How to Photograph the Milky Way

How We Shoot It in Arizona

Milky Way rising over the Leaning Rocks in the Dragoon Mountains near Tombstone, Cochise County — **The Milky Way rising above the Leaning Rocks in the Dragoon Mountains, just outside Tombstone in Cochise County.**

There’s nothing quite like standing under an Arizona sky when the galactic core rises — no city glow, no noise, just the Milky Way stretching across the desert. It’s one of the reasons we moved here twelve years ago. And it’s why I built my three-night Erie Street Milky Way Photography Workshop in Bisbee, AZ. The city is kind enough to turn off the streetlights on Erie Street two weekends each year, giving us multiple nights to shoot, adjust, and reshoot under some of the darkest skies in the Southwest.

In this post, I’ll walk you through the same approach I teach on location — gear, planning, camera settings, and three different shooting methods you can grow into. Use this as your field guide, then come out and shoot it with me in person.

Harley-Davidson and Indian storefronts along Erie Street in the hamlet of Lowell, Bisbee, Arizona. — ***A view of the Harley Davidson and Indian storefronts on Erie Street in the hamlet of Lowell, Bisbee Arizona***

1. Gear I Actually Recommend

You don’t need a truckload of gear to shoot the night sky, but the right pieces make the night go smoother.

Camera: A camera with excellent high-ISO performance and strong dynamic range is key for Milky Way photography. I primarily shoot with the Canon R5 and R5 II — and I shot for years with the Canon 5D IV and 5D III, which are still excellent night-sky cameras.

If you’re on Nikon, the Z9, Z8, Z7II, and D850 are outstanding astrophotography options. Sony shooters will find the A7S III, A7 IV, and A7RV are proven low-light bodies with great color and noise performance.

Whatever system you use, choose a camera that performs cleanly at ISO 6400+, offers manual focus aids, and supports uncompressed RAW for the best Milky Way results.

Fast wide lens: 14–24 mm at ƒ/2.8 or faster is ideal. I love the Rokinon 24 mm ƒ/1.4 for more light and cleaner skies, and the Canon RF 15–35 mm ƒ/2.8 for wide-field scenes.

If you’re using a tracker, you can get away with slower lenses like ƒ/4 because the longer exposure compensates for reduced light.

Tripod: Long exposures and desert breezes don’t mix. A solid tripod is essential. ProMediaGear has proven itself rock-solid through the rough Arizona Monsoon season, which is why I trust it for all my night-sky shoots where stability is critical (use code RGallucci – 10% off).

I pair it with Acratech ballheads, which are so brilliantly designed you can use them as pano and gimbal heads — and they look cool (use code RGallucci – 10% off).

Camera bag: For local workshops, I rely on the intelligently designed Gura Gear Kiboko 22L; for travel, nothing beats the Kiboko 30L (use code RGallucci – 10% off).

Think Tank bags are also excellent for durability and their clever layout.

Packing for travel photography is part art, part science. Would you be interested in learning how we pack all our gear for long photo trips? Let me know in the comments — it might just become a future blog post.

Filters: Light pollution and sky glow are constant challenges when shooting the Milky Way. A night-sky or light-pollution filter helps tremendously when shooting near towns.

Nothing beats the Breakthrough Filters Night Sky filter — I don’t shoot without it. Breakthrough now offers my students an exclusive 10% off. Contact me for details.

Tracker (optional): When you want to maximize the stars in your image or if you’re using a slower lens (like ƒ/4), a tracker is your solution.

We use and teach the Move Shoot Move tracker (use code RGallucci – 5% off) — an exceptional, affordable, lightweight option that our students love.

When you're ready to go deeper into the night sky and capture objects like Orion, Andromeda, or the Rosette Nebula with longer lenses, step up to the iOptron SkyGuider Pro or Sky-Watcher Star Adventurer.

Use PS Align Pro to get your polar alignment close — with a 14–24 mm lens you don’t have to be perfect, but the longer your focal length, the more precise your alignment needs to be.

We are one of the few workshops that actually teaches you how to use your tracker in the field — hands-on, under dark skies.

Tethering / accessories: I use Tether Tools (use code Robert10 – 10% off). For long shoots where battery life might be an issue — such as star trails or time-lapses — their power accessories keep everything running smoothly through the night.

