Top tips for astrophotography composition 2023

2023年天体摄影构图的重要提示

Taking photographs of the night sky can be such a rewarding yet emotional experience, and due to the challenging dark, usually cold and unpredictable conditions, it takes practice and patience to get the shots you want. In this guide, we will look at the key tips to compose the best astrophotographs possible and what you need to know before taking your camera out under a canopy of stars.

拍摄夜空的照片可以是这样一个有益的情感体验，由于具有挑战性的黑暗，通常寒冷和不可预测的条件，需要练习和耐心来获得你想要的照片。在本指南中，我们将介绍拍摄最佳天文照片的关键技巧，以及在星空下拿起相机之前你需要知道的事情。

The night sky is ever-changing. Over the period of our lifetimes, light pollution has risen dramatically, and more of us are losing close connections to the heavens above. With the stark rise of satellite technology, it is estimated that by the year 2025, there will be more satellites visible than stars in our view of the night sky. Now more than ever, it is so important to look up to the stars and recognize our sense of place within the universe and capture these moments the best we can. From shooting the Milky Way to the dream-like Northern Lights, this guide has you covered.

夜空千变万化。在我们的一生中，光污染急剧增加，我们中越来越多的人正在失去与天空的密切联系。随着卫星技术的迅猛发展，据估计，到2025年，我们在夜空中看到的卫星将比星星还多。现在比以往任何时候都更重要的是仰望星空，认识到我们在宇宙中的位置，并尽可能地捕捉这些时刻。从拍摄银河系到梦幻般的北极光，本指南将为您介绍。

You don't need 'all the gear' to create stunning astro shots; you can get stunning results from your camera phone with practice. However, if you want to use a 'proper camera' you will need one that performs well in low light, or even better, one of the best cameras for astrophotography. Currently, we'd recommend the Nikon Z8 as the best camera overall and best camera for astrophotography because of its phenomenal features, highly detailed sensor and fantastic ability to manage high ISO noise that comes with shooting the dim starlight at night.

你不需要“所有的装备”来拍摄令人惊叹的天文照片;通过练习，你可以从你的照相手机上得到惊人的结果。然而，如果你想使用一个“合适的相机”，你需要一个在弱光下表现良好的相机，甚至更好，最好的天文摄影相机之一。目前，我们推荐尼康Z8作为最好的相机和最好的相机进行天文摄影，因为它的非凡的功能，高度细致的传感器和出色的管理高ISO噪点的能力，在夜间拍摄昏暗的星光。

When heading out on location, it is always advised to have a dual LED flashlight or headlamp (one with a white LED and a red LED). A red light is crucial for preserving your night vision. Two of our favorite models are the BioLite Headlamp 425 and the Nitecore NU31.

当外出时，总是建议有一个双LED手电筒或头灯(一个白色LED和一个红色LED)。红灯对保持你的夜视能力至关重要。我们最喜欢的两个型号是BioLite头灯425和Nitecore NU31。

A strong, robust tripod is a must for most astrophotography, especially when taking long exposures; you simply won't get the results you want without one. Take a look at our best tripods for astrophotography guide to see which best meets your requirements. Aluminum tripods are very robust and generally cheaper than carbon fiber models, but the latter are much lighter and easier to carry around. You want a tripod that can withstand wind interference, which can occur with a change of wind direction or speed when shooting long exposures.

对于大多数天文摄影来说，一个坚固的三脚架是必须的，尤其是在长时间曝光的时候;没有它，你就不会得到你想要的结果。看看我们最好的三脚架天文摄影指南，看看哪一个最符合您的要求。铝制三脚架非常坚固，通常比碳纤维型号便宜，但后者更轻，更容易携带。你需要一个能够承受风干扰的三脚架，因为在拍摄长时间曝光时，风向或风速的变化可能会导致风干扰。

For landscape shots, we prefer to use a wider lens — somewhere in the region of 14-24mm focal length — to gather more light when capturing fainter details and nebulosity. We really rate the Sigma 14mm f1.8 DG HSM ART. That said, taking a variety of lenses can be desirable so you can experiment during your shoot. Sometimes a mid-focal-length lens (50mm) can be useful to stitch together a panorama of images to create a higher-resolution image. This process takes more time but the results deliver.

