Every secret of Milky Way photography · in one guide

Capture the Milky Way
From first shot to final edit

Learn how to capture the Milky Way in full detail using nothing more than a DSLR or mirrorless camera, a wide lens, and a tripod. No telescope. No star tracker. No expensive gear.

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Any DSLR or mirrorless No tracker needed Total beginners welcome
Capture the Milky Way — the complete guide
See what's inside
Sound familiar?

99% of beginners hit the same wall: the Milky Way looks impossible to shoot.

Before you ever get a photo you're proud of, the obstacles pile up.

A photographer checking the histogram on the back of their camera in the dark
2 a.m., third attempt, and still no idea which setting is wrong.
  • ➤You don't know whether your current gear is good enough — and you don't want to spend a thousand dollars just to find out.
  • ➤You've watched hours of YouTube videos, and every one of them contradicts the last. You're more confused now than when you started.
  • ➤Aperture, ISO, shutter speed, focus — too many settings, and no idea which one is ruining the shot.
  • ➤You've already tried. You came home with frames that were blurry, black, or so noisy they were unusable.

Good news: every one of these problems is completely normal.

And more importantly, every one of them is avoidable — as soon as you follow a clear, step-by-step method instead of collecting scattered tips.

What it actually looks like

It's far simpler than it looks.

Picture a warm night in July.

Not a cloud in the sky. The Moon has already set. You drove forty minutes to get away from the city lights, and above you the sky is dense with stars.

Your tripod is set up. You know exactly which settings to dial in, because you went through the field checklist included with the guide before you left the house. Focus takes you sixty seconds — the technique works every time now.

You take your first series of frames. The galactic core rises right where you expected it, because you planned the night instead of hoping.

No telescope. No heavy mount. A camera, a wide lens, a tripod — and a method you follow step by step, without overthinking it.

You drive home with the part most beginners dread still ahead of you: the editing. Except for you it's straightforward. You open the processing chapter and follow it slider by slider, like following a recipe, and watch the dust lanes and color come out of a file that looked gray an hour ago.

An hour later your photo is finished. Ready to print, to frame, or to post — whatever you want to do with it.

The Milky Way arching over a dark landscape

Ready to get started?

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Same camera. Same sky.

The only thing that changed is the method.

Milky Way photo before applying the method — flat and gray The same Milky Way photo after applying the method in the guide BeforeAfter

Drag the slider.

Both frames shot with simple, accessible gear: a Canon 6D, a 14 mm f/2.8 lens and a tripod. Nothing else.

Shot with the method

Some photos I've made.

Milky Way photograph by Arthur Debons
Milky Way photograph by Arthur Debons
Milky Way photograph by Arthur Debons
Milky Way photograph by Arthur Debons
Milky Way photograph by Arthur Debons
Milky Way photograph by Arthur Debons

All of them with the same simple setup. No telescope, no equatorial mount.

Real results

Shot by people who read the guide.

Every one of them started from scratch.

Milky Way photo by Sébastien, a reader of the guide
Sébastien
Milky Way photo by Nathan, a reader of the guide
Nathan
Milky Way photo by Jacques, a reader of the guide
Jacques
Milky Way photo by Jason, a reader of the guide
Jason
Milky Way photo by Yong, a reader of the guide
Yong
Milky Way photo by Daniel, a reader of the guide
Daniel
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Inside the guide

Here's what you're going to discover.

Camera gear for Milky Way photography

How to choose your gear

Which cameras and lenses actually gather enough light, what's worth buying second-hand, and the three accessories that matter. You'll know in ten minutes whether the gear already in your bag is enough — it usually is.

Camera settings dialled in at night

How to set up your camera

Manual mode, demystified: aperture, ISO and shutter speed, the longest exposure your lens allows before stars trail, and the focus routine that works every time in total darkness. This is the chapter that turns blurry frames into sharp ones.

The Milky Way core rising over a landscape

Finding your bearings in the sky

When the Milky Way is visible, where the galactic core rises, which moon phases to shoot and which to skip, and how to read a light-pollution map so you drive to a sky that's actually dark. Both hemispheres covered.

Editing a Milky Way photo on screen

Processing your images

The complete editing workflow, slider by slider, in the order that matters — pulling out the dust lanes and color while keeping the sky natural. Shown in Lightroom and Photoshop, with the free Darktable and GIMP equivalents.

Included free 🎁

+ 6 bonuses to get you started.

Everything below comes with the guide, at no extra cost.

The printable field checklist
Bonus #1 · Printable

The field checklist

One page with everything that matters: what to pack, your settings, the focus routine, the order of operations once you're on site. Print it, fold it, keep it in the bag — no screen glare at 2 a.m.

✅ Included
The guide to 10 beginner mistakes
Bonus #2 · Guide

10 beginner mistakes to avoid

A short, blunt PDF listing the errors almost every beginner makes — and exactly how to sidestep each one, so you don't lose two years figuring it out the hard way.

✅ Included
The astro video course
Bonus #3 · Video course

Astro video course

An introduction to deep-sky astrophotography: nebulae and galaxies, the targets that lie beyond the Milky Way. What the discipline involves, how it differs from a night under the galactic core, and what you'd need to try it. An overview to help you decide whether it's your next step — nothing in the guide itself requires it.

