Beautiful places to Photograph the night sky.

Photographing the night sky is known as astrophotography. When Capturing the night sky there are a few things that you're going to want to consider first, like the moon. I highly recommend shooting when the moon isn’t visible. Otherwise the light from the moon can make any long expourse look like day time. Another one is the light population, I usually try go as far away from it as possible.

What you will Need

•Camera: Realistically you can capture on almost any DSLR or Mirrorless out there, however it is recommended to shoot with a professional level, full frame camera. Majority of the photos I share in this blog post were captured on a Canon Rebel t6i. Mount Rainier was the only photo shot with my current camera being a Sony A7c. https://amzn.to/3zWRYzz

• A wide angle lens with a low aperture of 1.8-2.4 - Here is one I recommend https://amzn.to/3Mol7uF

•Tripod- https://amzn.to/3KGCVQk

•Remote Shutter Release- however you don’t necessarily need one because a 10 second time will work just as well. https://amzn.to/40LF3ff

•Fast reliable memory cards! https://amzn.to/3zEmZbd

•Lots of Extra Batteries because long exposures will drain them rather quickly. https://amzn.to/4169H2L

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Grand Portage, Minnesota

I’m going to have to start in my home state of Minnesota. One of my all time favorite places to capture the night sky is in Grand Portage MN or anywhere really along the North Shore for a matter of fact . If you are visiting from September- March there is a chances of the northern lights making an appearance. Of course there is that chance that they don’t and you still get to capture some of Minnesota’s gorgeous starry nights.

If I am being honest, it too me 7 years & countless trips to the north shore in hopes of seeing Lady Aurora before it finally happened. Timing is everything when it comes to seeing the Northern Lights.

DeathValley National Park | Badwater Basin, California

Now as much as I love capturing the night sky in Minnesota, I haven’t experienced anything darker then the desert night sky in California! In 2017 I captured the milky way at The Badwater Basin located 282 feet below the sea level in Death Valley National Park. We parked our rental in parking lot and walked out into the Salt Flats. The walk out I kept seeing this light and around 2am I am wondering to myself if they aren’t out here doing what I am doing, than it must be a murder right. It’s safe to say he was not a murder.

Joshua Tree National Park, California

Another one of my favorites is Joshua Tree National Park located in southern California. This park is an iconic destination for stargazing, rock climbing, hiking and other amazing photo opportunities . You have to stay on the look out when out capturing the night sky here, the coyotes among many types of other animals are not afraid of people. I know this because I almost became a last night snack while capturing the beauty of this park.

Mount Rainier National Park | Washington

Mount Rainier under a beautiful starry night was a bucket list shot for me. Honestly it’s really a sight to see with or with or photographing it. I highly recommend bringing warmer clothes with you. No matter what time of the year you go, you will see snow! This photo was captured in April of 2021 and it was still pretty cold. We parked our rental in a pull off where I captured a few photos and than we proceeded to sleep with the heat on the rest of the night! For warmer weather go between July and August.

Grand Canyon, Arizona

Here is a great example of shooting with the moon is Visible.

The Grand Canyon is another gorgeous place to capture the night sky, However I do not recommend you do it like I did. The moon may be a good idea however it can really flood your photo with too much light. So keep that in mind while capturing the beauty of the night!