对于风景拍摄，我们更喜欢使用更宽的镜头——焦距在14-24mm之间——以便在捕捉较暗的细节和云雾时收集更多的光线。我们真的评价西格玛14mm f1.8 DG HSM ART。也就是说，带各种镜头是可取的，这样你就可以在拍摄过程中进行试验。有时，中焦距镜头(50mm)可以将全景图像拼接在一起，以创建更高分辨率的图像。这个过程需要更多的时间，但结果是交付的。

A telephoto lens (ranging from 70-600mm) may be considered for lunar photography to provide a narrower field of view and to 'zoom in' on your subject. Foreground subjects can illustrate narrative so it is the photographer's decision whether to shoot horizontally or vertically. Read more about the best lenses for astrophotography and how to choose one in our handy guide.

在拍摄月球时，可以考虑使用长焦镜头(范围从70-600mm)，以提供更窄的视野，并“放大”拍摄对象。前景主体可以说明叙事，所以是水平还是垂直拍摄是摄影师的决定。阅读更多关于天文摄影的最佳镜头，以及如何在我们的方便指南中选择一个。

You need to be physically prepared for the elements when taking images outdoors at night. Wear gloves (ideally well-fitting and grippy), a hat and take warm drink. Most importantly, layer up — the more layers, the better, as the temperature is likely to drop the later you photograph into the night. It's better to make extra provisions than make too few.

晚上在户外拍照时，你需要做好身体上的准备。戴上手套(最好是合身且抓握力强的)，戴上帽子，喝点热饮。最重要的是，分层拍摄——分层越多越好，因为你拍摄的照片进入夜晚越晚，温度可能会下降。多准备总比少准备好。

Related: Best cameras for astrophotography

相关: 最佳天文摄影相机

When capturing images of the night sky, the light we see from distant stars has, in many instances, traveled thousands, millions and even billions of light-years through space and our home galaxy, the Milky Way. When photographing such fragile starlight, the location we determine to capture images from is very important. Primarily, we need to steer clear of the unwanted impacts of light pollution from nearby towns and cities and find something interesting, be it a rock, building, tree, windmill or so on, to sit in the foreground of our shots.

在拍摄夜空图像时，我们看到的来自遥远恒星的光，在许多情况下，在太空和我们的家园银河系中行进了数千、数百万甚至数十亿光年。在拍摄如此脆弱的星光时，我们确定的拍摄位置非常重要。首先，我们需要避开来自附近城镇和城市的光污染的有害影响，并找到一些有趣的东西，无论是岩石，建筑物，树木，风车等等，坐在我们的镜头前景中。

Light pollution is the result of lights shining into the atmosphere — especially prevalent in urban areas — which reduces the contrast of the night sky and inevitably, reduces the amount of visible stars we can observe and capture. If you can't get completely away from light-polluted areas without traveling huge distances, using one of the best light pollution filters will give you a helping hand. They block specific wavelengths in the visible spectrum of light associated with skyglow.

光污染是光照射到大气中的结果，尤其是在城市地区，它降低了夜空的对比度，不可避免地减少了我们可以观察和捕捉的可见恒星的数量。如果你不走很远的路就不能完全远离光污染地区，使用最好的光污染滤镜会给你一个帮助。它们阻挡了与天光相关的可见光光谱中的特定波长。

If you are lucky enough to be able to travel to a protected Dark Sky Reserve, the view of the universe is outstanding. Being designated protected areas, regulations are enforced to minimize artificial light. We can see so many more stars and details within the spiral arms of the Milky Way — so much so it is even difficult to distinguish the major constellations within them.

