My First Dive into Milky Way Astrophotography

I recently embarked on a significant journey, driving 10 hours to experience a new moon phase near Big Bend National Park. The goal? To capture the majestic Milky Way. Tonight was truly special, not just for the breathtaking sight with my own eyes, but for my very first attempt at capturing it with my camera.

Here's the result of my first attempt:

I was using my Nikon Z7 with a Viltrox 16mm f1.8 lens. My settings for this shot were ISO 8000, 16mm, f1.8, and a 13-second exposure.

I'm eager to hear your thoughts on how I did! This is completely unedited, and if anyone has tips or would like to try editing it to improve it, I'd be very grateful. I also have more time-lapse photos from the same night.

Feedback and Learning

The community has already offered some fantastic advice. One suggestion was to try editing the image to bring out more detail. Specifically, using free software like Sequator to stack multiple images can help reduce noise. After stacking, editing the resulting TIFF file with adjustments to white balance, dehaze, clarity, contrast, and manipulating shadows, highlights, and black/white sliders can make a significant difference. I'm excited to try these techniques and will hopefully share the results soon!

It was mentioned that the sky color looks a bit desaturated compared to the foreground. Honestly, I was so overwhelmed with excitement at finally seeing the Milky Way for the first time that I didn't consciously think about the color balance when shooting. This is definitely something I'll pay more attention to in future sessions.