Nature Photography How To

We’ll let you in on a little secret about all those spectacular photos of starlit skies that you wish you could take yourself: Astrophotography is easier than you think—especially if you learn the eight tips in the one-minute video below.

Serge Ramelli is a French landscape photographer who regularly offers simple tutorials for photographing the great outdoors, and the tips he demonstrates in this video on capturing the Milky Way apply to all sorts of nighttime images. Ramelli discusses exposure settings, the importance of strong foreground elements, and why you should use a solid tripod with a remote control (or your camera’s self timer) to make the shot.

Ramelli also explains how to pick the right location and why you should wait for a new moon to capture stellar shots of the nighttime sky. You can find more videos from Ramelli on his YouTube channel, and be sure to watch an earlier tutorial of his we posted with seven shooting and editing tips for better landscape photos.