Taking Portraits at Night- Astrophotography for Beginners!

April 29, 2025By Dawn Jarvis

A recent skill I learned and now love doing is Astrophotography! It’s so fun to get creative at night and add a new dynamic to my galleries that I get to send clients! First starting this skill can be a little overwhelming since we depend so much on light as photographers! This guide is for anyone looking to uplevel their photo skills with some epic night time shots!

What is astrophotography?

Astrophotography is when you photograph at night, it usually involves the stars or planets in your photos! If you’re shooting an elopement, it’s a really fun way to wrap up a gallery! It includes all the stars and some of the landscape from their day and it’s another way you can stand out as a photographer!

What gear do I need for astrophotography?

Since it’s so dark, having a quality camera with higher ISO capabilities is key! You can do this with a DSLR, but mirrorless cameras are starting to really lead the way for low light situations. Having a tripod for long exposures is key for keeping everything still, and using a wide angle lens (15mm-35mm) is best! Your f-stop should be as low as possible (above a 2.8 may be too high to get enough light in.) I would also bring along a headlamp to help focus and see what you’re doing when not taking a photo.

Tips for taking photos at night

Look at the weather forecast! In order to get stars, it needs to be a dark, cloudless night with minimal air pollution. You’ll also need to be far enough out of a city that you’re not picking up extra light from the town.

When taking the photo, make sure your camera settings is in RAW so you can get information from all the shadows for editing later. Grab your tripod, and get your subject in a pose that they’re comfortable holding for 15+ seconds. You may need to try a few different settings to find the one that captures the most stars.

Unlock the full astrophotography course!

Hanna Irene teaches an entire course on astrophotography in my online education platform, Basecamp! She does a deep dive into shooting at night, settings, and how to edit your photos in lightroom! Seeing a whole video tutorial on astrophotography is such a beneficial way to learn this skill!

Basecamp has so many fun courses like Astrophotography, but we also unpack everything from marketing, to shooting, and editing! It’s a perfect way to uplevel your business for any skill level!