An award-winning photographer tells you how to take pictures of the night sky

Dave Brosha is a professional photographer who, over the last 15 years, has taken highly stunning pictures of the Canadian wilderness.

It was when he was living in Yellowknife — before he pursued photography full time — that he first became interested in pointing his lens toward the skies.

"Yellowknife is known as one of the best areas on the planet for displays of the aurora borealis," he said. "I found myself outside many, many nights under the stars."

Since then Brosha has been short-listed multiple times for the Astronomy Photography of the Year Awards, and in 2010 he was the first runner-up in the category of land and space.

Now that he's based in P.E.I., he splits his time between doing commercial assignments and teaching photography to people across Canada and in other parts of the world. 

Every summer, he holds a workshop on the Island with his colleague, Paul Zizka, on sunset and nighttime photography that features astrophotography, the art of capturing a picture of an object in space.

"There's people that are more into deep-space photography, actually photographing the galaxies and close-ups of planets and stars and stuff like that," Brosha said. "But to me, astrophotography is really just going out into the world once the light disappears and just exploring the beauty of that."

Though his workshop just ended, Brosha took some time to tell CBC what beginners need to know to get into this hobby, which he says at its most barebones doesn't require more than a fairly basic DSLR camera or a good smartphone — not even a fancy location.

"My favourite nighttime photographs have always just kind of come in my own backyard. I don't have to drive anywhere, and it's right there," he said. 

"Whether exploring star trails or aurora borealis or Milky Way photographs, or just being able to go outside in your own backyard, it's [all] pretty wonderful. 

"It helps to live in the countryside."

Switching to manual

All good nighttime photographers — and all good photographers in general — must have a firm grasp on the concept of exposure. That's the amount of light that's allowed to reach the camera sensor. A picture that's underexposed is one that looks too dark.

"You have to understand the principles of capturing very small amounts of light over a longer time. So you have to know how to be able to operate your camera to capture those miniscule bits of light," Brosha said. "It really forces you to slow down and think."

For starters, that means ditching your camera's auto settings. 

"You can't really shoot night photography effectively in just auto mode. You have to learn the exposure triangle," he said. "It takes a little bit of work, for sure. But the rewards are tremendous."

Keep it steady

The longer the camera's shutter remains open, the larger the amount of light the camera takes in. As such, in a night photography environment, it's common to see shutter speeds of over 20 to 30 seconds. 

But a slow shutter speed means the camera is very sensitive to any motion.

That's great if you're trying to capture the movement of celestial bodies such as when taking a "star trail" photograph, but even a slight movement could lead to blurry images.

Brosha said that for long exposures, it's important to keep your camera steady. That means a good tripod is almost a must.

"If all else fails, I've improvised by propping my camera up on a solid surface," Brosha said. "Using a timer on your camera rather than pressing your shutter also helps reduce camera shake."

Check your ISO

Cranking up the ISO allows for more light to get in the camera at the expense of quality.

That could compensate for a faster shutter speed when capturing a moving object, such as when trying to capture the outlines of bright northern lights.

And having both a slow shutter speed and a high ISO could lead to highly detailed images of the night sky, such as this self-portrait with the Milky Way as a backdrop. It was taken with a 3200-ISO, and a 30-second shutter speed.

"When you go out there, and you even just let your eyes adjust for the dark, and you're out there an hour, it's remarkable how much more you see. The camera can take that even further," Brosha said. "[It] picks up so much more."

Perfect conditions

Brosha said that other than avoiding pouring rain, there are no real "ideal" conditions as to when to venture out, and that all types of weather can lead to interesting pictures.

"Cloudy? Reflected light pollution can actually look interesting in a long exposure. Full moon? Not the best conditions for shooting the Milky Way, but great conditions for being able to see your foregrounds," he said.

A pitch-black night is a prime setting for taking pictures of stars. And if you're looking to take a picture of the northern lights, you better look, well, north.

"It's generally easier to photograph on the North Shore, when the aurora borealis is predicted. So that's what I would probably recommend to people," Brosha said.

Go out there and shoot

Brosha said that astrophotography may look intimidating on the surface, but that it's not as complicated as most people might think. 

"All you have to grasp to begin is the concept of long exposure. And that usually I find for people is something that they can get the hang of pretty quickly. It just takes a little bit of practice," he said.

Once you got that nailed down, Brosha said you can get really creative with it. And the setting allows for that.

"Every time you turn on a light, like a flashlight, your eyes kind of lose the adjustment to the nighttime that you've gained," he said. 

"So you really try to function with as little light as possible. And so everything becomes slower and more deliberate."

Plus, Brosha said, it's a fine excuse to go outdoors.