Photophys.com: The Science of Photography

It is sad that so many people in the metropolitan areas of the world have never seen a truly dark night sky. About my only opportunity on the east coast comes during our annual trip to Acadia National Park in Maine. Of course, there are many opportunities in the Rocky Mountains and the desert southwest. Unfortunately, the few nightscapes I have captured featuring the glorious Milky Way are often mysteries to my friends who wonder what that cloudy thing in the sky is.

Successful nightscape photography requires an interest in the night sky as well as some photographic expertise. As with landscape photography in general, this requires preparation and planning. My first exposure to night sky photography was a spur-of-the-moment thing when I aimed my f/2.8 15mm fisheye lens at the night sky in southern Utah and took a 30s exposure. The Milky Way in full color was enough to get me hooked. Now I avidly read everything about nightscapes that I can get my hands on.

There is a wealth of excellent books on nightscape photography. Here I will report on four recent eBooks.  To read more click

Books about Landscape Astrophotography (296kb)