Find out about BBC Sky at Night Magazine's latest online events, astronomy and astrophotography courses and webinars.
BBC Sky at Night Magazine Masterclass
DSLR Astro Imaging
Capture the stars with a DSLR camera. A complete guide to using the camera you have at home to capture the night sky in all its glory
In association with WEX Photo Video
The chances are you have a DSLR camera at home and use it to take everyday pictures. Our latest Masterclass series will show you how to turn it to the heavens and take beautiful photos of the starry skies as longer night return this autumn and winter.
Over three talks, our expert speakers will guide you through tried and tested approaches to taking dramatic nightscape images of landscapes under the constellations, capturing the beauty of the Milky Way and its countless stars, and how to reveal far-off nebulae and galaxies in deep space.
Covering equipment, composition, capture and post-processing, this Masterclass will open up a new area of photography, giving the audience the skills to take spectacular photos that capture the eternal beauty of space.
Masterclass 1
Miguel Claro
Nightscapes
Award-winning astro imager Miguel Claro is your guide to creating great nightscape photos, capturing the night sky in panoramas and mosaics. We’ll look at camera settings and how to achieve focus across the night sky and foreground.
Masterclass 2
Mary McIntyre
The Milky Way
In this talk we’ll look at capturing our home Galaxy arcing across the sky and close-up shots of detail in the Milky Way’s packed starfields. We’ll explain the lenses best suited to these tasks and the effects different mounting options can bring.
Masterclass 3
Dave Eagle
The deep sky
Our third talk is all about capturing views of deep space with a DSLR camera, revealing objects often hundreds of lightyears away in space which our eyes alone cannot see. We’ll look at the nebulae, star clusters, galaxies and comets.
Masterclass 1
Nightscapes
- Speaker: Miguel Claro
- Date: Thursday 26 September 2024, 7pm BST
Our first talk will delve into the practical side of photographing the night sky with a DSLR camera, covering the key differences between astrophotography and daytime photography. Award-winning astro imager Miguel Claro is your expert guide to creating great nightscape photos, capturing the night skies glittering over the landscape in panoramas and mosaics.
We’ll look at the important camera settings and how to achieve focus across the night sky and foreground, as well as photos showing the stars at their best both in constellations and close approaches of the Moon and planets, and how to capture star-trail images that reveal the dynamic movement of our planet Earth.
Agenda
- Composing your image, the key things to consider
- Capturing the apparent movement of the night sky with a still image
- Camera settings for low-light, night-time photography
- Photo targets that are ideal for your camera lens, no telescope
- Essential processing tips to get you images looking their best
About the speaker
Miguel Claro is one of Portugal’s foremost professional photographers, who specialises in astrophotography presenting the night sky in connection with the landscapes of the natural world and the architectural heritage of the built environment.
Masterclass 2
The Milky Way
- Speaker: Mary McIntyre
- Date: Thursday 24 October, 7pm BST
In this talk we’ll look at capturing our home Galaxy arcing across the sky at its full extent, and also how to home in for more close-up shots of detail in the Milky Way’s packed starfields. We’ll explain the lenses that are best suited to theses task, and the effects that different mounting options can bring to your Milky Way photography.
Our speaker will also cover the important part image processing plays in creating great images of our Galaxy, covering the essential routines that go into making your photos truly memorable.
Agenda
- What should be in a Milky Way photographer’s kit bag
- Galaxy panoramas and wide-angle compositions
- How the Milky Way will look at different times of year
- Regions of our Galaxy to zoom in on
- Essential image processing software and routines for Milky Way imaging
About the speaker
Mary McIntyre is an avid astrophotographer, imaging from her garden in rural Oxfordshire, which is also home to her permanent observatory. She has shared her imaging expertise through outreach to schools, Scout and Guide groups, camera clubs and astronomy societies since 2015.
Masterclass 3
The deep sky
- Speaker: Dave Eagle
- Date: Thursday 5 December, 7pm GMT
Our third talk is all about capturing views of deep space with a DSLR camera, revealing objects often hundreds of lightyears away in space which our eyes alone cannot see. We’ll look at the nebulae, star clusters, galaxies and comets that a DSLR puts within reach and explain how differences between cameras affect their ability to capture them.
We’ll also cover special aspects of deep-sky imaging with a DSLR: why you’ll want to attach camera to a small telescope in place of the lens, the best types of mount to use and how to focus on faint targets in a dark night sky. Image processing will also be considered as an essential element to lifting amazing detail out of pictures that at first appear to have nothing in them.
Agenda
- DSLR camera models for deep-sky photography
- Essential accessories for fixing a camera to a telescope
- What to look for in a tracking mount
- How to get close-up images of deep-sky targets
- The effects of light pollution in images and how to deal with them
About the speaker
Dave Eagle is lifelong amateur astronomer and expert astrophotographer who has taken his passions across the globe in travels to the Galapagos Islands, Central America and Africa. He founded the Bedford Astronomical Society before going on to become the lead astronomer on aurora and comet-chasing flights, and is currently a stargazing presenter with Fred Olsen Cruise Lines.
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