The Landscape Photography Book

Your Goal: a Landscape Shot with a Starry Sky

Just like in regular landscape photos, a starry sky or Milky Way shot will generally be stronger if you have an interesting foreground element, and what you’ll often see is either a recognizable silhouette (mountains, a rock formation, a building, barn, arch, lake, ocean—something clearly recognizable even when silhouetted), or that same type of object artificially lit (more about that on page 142). Having a landscape foreground of some kind at the base of your shot gives interest and context to the image, rather than just pointing straight up at the dark sky. Search Google for “Milky Way photography” ...