Capturing the night sky is one the most fascinating as well as difficult feats to accomplish for a photographer. Photographing this captivating panorama of stars is a hobby that is getting popular in the city. And it is hugely addictive too, say the stargazers and astro-photographers of the city. “The thumb rule for astrophotography is to travel at least 100 kms away from city limits. There you will find pollution-free clear skies, sans any light which is a perfect setting for capturing the stars,” says Taneti Kishore, who is into astrophotography from the past 10 years.
Some of the most popular spots around the city for astrophotography and star gazing are Araku, Paderu and Lammasingi. Kishore has captured many spectacular moments in the night skies at Araku and beyond. “Orion is my most favourite constellation. It looks absolutely brilliant in the skies and is said to be the cradle of life where new stars are born,” he says. Among his collection of astrophotography shots, Kishore’s best ones include Andromeda and Orion constellations and Rosette Nebula – a gaseous cloud in the shape of a rose. “The Rosette Nebula has a beautiful petal-like formation of clouds of gas which looks stunning when captured in the frame,” he adds. Most of his astrophotography shots are taken at locations beyond Araku towards Jeypore in Odisha where the skies are totally dark and clear.
Special devices
There are quite a few devices and apps that help stargazers to spot the constellations. “I mount my camera on the Starry Tracker device for aligning with the North Pole Star. This device rotates in the opposite direction of the earth at the same rate,” he adds. Kishore is right now travelling to Spiti Valley, considered to be one of the best places for stargazing and astrophotography in India.
For Sandeep Pantula, a photographer who has been into amateur astrophotography from the past five years, gazing at the night skies and capturing the celestial wonders is therapeutic. Sandeep has spent hours looking at sparkling silver stars in the skies of Araku while capturing the shots in his camera through long-exposure photography. “Araku is a perfect place for stargazers as the sky is clear and there is zero pollution. A no-moon night is the best time for photographing stars. On a night like that, you can even see the milky way with the naked eyes,” he says.
Some of his best shots were captured in the night skies of Araku against the Sunkarametta Church. He travels to the city outskirts on a weekend to photograph starry skies in the early hours and at night.
“We usually start by 11 p.m. and stay at the location till about 2 or 3 in the early morning. It is this time when the skies play host to a clear display of shimmering stars and other celestial bodies.
Star trails
According to the photoghraphers, some of the basic pre-requisites while capturing the starry night skies are wide angle lens, a minimum aperture of 2.8 and tuning the camera to high ISO. “There are two ways to take star photography shots – one in which you capture with night sky with dotted stars sans any movement and the other in which you convey the motion of stars called star trail photography. There are different techniques involved in both,” says Suresh Gorantla, a dentist by profession and a passionate photographer.
While he has been exploring the neighbouring places of Vizag for astrophotography, one of Suresh’s most amazing pictures was of the Milky Way across Mt. Kilimanjaro - Africa’s highest mountain – where he visited on a trek last year.
“For starry night shots, a long exposure of 20 to 30 seconds is enough. But for star trail photography, a technique called image stacking is used where you combine several pictures of 30 seconds exposure to get the effect of movement,” explains Suresh.
For these stargazers who step out to capture the spectacles of the universe, there is nothing more relaxing than lying down on the grass and gaze upwards in the twinkling starry skies.
“When I go for my night shots to the hilly places, I place my camera in the tripod for long exposures and simply lie down beside to count the falling stars. At that moment, all of life’s worries just vanish,” says Sandeep.
For stargazing every season has its gift, and the winter has its delights, too. The Taurus and Orion are the most recognised constellation that can be seen late evening onwards.