Students planning a Milky Way composition from the overlook above Erie Street in the hamlet of Lowell, Bisbee, Arizona — **Students planning a shot of the historic barn at Empire Ranch in southern Arizona**

2. Planning Your Shoot

Milky Way photography is as much about preparation and patience as it is about taking the shot. The right tools make that planning easier.

PhotoPills — My go-to app for planning most shoots and for visualizing Milky Way position, core rise times, and composition alignment.
Planit Pro — Excellent for detailed location planning and elevation data. It’s also the best app for finding the exact spot you need to be when shooting moonrise shots over a city.
Photographer’s Ephemeris — Great for understanding how the Milky Way aligns with terrain features.
Sky Guide — Helps identify constellations, find Polaris, and visualize where the core will rise on any given night.
PS Align Pro — Essential when using a tracker like the iOptron SkyGuider Pro or Sky-Watcher Star Adventurer — it helps lock in your polar alignment quickly and accurately.

We teach all of these apps during our workshops, so when you leave, you'll be confident in their use.

Milky Way rising above the historic barn at Empire Ranch in southern Arizona. — **A final image of the historic barn at Empire Ranch in southern Arizona**

3. Pick the Right Location

People often think Milky Way photography is all about the camera — it’s not. It’s about darkness. The darker the sky, the less work you’ll do later in post.

A small waning moon (10–15%) behind you can softly illuminate your foreground without washing out the Milky Way. Whether it’s waxing or waning doesn’t matter much — what matters is its position in the sky and that it’s behind your shooting direction, providing gentle, natural fill light.

Look for Bortle 1–4 skies if possible.
Face south if you’re in the U.S. — that’s where the galactic core rises.
Use the planning apps above to track moon phase and position.
Avoid bright moonlight; anything above ~20% can start to compete with the stars.

In Bisbee and the surrounding high desert, we’re lucky — low light pollution, high elevation, and great foregrounds. That’s why much of Cochise County, including Bisbee and the other areas where we shoot, enjoy Bortle 1–4 skies, some of the darkest and clearest in the Southwest. It’s also why I run my workshops here.

The old Greyhound bus depot and Texaco station on Erie Street in Lowell, Bisbee, Arizona — **The old Greyhound bus depot and Texaco station on Erie Street in the hamlet of Lowell, Bisbee, Arizona**

4. Scout a Foreground

Stars alone are pretty, but they don’t tell a story. A strong image needs a compelling foreground — something that ties the sky to Earth. Scout in daylight for safety and composition, look for silhouettes or shapes that frame the Milky Way, and keep clean horizons to make the sky pop.

View looking back toward the historic hamlet of Lowell along Erie Street in Bisbee, Arizona — **Traveling back to Lowell — one of the most popular shots on Erie Street in the hamlet of Lowell, Bisbee, Arizona**

5. When to Shoot

Milky Way Season: March through October.

The Milky Way’s position and visibility shift throughout the year. In the U.S. Southwest, season typically runs from March through October, with May through August offering the best visibility of the galactic core.

Early Season (March–April): The galactic core rises around ~1:30 AM in March and closer to ~11:35 PM in April — perfect for east-facing compositions.
Mid-Season (May–August): The Milky Way arches high in the southern sky, making for dramatic vertical or panoramic shots. May, June, and early July are especially good for single-row panoramas.
Late Season (September–October): The core sets earlier in the night toward the southwest — perfect for foregrounds that catch that last light and for compositions where the Milky Way core points west across the frame.

Always check astronomical twilight — that’s when true darkness begins. If you’re scouting in the day, mark your spot and return an hour before twilight ends to set up.

6. Core Camera Settings (Single Exposure Method)

Mode: Manual
Aperture: ƒ/1.4–ƒ/2.8
Shutter speed: Use the NPF Rule instead of the old 500 Rule — it’s more accurate because it accounts for pixel pitch, focal length, and aperture.
ISO: 3200–6400
Focus: Getting tack-sharp stars is one of the biggest challenges new Milky Way photographers face. Most autofocus systems won’t work at all in the dark — and the few that do are inconsistent — so nailing focus becomes a manual skill. The good news? Once you learn it, it becomes second nature.

The simplest method is to switch to Live View, zoom in on a bright star, and carefully adjust your focus ring until the star is as small and crisp as possible.

