Scouting Locations for Night Sky Photography

Finding the right location for your composition is especially crucial when doing any type of night sky photography. The sky by itself may be beautiful, but if your foreground is unappealing it will actually detract from the night sky being captured. It’s so easy to get caught up in capturing the milk way that we can easily forget to compose the shot much as we would in the daylight.

I recommend scouting a location during the day in order to take in the features (and hazards) of a particular landscape. The milk way, for example, rises in the south at various times depending on the season. Knowing this, you can then survey the landscape for ideas of where to shoot later that night. Trees, Rocks, open water, etc. all make great foreground subjects, especially once light painted with a flashlight. Even ambient light from the moon can create interesting effects on your foreground. This is where it’s up to the photographer to get really creative. So enjoy the process.

Having good reconnaissance and will undoubtedly give the photographer the tools create a well rounded, compelling photograph even in total darkness…