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If you’ve spent any time planning Milky Way photography, you’ve probably heard the same advice: Shoot during a New Moon. It’s good advice—but it’s also a little oversimplified. September 10 New Moon Reminder: The darker skies around the new moon create one of the month’s best opportunities to photograph the Milky Way—and there’s only a […]
When planning a night of Milky Way photography, most photographers check the cloud forecast first. But some astronomy weather apps also display two less familiar measurements: seeing and transparency. They may sound similar, but they describe very different atmospheric conditions—and one is usually much more important for photographing the Milky Way. What Is Atmospheric Seeing? […]
If you’ve ever photographed stars, the Milky Way, or a distant landscape, you’ve probably heard this advice: “Just set your lens to infinity.” It sounds simple. Turn the focus ring to the ∞ symbol and distant subjects should be perfectly sharp. Except that’s often not what happens. Many Lenses Focus Past Infinity In photography, “infinity” […]
If photographing the Milky Way has been sitting on your summer photography list, September is giving you one more excellent opportunity. The new moon arrives on September 10, 2026, creating several evenings with very little moonlight to interfere with the night sky. For photographers across much of the Northern Hemisphere, this is also one of […]
Every photographer hits it eventually. You pick up your camera, look around, and… nothing. The light seems boring. Your neighborhood feels over-photographed. You’ve already photographed the flowers, sunsets, pets, streets, and local landmarks a hundred times. It feels like you’ve run out of things to photograph. But you probably haven’t. The problem may simply be […]
Have you ever photographed an incredible landscape, only to look at the image later and wonder why it feels strangely flat? The mountains were dramatic. The view seemed enormous. Yet somehow the photograph doesn’t capture the same sense of space you experienced in person. One of the easiest ways to fix this is a composition […]
Landscape photographers often want the same thing: sharp detail from the foreground all the way to the horizon. Two techniques can get you there—hyperfocal distance and focus stacking—but they work very differently. Quick reminder: Our top deal of the month ends tomorrow. There’s just 1 day left to get the Tack Sharp Photography Guide at […]
Have you ever opened a photo that looked perfectly sharp on the back of your camera—only to get it onto your computer and think: Why does this look so soft? Your first instinct might be to reach for the Sharpening slider. But sometimes the photo isn’t actually blurry at all. It simply lacks local contrast. […]
You carefully compose the shot, focus, and take the photo. Later, you discover something frustrating: The camera focused perfectly—just not on what you wanted. Maybe the background is sharp while your subject is soft. Or a branch is tack sharp instead of the bird sitting behind it. Often, this isn’t an autofocus failure. Your camera […]
Most photographers assume their most expensive lens is also their sharpest. Or maybe it’s the newest lens. The prime lens. The one with the biggest front element and the impressive-looking red or gold ring. But if you actually test the lenses in your camera bag, you might be surprised. The lens that produces your sharpest […]