There are several other reliable techniques for achieving perfect focus at night, including methods that work even when no bright star is visible. We teach all of them in our workshops so you can lock in accurate focus quickly and confidently under any sky.
Save your settings: Once you have your Milky Way settings dialed in, save them to a custom mode so you can get back to them instantly in the field. On Canon, that means storing them in one of the C1 / C2 / C3 modes — something I use all the time on my R5 and R5 II.

Nikon bodies offer custom U1 / U2 / U3 modes on models like the Z-series, and Sony uses Memory Recall slots on the mode dial. No matter what system you shoot, saving your night-sky setup makes it far easier to get up and running quickly in the dark.

Milky Way rising through the opening of a natural cave in the Dragoon Mountains of southern Arizona, a site used by humans for centuries — **The Milky Way rising through the opening of a natural cave used by humans for centuries in the Dragoon Mountains of southern Arizona**

7. Taking It to the Next Level — The Three Shooting Methods

A) Single Exposure

Simple, one frame, NPF shutter, done.

B) Stacked Exposures

Stacking is about getting a cleaner sky without changing locations.

How to shoot: Lock your composition and capture 10–20 identical frames using the same settings (NPF shutter, same ISO, same aperture).
Why it works: Multiple exposures let you average out noise while keeping fine star detail. The more frames you shoot, the cleaner your sky will be — though beyond 20 offers little improvement.
Foreground strategy: If your 10–20 frames under a new moon don’t provide enough foreground light, capture one additional frame using Long Exposure Noise Reduction (LENR), light painting, or both.

C) Tracked Exposures

Use the Move Shoot Move tracker (code RGallucci – 5% off). When you’re ready to go deeper into the night sky and capture objects like Orion, Andromeda, or the Rosette Nebula, step up to the iOptron SkyGuider Pro or Sky-Watcher Star Adventurer. Because the tracker follows the stars, shoot your foreground first, then move to a flat, unobstructed horizon for the tracked sky. That’s exactly how we shoot a lot of our favorite locations — one clean foreground and one perfect Milky Way sky — and blend them later.

A rare field of somnolent wildflowers in the Chiricahua Mountains of Cochise County in southern Arizona — **A rare field of late-season wildflowers in the Chiricahua Mountains of Cochise County, southern Arizona**

  8. Putting It All Together
  Scout your location in advance.
Use PhotoPills or Planit Pro to check alignment and moon phase.
Save your plan.
Arrive before dark to compose.
Check the moon.
Capture a high-ISO test shot.
Shoot your single exposure or stacked series.
If tracking, shoot the foreground first, then the tracked sky.
Blend your sky and foreground in post.

9. The Darkest Skies of the 2026 Milky Way Season

To capture the Milky Way at its best, aim for nights around the new moon — when the moon does not rise above the horizon. These are your optimal dark-sky windows:

Month	New Moon	Best Dates to Shoot
March	18	16–20
April	17	15–19
May	16	14–18
June	14	12–16
July	14	12–16
August	12	10–14
September	10	8–12
October	10	8–12

Tip: Aim for nights around the new moon when the moon stays below the horizon.

📄 Download Milky Way 2026 Dark Sky Dates (PDF)

10. Recommended Gear Partners

Disclosure: Some of the links in this article are affiliate links. If you use them to make a purchase, I may earn a small commission — at no additional cost to you. These partnerships help support my workshops, tutorials, and field education programs.

These are the trusted brands and tools I use personally in the field and recommend to all my workshop participants. Each one has earned its place through real-world performance under the Arizona night sky.

Tripods: ProMediaGear — use code RGallucci for 10% off
Filters: Breakthrough Filters — use code RGallucci for 10% off
Trackers: Move Shoot Move — use code RGallucci for 5% off
Ballheads: Acratech Ballheads — use code RGallucci for 10% off
Bags: Gura Gear — the Kiboko 22L is my daily bag for everything — use code RGallucci for 10% off

Think Tank Photo — bags & rollers

Power / Accessories: Tether Tools — use code Robert10 for 10% off

Students from a recent Milky Way photography workshop along Erie Street in the hamlet of Lowell, Bisbee, Arizona — **Students from a recent workshop on Erie Street in the hamlet of Lowell, Bisbee, Arizona**

11. Join Me in Bisbee

Every year, I lead small-group Milky Way Photography Workshops in Bisbee, Arizona — under some of the darkest skies in the Southwest. You’ll learn how to plan, shoot, and process your own stunning Milky Way images over three unforgettable nights.

View Workshop