Practical advice for astrophotographers — from planning your first Milky Way shoot to advanced techniques.

The full Milky Way arch from horizon to horizon is a narrow planning target. Here's the timing, latitude, and location requirements that make it work.
Read articleGet notified when we publish new guides, tips, and astrophotography inspiration.
No spam, ever. Unsubscribe anytime.

Soft stars are the single most common reason Milky Way shots fail. Here's how to choose the right focus technique for what you're shooting, and how to build it into your planning.
6 min read
Moon phase first. Galactic core timing second. Foreground third. Weather last, because weather doesn't negotiate. A full walkthrough of how I'd plan a 3-day astrophotography trip to Moab in May.
7 min read
The 2026 Lyrids peak April 22 with a favorable crescent moon window. Here's how to plan your location, timing, and camera settings to photograph one of the oldest meteor showers in the sky.
4 min read
The photographers who get great Milky Way shots plan in two phases. Here's how to use Milky Way Planner to find your windows, and what to do with that information before you ever show up at night.
6 min read
Milky Way Planner now shows light pollution data directly on every map, 400+ dark sky locations with individual planning pages, and a galactic core arc showing exactly where the Milky Way will appear in the sky.
5 min read
Plan your 2026 Milky Way photography season with new moon dates, visibility by latitude, meteor shower overlaps, and the one August night you can't miss.
8 min read
Milky Way Planner has a new design, interactive maps, and a 2026 visibility calendar for 31 locations worldwide. Light pollution overlays and dark sky parks coming soon.
4 min read
Master circular star trail photography with proper planning, location scouting, and timing strategies for dramatic concentric circles around Polaris.
7 min read
The annual Milky Way calendar was showing zero visibility for winter months. We fixed it; February and January now show accurate galactic core visibility ratings.
2 min readShowing 9 of 22