Dark Skies – Milky Way Camera Settings – Isle of Wight

DARK SKIES | Isle Of Wight | Milky Way Optimal Camera Settings

The Isle of Wight is a celestial haven for astrophotography enthusiasts. Its pristine dark skies and breathtaking landscapes make it an ideal destination for capturing the mesmerising beauty of the Milky Way.

This review will explore the optimal camera settings, features, and benefits that will help you embark on an unforgettable stargazing adventure.

To get the best experience and best results from your camera settings when you embark on capturing the Milky Way a few essential questions need to be explored.

What is the Milky Way?

The Milky Way is the galaxy that includes our Solar System. It is a vast collection of stars forming the bulk of the galaxy, which cannot be individually distinguished by the naked eye. This is where the camera settings detailed below will aim to optimise the visibility of the light captured.

It appears as a faint band of light crossing the night sky and is observed as a hazy band due to its disk-shaped structure when viewed from Earth. For a more detailed description visit Wikipedia.

Can you capture our Galaxy every night?

To get the best images of our Galaxy the core or brightest area needs to be visible. This only happens at certain times of the year and also when the moon is not visible in the sky.

How will I know when I can see it?

With today’s modern technology, it is very easy to plan when the stars are visible. The best option is to download one of the many apps that are available on Android and Apple. My particular favourite is Sun Surveyor. This app also has a tonne of options for planning your shoot.

Best place to see it?

An area without light pollution is needed to see the stars in their full glory. The United Kingdom has many places away from towns and cities, providing great opportunities to see the stars.

The IOW has some of the best dark skies in the south of England. Along the island’s south coast, and over on the west of the island towns are few and far between. Therefore light pollution is kept to a minimum. To the south lies the English Channel giving around 60 miles of uninterrupted dark areas, except the odd boat.

If you can see the hazy disk of the Milky Way with the naked eye at your location you will be able to capture this well on the camera.

Visit your location in the day time.

A top tip is to visit the location where you plan to shoot in the daytime. This will enable you to pick the best composition for your image in relation to the predicted Milky Way position. There is nothing worse than stumbling around by torchlight trying to get the get position. Especially if your location is close to cliffs of deep water.

If it is your first time out photographing dark skies at night. Before you leave check your camera settings, lenses, batteries and memory card. It only takes a few minutes to go over your camera settings before you leave. Best be prepared.

Tennyson Down Monument on the Isle of Wight

Best Camera Settings for your Camera

To capture the Milky Way in all its glory, it is crucial to fine-tune your camera settings. Here are the recommended settings that will enable you to create stunning celestial images and make the most of the dark sky’s locations.

The following settings will give you a guide to getting the best from your camera. Equipment does vary so try to get as close as possible to the settings below. You will also need to put your camera into its manual mode so you can take full control of the camera exposure triangle.

Aperture

Set your lens aperture to f/2.8 or the widest available. This allows ample light to enter your camera sensor, resulting in vibrant and detailed images of the Milky Way. If your lens cannot go as low as f/2.8 you can compensate by increasing the ISO a little.

Shutter Speed

Experiment with shutter speeds ranging from 10 to 25 seconds. Longer exposures allow more light to be captured. But longer shutter speeds do come at a cost. Generally longer than 22 seconds will produce movement in the stars at the edges of the frame.

The longer shutter speed will allow more light to enter the sensor revealing more intricate details of the galactic core. Adjust this to find what works best with your camera.

The following image shows the image after a capture of around 60 seconds.

ISO

Adjust your ISO setting between the range of 2000 and 3000. This ISO value may need to be increased if using a crop sensor such as APSC or smaller or if your lens is unable to stop down as far as f/2.8. The reason for the increase in ISO in these cases is due to reduced light reaching the sensor.

APSC or smaller – smaller sensor than a Full frame so unable to gather as much light.

Lens lower aperture – at f/4 for example the hole through the lens is smaller therefore less light can penetrate through to the sensor.

White Balance

Opt for a white balance setting around 4000K to maintain accurate colour representation while preserving the ambience of the night sky.

If you have the option of shooting your image in the Camera Raw mode this is not as important and can be disregarded. The white balance can then be adjusted in post production process in Light Room and equivalent photo editing software.

Focus

To get the best results your lens needs to be in manual mode. With nearly all modern cameras you are able to dial in the manual focus ring so that it is at the infinity marking. (this is like a number 8 on its side). This will give you the sharpest focus and clarity in your Milky Way and the distant star shots.

If your camera has the zoom functionality, try zooming in on a distant star and set the focus on this. You should find it will be around the infinity mark.

Tripod

You will need to mount your camera on a tripod. When shooting with low shutter speeds the slightest camera movement will blur your image. So a good tripos is essential.

Time to practice

Armed with the settings and best practices we have discussed you should be able to head out and start capturing the heavens beautiful night skies.

Head out and practice with your camera setup and adjust the exposure triangle (shutter speed, ISO and Aperture) to get the best results.

Can I do this on smartphone?

Absolutely, if you are carrying around one of the latest phones on offer. You will need to mount the phone on a tripod for starters, special phone tripods can be purchased on Amazon at reasonable prices. Place the camera into manual settings (Pro mode) and use the techniques discussed above.

Try something a little different

Did you know that the North Star remains stationary in the night sky? The rest of the visible stars rotate around it.

Using the right camera techniques this can be seen as a rotating disc effect. Several years ago, I made the following video that shows nature’s wonder and the star’s movement around the north star.

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