Astrophotography Labs - Online

Join us under the stars for a night of stargazing.

Landscape Astrophotography I - Image Acquisition

Landscape astrophotography with DSLR or mirrorless camera is a quite complex and challenging type of photography. It requires deep knowledge of your camera, quite a domain specific equipment and highly specialised software.

This course provides the directions to get started, mechanisms and strategies to get success with modest equipment, what you can do to achieve even better results and how to reduce the time spent in image post-processing.

This course also teaches you how to get two major types of astrophotography: Starry Landscapes, Star Trails. With both types of astrophotography, you can also generate Night Sky Timelapse Videos.

Image Processing course is Comming Soon!

Quick Overview

  • 9 Lectures (4 hours)
  • 9 Hands-on at your own pace
  • 5 Additional Resources
  • Format: Online Webinar
  • Language: English
  • Level: Beginner
  • Price: 25NZD 150NZD + fees
  • Start date: TBD

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Schedule

  • The training course is scheduled in 4 sessions, 2 sessions/week and 1hour/session.
  • Tuesday and Thursday from 5pm to 6pm (NZST).
  • New course will start on TBD.
  • New course will be 100% online and at your own pace.

Webinar Access

Once you have registered for this online training course, you will be sent the Google Meet link via a calendar invitation. Please follow the instructions to join the webinar. We recommend testing the link prior to the meeting. The webinar will work best with a headset to prevent background noise.

Content

  • Basic concepts of astrophotography
  • Choose the right equipment
  • Introduction to landscape astrophotography
  • Starry Landscapes without Tracking Mount
  • Starry Landscapes with Tracking Mount
  • Star Trails
  • Night Sky Timelapse Videos
  • Planning and shooting

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Objective

The objective of this course is to provide the directions to get started with the landscape astrophotography with modest and low-cost equipment. This course also teaches you how to get two major types of astrophotography: Starry Landscapes, Star Trails. With both types of astrophotography, you can also generate Night Sky Timelapse Videos.

Target Audience

This training course is targeting amateur and professional photographers interested in landscape astrophotography with low exposure night sky photography.

Requirements

  • This course requires to have a minimum equipment: DSLR or mirrorless camera, tripod, smartphone and computer for processing the images.
  • This course also requires to have a very basic knowledge of photography.

Detailed Content

Topic Content
Basic concepts of astrophotography
  • Camera Settings for Astrophotography
  • How to improve Signal-to-Noise Ratio
  • White Balance
  • Hands-on 1: Camera Setup (and First Shot)
Choose the right equipment
  • Lens for Landscape Astrophotography
  • Lens Aberrations
  • Calibrate the Focus Ring
  • How to Adjust Infinity Focus
  • Hands-on 2: Lens Setup
  • Light Pollution
  • Find high quality dark places
  • Light Pollution Filter
  • Hands-on 3: Light Pollution
  • Sturdy Tripod & Head
  • Remote Timer & Release
  • Lens Heater
  • Sky Tracking Mount
  • Hands-on 4: Shopping List (optional)
  • Align Sky Tracking Mount
  • Find the South Celestial Pole
  • Find the North Celestial Pole
  • How to Align to the Celestial Pole Without Stars
  • Hands-on 5: Stargazing
Landscape astrophotography
  • Starry Landscapes without Tracking Mount
  • Starry Landscapes with Tracking Mount
  • Hands-on 6a: Starry Landscapes (without sky tracker)
  • Hands-on 6b: Starry Landscapes (with sky tracker)
  • Star Trails
  • Hands-on 7: Star Trails
  • Night Sky Timelapse Videos
  • General Camera Settings
  • Activity 8: Timelapse (without sky tracker)
Planning and shooting
  • Planning with Stellarium and PhotoPills
  • Weather Forecast
  • Light Pollution Map
  • Hands-on 9: Plan your next project
  • Image Processing - Next Course Preview

Image Gallery of Previous Students

Coming soon!