AuntieM Loc: Eastern NC

I will be traveling in the western US next year, and want to take some timed star shots. I have seen photos that capture the Milky Way and would like to take similar shots. I think I will be in some areas that have enough darkness to do this, and have a "cable" release and tripod. I know I need to have the moon in the correct phase, in order not to have the darkest sky possible, but only being able to travel during specific weeks of the year, I am subject to the moon's phases as they are. I don't care for the photos that have star trails, and want to depict just what I see. I have a Sony A2 camera with a stock 3.5-5.6/18-70 lens, and Minolta 45 mm and 75-300 lenses. Any tips out there for ISO, exposure time, aperature settings, etc. that I should try using?

jdk_outdoorphoto

Though I really haven't experimented with this kind of night photography yet, from my experiments with longer exposures at night, I would recommend a rather short exposure which will probably require a higher ISO to bring out the most starts with the short exposure. The longer the exposure, the more star trails you will see. I would probably recommend 800 or greater ISO with 1/50 sec down toward 1/400 sec. For the greatest depth of field, set your aperture as small as possible. I would mainly focus on adjusting the shutter speed and ISO and leave the aperture small, and with fast shutter speeds, you shouldn't have much trouble experimenting with them. I do know that exposures greater than a second to a few seconds will produce star streaks.

pigpen

This is what I do about the moon.

Google moonrise/moonset. You will find a link to various U.S. naval websites that tell you everything. Type in the date and town and/or zip. Sometimes even a full moon will set at 2 a.m., or not rise until midnight. Find out when and go shoot.

I found the site, try: http:/aa.usno.navy.mil/data/docs/RS_OneDay.php

RocketScientist Loc: Littleton, Colorado

The 600 rule applies here for shutter time.
600/Focal Length = max shutter open time while avoiding trails.
That equation is for 35mm full frame, so if you have my camera (Canon 10D and Rebel XT) or similar sensor size (APS-C I think) the true focal length is lens mm * 1.6. So I go with 600/(Xmm*1.6). Consequently, my Tamron set at 15mm is really 24mm for this equation.
600/24=25 seconds. Now you can go with a bit slower ISO and it will be less grainy.

There's my 2 cents. If only I had a decent place I could get to for proving it.

Mikey...

Donaldaq

To get great star photos you'll need a piggyback system on a telescope that can track a guide star while the camera shutter is open for an extended period. This is something that you may not want to spend money on or haul around over great distances.

RocketScientist Loc: Littleton, Colorado

If you're using a wide lens to get a reference point, like a skyline of the forest or mountain range, you don't want to move the camera.

Then work the heck out of it in Photoshop like this guy is doing: http://www.digital-photography-school.com/how-to-shoot-the-night-sky-introduction-to-astrophotography

AuntieM Loc: Eastern NC

Thanks to all of you who replied to my question. I can hardly wait to try things out.