How to plan a Milky Way photo

I find milky way photography quite fascinating! Probably because you have the opportunity to see through your camera something you cannot see with your naked eyes. I also love staying out on a warm summer night enjoying the starry sky while taking pictures.

Many times I scout a location during the day to find a good composition of the galaxy before going out at night. Apart from that I also use an application for my phone, called PhotoPills. It allows me to easily plan a milky way photo. Via the app I can find the exact date and time when the milky way will be where I want. I can also check when the milky way core will be visible and whether the milky way is vertical or it creates an arch. Also via the augmented reality feature I can see in the screen of my phone how the milky way will look by using the camera of my phone. So, here are two video tutorials showing how to plan a milky way photo using PhotoPills application and how to use the augmented reality feature.

PhotoPills is a paid app. I am not affiliated or sponsored by this app. I find it very useful though and that’s why I thought to show you how I use it. It is available for Android and iPhone.

I have also written a tutorial on how to photograph the milky way for beginners which you might find useful!