如果您有幸能够前往受保护的黑暗天空保护区，那里的宇宙景观是无与伦比的。作为指定的保护区，法规被强制执行，以尽量减少人造光。我们可以在银河系的旋臂中看到更多的恒星和细节，以至于很难区分其中的主要星座。

These are sought-after locations for astrophotographers, but even so, a short drive away from the city lights is urged to get the most out of your astro shots and in turn provide everyone who sees our photos with an appreciation for the dark sky sites we have left — where we can still view our window to the universe in stunning clarity.

这些都是天文摄影师梦寐以求的地方，但即便如此，我们还是希望在离城市灯光很短的车程外，充分利用你的天文照片，反过来，让每个看到我们照片的人都能欣赏到我们留下的黑暗天空——在那里，我们仍然可以以惊人的清晰度看到我们的宇宙之窗。

We have put some of the best locations for astrophotography into a handy guide and also compiled a list of the best stargazing apps that will help you find the ideal spot in the best conditions. Plenty of Light Pollution Maps can be accessed online or by using smartphone apps listed in the aforementioned guide. Such tools show us what is known as 'The Bortle Scale' for a certain area. On a scale of one to nine, one is the darkest skies with zero to no light pollution, compared to nine — intense levels of light pollution, typically associated with major cities.

我们将一些最佳的天文摄影地点纳入了一份方便的指南，并编制了一份最佳观星应用程序列表，这些应用程序将帮助您在最佳条件下找到理想的地点。大量的光污染地图可以在网上或使用上述指南中列出的智能手机应用程序访问。这些工具向我们展示了特定地区的“瓶标”。在1到9的范围内，1是最黑暗的天空，零或没有光污染，相比之下，9是严重的光污染，通常与大城市有关。

When capturing images of the night sky, you need to consider the different factors that will be at play for different astronomical subjects. For example, if capturing landscape images of the Milky Way, we need to discover where it will be most visible without unwanted distractions in the frame and we'll need a clear night. Ideally, we want to head out around the time of the New Moon. This is a time when no (or very little) sunlight is reflected off the lunar surface and thus when the darkest skies can be seen during a given month, making the Milky Way look its most impressive.

在拍摄夜空图像时，你需要考虑不同的因素，这些因素会对不同的天文主题产生影响。例如，如果要拍摄银河系的风景图像，我们需要发现它在哪里最明显，而不会在框架中产生不必要的干扰，我们需要一个晴朗的夜晚。理想情况下，我们希望在新月前后出发。这是一个没有(或很少)阳光从月球表面反射的时间，因此在一个月内可以看到最黑暗的天空，使银河系看起来最令人印象深刻。

Space.com has a continually updated Space calendar detailing events of pertinent skywatching events such as lunar eclipses and meteor showers, with links on where best to see them (and how to find them), how long they will last, and so on.

Space.com有一个不断更新的太空日历，详细介绍了相关的天空观测事件，如月食和流星雨，以及在哪里最好看到它们(以及如何找到它们)，它们将持续多长时间，等等。

As our planet revolves around the Sun, we observe different areas of Space throughout the year — exhibiting the winter constellations (Orion, Taurus, Auriga, Canis Major etc) from winter through to spring where nights are at their longest, and the Milky Way season throughout the summer months when nights are at their shortest.

当我们的星球围绕太阳旋转时，我们全年都能观察到太空的不同区域——从冬天到春天，夜晚最长的时候，我们会看到冬季星座(猎户座、金牛座、Auriga、大犬座等)，而银河系的季节则是整个夏天，夜晚最短的时候。

It is good practice to plan ahead and have a basic awareness of targets to view in the night sky and when they appear; from the planets to constellations, the names of brighter stars, and the amount of time you have to photograph the heavens; also known as 'astronomical darkness'.

提前计划并对夜空中的目标及其出现时间有一个基本的认识是很好的做法;从行星到星座，明亮恒星的名字，以及你拍摄天空所需的时间;也被称为“天文黑暗”。

Good astronomy apps like Stellarium and PhotoPills are the go-to apps to determine what is visible to you in the night sky on a given night, the moon phase of that time and for how long you can capture images at certain times of the year. They will also help you to orientate your camera setup, i.e. which way to point the camera if your subject isn't obvious using your naked eye.

