Night Sky

Authors: Jennifer Wu & James Martin

Soft Cover, 176 Pages,

ISBN 978-1-59485-838-3

Publisher: Mountaineers Books 03/13/2014. $21.95

Media Kit available upon request to verified members of the media.

Amazon Print Edition: Available here

Amazon Kindle Edition: Available here

Photography: Night Sky will give you the tips and techniques you need to take stunning photographs in the dark. You’ll learn how to overcome the unique issues that confront nighttime photographers and capture images of which you’ll be proud.

Co-author Jennifer Wu, an elite Canon “Explorer of Light” professional photographer, has become renowned for her ability to capture nighttime phenomena, from quarter-phase moon rises to shooting stars to the ephemeral Milky Way. This new guide reveals her methods and concentrates on photographing principal subjects: Stars as Points of Light, Milky Way, Star Trails, The Moon, Twilight and Celestial Phenomena.These subjects share common photo techniques and considerations, but each also requires a distinct approach. Once captured, your digital images must be finished on the computer. Using Adobe Photoshop and Lightroom, Jennifer delves into the settings and procedures that elevate an image from mundane to striking.

This clear and practical guide will help photographers of advanced beginning and intermediate levels. It is for photographers looking to expand their skills into night photography using a modern DSLR camera. It does not cover astro photography or using a tracking devise and assumes that the photographer know the basics of manual settings including f-stops and shutter speeds. This book guides photographers to portray the stunning spectacle of the night sky, preserving those special memories and moments from a life outdoors.

Here Jennifer Wu explains how she captured the amazing photo for her book cover!

“I wanted to photograph meteors from Olmstead Point in Yosemite, high in the mountains, for more stars in the sky and a good view down a canyon to Half Dome. The image on the cover of the book was photographed on August 12, 2010, at the peak of the Perseid meteor shower. The showers are visible annually from mid-July through the peak, around August 12 and 13 every year. The best viewing is in the morning hours, before it becomes too bright to see them, but they are visible all night.

I had photographed the Perseids for a few days the previous year, and while I had some meteor shots, I didn’t get the big one I was hoping for. There were two really big meteors those nights, but I was pointing the camera in a different direction or changing a lens. For this image, I headed out to photograph the meteor shower, and stayed up all night for several nights in a row. For two nights until dawn, I was at Olmstead Point in Yosemite National Park. I set up two cameras pointing in different directions with the intervalometer set to a 2-second interval for continuous photographing. The night I photographed this, a friend called me while I was taking this shot. We were both watching the meteors and both of us saw a really large meteor at the same time and “Wow!” It was one of three really bright meteors that I saw for the whole event, and this time I was pointing the camera in the direction of the meteor. When I went to look at the image on the back of the camera, I screamed “I got it!” I was so excited, as I had wanted this for so long!”

And for a taste of what’s to be expected, check out these amazing photos from Jennifer!

Photography Night Sky

A Field Guide to Shooting After Dark