Astrophotography - Engagement and Wedding Photography with the Milky Way

Milky Way engagement photography
THIS IS NOT PHOTOSHOPPED! Single Exposure with only edits in Lightroom.

Astrophotography is a specialized subset of photography that requires a deep understanding of equipment and other factors. We specialize in capturing our couples in front of the stars and the Milky Way. Wedding photography and engagement photography examples can be seen below.

Astrophotography for Wedding and Engagement Photography

Astrophotography is one of the hardest styles of photography to do well. It requires a specialized understanding of photography, including equipment, post-production, lighting (light-painting), and external factors (moon phases, position of the Milky Way, etc.). And doing it with a couple that are technically amateur models makes it even more interesting. We specialize in astrophotography and getting engagement and wedding photos with stars and the Milky Way. Check out the articles below for examples of astrophotography.

Capturing the Milky Way

Doing astrophotography with the Milky Way requires planning and preparation. It has to be timed for the correct time of the month (moon phases), timed for the correct time of the year (for a larger Milky Way core), and placed in a location that is decently sheltered from light pollution (a huge problem with the Los Angeles and Orange County metro areas). One of our points of pride is that all of the astrophotography images you see on our site are single exposures with no photoshop or compositing. You can see a dedicated page on just Milky Way photography here

Choosing a locaiton for Astrophotography

The largest consideration for choosing an astrphotography location is the proximity to light pollution. Being in Los Angeles is a major pain for capturing stars on a starry night, so it's common to have to drive at least 2-3 hours away to get a decent drop in light pollution. Some amazing locations for astrophotography that we've found include:

  • Joshua Tree National Park - Amazing rock formations and iconic Joshua trees
  • Mojave Desert - just outside of Barstow and offers desert landscapes
  • Death Valley - A far drive from Los Angeles, but very isolated and unique
  • Salton Sea - Another far drive, but has an almost alien, post-apocalyptic feel
  • Nelson, NV - a ghost town in Nevada that offers a variety of rustic props and backdrops
  • Moab, UT - very far, but home to Arches National Park
  • Sequoia National Park - has the largest trees in the world