Stellarium和PhotoPills等优秀的天文学应用程序是确定特定夜晚夜空中你能看到什么、那个时候的月相以及在一年中的特定时间你能拍摄多长时间图像的首选应用程序。它们也会帮助你定位你的相机设置，也就是说，如果你的拍摄对象用肉眼不明显，你应该用哪种方式来瞄准相机。

The Northern Lights, alongside other extra-terrestrial phenomena, are unpredictable, so it is useful to have the latest aurora apps downloaded on your smartphone to determine the likelihood strength of the aurora on a given night if capturing this is your aim. We must also consider the 'normal' weather forecast — it is good to reference a number of forecasts as each will differ slightly — we've found Ventusky to be a reliable site for providing accurate up-to-date weather information. The last thing you want to happen is to prep for a night under the stars only to find yourself under thick cloud cover or worse, in heavy rain.

北极光和其他地外现象一样，都是不可预测的，所以如果你的目标是捕捉北极光，那么在智能手机上下载最新的极光应用程序，以确定特定夜晚极光的可能强度是很有用的。我们还必须考虑“正常”的天气预报——最好参考一些预报，因为每个预报都会略有不同——我们发现Ventusky是一个可靠的网站，可以提供准确的最新天气信息。你最不希望发生的事情就是准备在星空下度过一个夜晚，却发现自己被厚厚的云层覆盖，或者更糟的是，在大雨中。

Read more about the Northern Lights

阅读更多 关于北极光

A general rule of thumb for creating compositionally strong astro-images is to use the rule of thirds. The rule of thirds is a composition guideline that divides an image into nine equal parts by two equally spaced horizontal and vertical lines (if you don't have a grid on your camera, you can imagine one). The important compositional elements (i.e. your subjects) should be placed along these lines or their intersections. This creates a more balanced and visually appealing composition than simply centering the subject. The person viewing the image will be drawn to the points of interest in your image, both astronomical and foreground subjects.

创建构图强烈的天体图像的一般经验法则是使用三分法。三分法是一种构图准则，它通过两条等距的水平线和垂直线将图像分成九个相等的部分(如果你的相机上没有网格，你可以想象一个)。重要的构图元素(即你的主体)应该沿着这些线或它们的交叉点放置。这创造了一个更加平衡和视觉上吸引人的构图，而不是简单地将主题居中。观看图像的人将被吸引到图像中的兴趣点，包括天文和前景主题。

Centering the subject is typically not attractive, and what's more, you could miss out on other interesting objects that sit just outside your field of view by doing so.

将拍摄对象居中通常并不吸引人，而且，这样做可能会让你错过视野之外的其他有趣的物体。

Always be mindful of 'empty space.' If using the rule of thirds, this should inherently not be a problem — what it means is having all of the 'interesting' elements of your photo in one area, leaving large uninteresting spaces in the rest of the image. In other words, don't stack all of the interesting subjects on one edge of your image and forget about the other side.

永远要注意“空白空间”。如果使用三分法则，这本来就不是问题——它的意思是把照片中所有“有趣”的元素都集中在一个区域，而在图像的其余部分留下大片无趣的空间。换句话说，不要把所有有趣的主题都堆在图像的一边，而忘记了另一边。

As with all photography, the composition of your shot has to be revised each time you take out your camera. Your composition can be determined by the location you are shooting, any interesting foreground objects, the weather, where other photographers might be standing, or the appearance of an astronomical event (such as seeing the Northern Lights). Your goal is to create a close relationship with your subject, to understand the dynamics of what you are shooting and ultimately, create your own sense of identity within your images and your perception of the universe.

