning star shots with these four brilliant techniques 

Time needed One hour

Skill level Intermediate

Kit needed 

Fast wide-angle lens

Tripod

In this project, I'll run through four of my favourite techniques to try over winter when the skies are clear and the stars are out: pin-sharp stars, star trails, light painting, and capturing the Aurora Borealis. Here's how to do it...

SET UP TO TAKE ASTRO PHOTOGRAPHS

Discover the core camera kit you'll need to shoot starry skies at night

01 CANON EOS CAMERA

Any Canon EOS DSLR or mirrorless camera with an APS-C sensor or larger will be capable of great star shots. If you want to take your astro shots to the next level, you may want to consider converting it to let in more hydrogen-alpha light.

02 LENS CHOICE