Categories: AstrophotosObserving

How to Photograph the Night Sky, Even in Light-Polluted Skies: A Tutorial from Justin Ng

We feature A LOT of astrophotos here on Universe Today, and we get many comments about them, too — with some people saying they could NEVER take photos of the night sky because they live in cities, or are too close to street or yard lights or other causes of light pollution.

Now, award-winning astrophotographer Justin Ng from Singapore has created a tutorial for how to photograph the night sky, even in light-polluted area.

“This tutorial shows you how I photograph the Milky Way that’s obscured by the extreme light pollution in Singapore, using photography equipments that you may already have and a workflow that probably works on most versions of Photoshop,” Justin writes, adding that the type of photo processing he uses in Photoshop can be achieved without purchasing additional plugins.

Justin says that taking pictures of the night sky is a way you can “do your part to promote public awareness of astronomy and the importance of preserving the beauty of our night skies through your images. And I am going to show you how you can do just that using photography equipment that you may already have and a workflow that probably works in most versions of Photoshop.”

For this tutorial, you will need some previous knowledge about basic photography and post-processing.

You can access the full tutorial here on Justin’s website.

The rising Milky Way at Sentosa Island in Singapore. Credit and copyright: Justin Ng.

Check out more of his work at his website, on Facebook or G+.

Nancy Atkinson

Nancy has been with Universe Today since 2004, and has published over 6,000 articles on space exploration, astronomy, science and technology. She is the author of two books: "Eight Years to the Moon: the History of the Apollo Missions," (2019) which shares the stories of 60 engineers and scientists who worked behind the scenes to make landing on the Moon possible; and "Incredible Stories from Space: A Behind-the-Scenes Look at the Missions Changing Our View of the Cosmos" (2016) tells the stories of those who work on NASA's robotic missions to explore the Solar System and beyond. Follow Nancy on Twitter at https://twitter.com/Nancy_A and and Instagram at and https://www.instagram.com/nancyatkinson_ut/

Recent Posts

Interferometry Will Be the Key to Resolving Exoplanets

When it comes to telescopes, bigger really is better. A larger telescope brings with it…

34 mins ago

A New Mission To Pluto Could Answer the Questions Raised by New Horizons

Pluto may have been downgraded from full-planet status, but that doesn't mean it doesn't hold…

1 hour ago

Astronomers Map the Shape of a Black Hole's Corona for the First Time

The Sun is surrounded by the corona, a region of superheated gas above the surface…

1 hour ago

Yes, Virginia, The Universe is Still Making Galaxies

Despite the fact that our universe is old, cold, and well past its prime, it's…

3 hours ago

Our Breathtaking Cosmos: New Zealand Astrophotography Winners Announced

The New Zealand Astrophotography Competition showcases and recognizes some of the most stunning images of…

4 hours ago

Why are Some Quasars So Lonely?

At the centre of most galaxies are supermassive black holes. When they are ‘feeding’ they…

6 hours ago