与所有摄影一样，每次你拿出相机时，你的照片构图都必须修改。你的构图可以由你拍摄的位置，任何有趣的前景物体，天气，其他摄影师可能站在哪里，或者天文事件的出现(比如看到北极光)来决定。你的目标是与你的拍摄对象建立一种密切的关系，了解你所拍摄的事物的动态，并最终在你的图像和你对宇宙的感知中创造你自己的认同感。

Experiment with different angles and distances from the foreground subject, and try the same shot with portrait and landscape orientations to see which works best. Ultimately keep experimenting until you have an interesting image that you are happy with that will draw other viewers in.

尝试从前景主体的不同角度和距离，并尝试用人像和风景方向拍摄同一张照片，看看哪个效果最好。最后，不断尝试，直到你有一个有趣的图像，你是满意的，将吸引其他观众。

Getting great astrophotographs is a result of a lot of practice and a lot of trial and error. Sometimes, some images and the environment work; other times they do not. For example, an unexpected bright object in the form of car headlights appearing over the horizon or an astrophotography honeypot during an exciting celestial event that makes it difficult to find your own 'other photographer-free' spot, potentially causing frame distraction within your images. A sudden temperature drop may result in your equipment being 'fogged'.

获得伟大的天体照片是大量实践和大量试验和错误的结果。有时候，有些形象和环境起作用;其他时候则不然。例如，一个意想不到的明亮物体以汽车前灯的形式出现在地平线上，或者在令人兴奋的天体事件中出现天文摄影蜜罐，这使得你很难找到自己的“没有其他摄影师”的位置，可能会导致你的图像中的帧分散。突然的温度下降可能会导致您的设备“雾化”。

As a result, astrophotographers have to be both prepared and to make compromises. If there are unexpected changes, you may have to reconsider how you shoot your composition or otherwise make a fine adjustment to your tripod head so that any defects are out of the field of view. Does it follow the same narrative if, say, photographing the Milky Way above your subject? Do you have the equipment to prevent fogging lenses, such as a lens heater? All of this comes with experience and the closer you become to your subjects, the more you get to know them and what you need to adjust. Before you know it, your workflow becomes second nature.

因此，天文摄影师既要做好准备，又要做出妥协。如果有意想不到的变化，你可能不得不重新考虑如何拍摄你的构图，或者以其他方式对三脚架头部进行微调，以便任何缺陷都不在视野范围内。如果在你的拍摄对象上方拍摄银河系，它是否遵循同样的叙事?你有防止镜头起雾的设备吗，比如镜头加热器?所有这些都需要经验，你越接近你的拍摄对象，你就越了解他们，你需要调整什么。在你意识到之前，你的工作流程就变成了第二天性。

Most cameras can't automatically focus on objects in the night sky because it is so dark. We have to do this manually. There is a tried and tested technique for doing so, as follows:

因为太黑了，大多数相机都不能自动对焦在夜空中的物体上。我们必须手动操作。有一种久经考验的方法可以做到这一点，如下:

Find the brightest star/planet in your field of view (on the screen), zoom in and navigate to it. Make sure your camera is set to manual focus and not autofocus.

在你的视野中(在屏幕上)找到最亮的恒星/行星，放大并导航到它。确保你的相机设置为手动对焦，而不是自动对焦。

Turn the focus ring until the star/planet appears as a sharp pinpoint of light (rather than a circle). On the screen, zoom out again and don't adjust the focus for the remainder of the shoot unless it is obviously out of focus or has been knocked accidentally, or if you want the focus to be on something else, i.e. a rock, person or structure in the foreground.

转动对焦环，直到恒星/行星看起来像一个尖锐的光点(而不是一个圆圈)。在屏幕上，再次缩小镜头，不要对拍摄的其余部分调整焦距，除非它明显失焦或被意外撞到，或者如果你想把焦点放在其他东西上，例如前景中的岩石、人物或结构。

Here, test shots are crucial — take some test shots and check your exposure using the histogram. The histogram gives us a visual representation of the brightness values of all the pixels in our photo; it's best to use this method, as relying on the screen alone isn't always reliable.

在这里，测试照片是至关重要的——拍摄一些测试照片，并使用直方图检查你的曝光。直方图为我们提供了照片中所有像素的亮度值的直观表示;最好使用这种方法，因为仅仅依靠屏幕并不总是可靠的。

If all of the 'mountain peaks' in the graph are on the left, the image is too dark; on the right, it's too bright. We're aiming for most of the peaks to be on the left but with some data nearer the middle of the histogram (meaning the image is dark but with points of light).

如果图中所有的“山峰”都在左边，图像就太暗了;右边的太亮了。我们的目标是大多数的峰值在左边，但有一些数据靠近直方图的中间(意思是图像是暗的，但有亮点)。

Make adjustments as necessary — a wider aperture (lower f-stop number) will gather more light and, when dealing with something as dark as the night sky, we need that as wide as possible — if the lens you're using opens to f/2.8, set aperture to f/2.8.

根据需要进行调整——更大的光圈(更低的光圈值)会聚集更多的光线，当处理像夜空这样黑暗的东西时，我们需要尽可能大的光圈——如果你使用的镜头开到f/2.8，把光圈设为f/2.8。

The shutter speed determines how long the image sensor is exposed to light. To see stars as pinpoints of light, a shutter speed of 1/2 sec or faster is required, which means the image sensor's sensitivity to light must be increased dramatically. The slower the shutter speed, the more light is gathered, but if you leave the shutter open for too long, you will start to see some movement — of course, this is a desired effect for things like star rotations.

快门速度决定了图像传感器暴露在光线下的时间。要把星星看成光点，快门速度必须达到1/2秒或更快，这意味着图像传感器对光的灵敏度必须大幅提高。快门速度越慢，收集的光线就越多，但如果你让快门开得太久，你就会开始看到一些运动——当然，这是一个理想的效果，比如恒星旋转。

You can use the 500 rule to determine the rough exposure length before you start to see star trails in your images. Take 500 and divide it by the focal length (in millimeters) of your lens. I.e. 500 / 24mm = 20.83 seconds of exposure before star trails are noticeable in your photos.

在你开始在图像中看到星迹之前，你可以使用500规则来确定粗略的曝光长度。用500除以镜头的焦距(毫米)。也就是说，曝光500 / 24mm = 20.83秒，你的照片中就会出现明显的星迹。

It is a good idea to use the camera's inbuilt exposure delay (self-timer) or use a remote release to minimize the risk of camera shake.

使用相机内置的曝光延迟(自拍)或使用远程释放是一个好主意，以尽量减少相机抖动的风险。

If it's too dark and you can't open the aperture wider, slow the shutter speed down further. If that still doesn't work, raise the ISO, but be mindful not to bump it up too much, as too much image noise can be tricky to edit out in post-processing.

如果太暗，你不能把光圈开得更大，那就进一步放慢快门速度。如果这仍然不起作用，提高ISO，但要注意不要把它调得太高，因为太多的图像噪点在后期处理中会很棘手。

Sometimes there are defects within your astro images that you will simply not notice when shooting in low-light environments so it may be necessary to edit your images post-shoot using one of the best editing apps for astrophotography. You can adjust colors (often to pull out detail from the darker shadows), crop your images and even revise your composition. The main thing to remember is to have fun when taking your astrophotos and experiment with them — always be prepared to expect the unexpected and don't be too hard on yourself if you don't get the shots you want on the first outing.

有时在低光环境下拍摄时，你的天文图像中会有一些缺陷，你根本不会注意到，所以可能有必要在拍摄后使用最好的天文摄影编辑应用程序之一编辑你的图像。你可以调整颜色(通常是从较暗的阴影中提取细节)，裁剪图像，甚至修改构图。最重要的是要记住，在拍摄天文照片时要有乐趣，并尝试它们——总是准备好期待意想不到的事情，如果你在第一次外出时没有拍到你想要的照片，也不要对自己太苛刻。