✅ Included
The circumpolar video course
Bonus #4 · Video course

Circumpolar course

Turn a rotating sky into concentric arcs around the pole star. Planning, in-camera settings, stacking and the editing pass — including what to do when a cloud ruins frame 300.

✅ Included
The Moon photography guide
Bonus #5 · Guide

Moon photography guide

The nights the Moon is too bright for the Milky Way become your best nights for something else. Crisp lunar detail with your basic gear, in three simple steps.

✅ Included
The RAW practice pack
Bonus #6 · Files

RAW practice pack

Real RAW files from my own sessions. Follow the processing chapter click by click on the same images I used, so you learn the whole workflow before you risk your own photos.

✅ Included
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Arthur Debons, astrophotographer
About the author

Hello!

I haven't introduced myself yet, so here's what matters:

My name is Arthur Debons. I started the blog fais-de-la-photo.fr in 2018 to teach the basics of astrophotography, and I've been shooting the night sky ever since.

My own first Milky Way attempts were a gray smear over a black field, and I had no idea which of the fifty things I was doing wrong. What finally fixed it wasn't a better camera — it was having an order: what to decide before leaving the house, what to do on site, what to do on the computer.

After sharing that method with more than 7,200 subscribers, I put all of it into this guide — so you can skip the two years I spent getting there.

Arthur DebonsAstrophotographer · how2astrophoto.com

Ready to start? Capture the Milky Way — the complete guide

Capture the Milky Way
The Complete Bundle

$199$19Save 90%
  • Capture the Milky Way — the complete guide, 70+ pages (PDF)
  • The field checklist — everything essential on one printable page
  • 10 beginner mistakes to avoid
  • Astro video course — an introduction to deep-sky astrophotography
  • Circumpolar video course
  • Moon photography guide
  • RAW practice pack — real files from my own sessions to edit along with me
  • Lifetime access — every future update included
Get the bundle $19 →
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Straight answer

Why $19 and not $199?

The Complete Bundle is normally $199. That's what's in it: the full guide, every bonus PDF, and two video courses.

But for the launch period, you can get the whole thing for $19.

The reason is simple. This guide is brand new, and I want it in as many hands as possible, as fast as possible — because the readers who get results from it are the ones who tell other people about it. Right now that's worth more to me than the margin.

This price won't last. Once the launch period ends it goes back to $199 — so if you're reading this now, this is the moment.
90-day money-back guarantee

Read it, take it out under a real sky, run the edit. If you're not completely satisfied with your results, email me within 90 days and you get a 100% refund — no form to fill in, no explanation needed. You keep the bonuses either way. The risk is mine, not yours.

You've got questions

We have answers.

What exactly will the guide teach me?
A complete, step-by-step method for photographing the Milky Way with a DSLR or mirrorless camera, a wide lens and a tripod. You'll learn how to pick the right gear for your budget, plan the night, set the camera up correctly in the field, nail focus in the dark, and process the images afterwards using either paid or completely free software.
How long before I get my first real photo?
If you're motivated, within your first week — it depends almost entirely on the weather and on whether you already own the gear. Once you're set up and the sky is clear, you'll get your photo in a single evening. The method is short and designed to be followed on site.
Is this doable for a complete beginner?
The guide is built for beginners. If you're starting from zero, you'll find every explanation you need to understand the basics and take your first photos on your own. The only assumption is that you can put your camera in manual mode and press the shutter.
Do I need an expensive camera?
No. Any camera that lets you set aperture, ISO and shutter speed manually and shoot RAW will work — including entry-level bodies that are ten years old. The photos on this page were shot on a Canon 6D with a 14 mm f/2.8. Chapter 1 is honest about what actually helps and what's a waste of money.
Do I need a star tracker or a mount?
No. Everything in the guide is shot on a plain tripod. Trackers come up as an optional way to push further once you have the fundamentals, but nothing in the core method requires one.
Will this work with my phone, or a bridge camera?
Honestly, no — not for the results shown on this page. You need manual control, a RAW file and a tripod. A mirrorless or DSLR body works perfectly; a bridge camera or a phone won't get you there.
I've never used Lightroom or Photoshop. Is that a problem?
Not at all — the processing chapter walks you through every step in order, assuming zero prior experience. And every step is also shown in Darktable and GIMP, which are free. You won't be stuck behind a subscription.
Does it work in the Southern Hemisphere?
Yes. Milky Way season, core position and the planning chapter cover both hemispheres — and if you're in the south, your view of the galactic core is better than mine.
How do I get the guide?
The download link lands in your inbox within seconds of checkout. The guide is a PDF you can read on a phone, tablet, computer or printed on paper, and the video bonuses are available in your account. Lifetime access — it's yours to keep.
How does the guarantee work?
You have 90 days to test the methods and decide whether your photos satisfy you. If they don't, just email arthur@how2astrophoto.com and you're refunded immediately. No form, no explanation required.
Get the guide and bonuses $19 →
Join 7,200+ photographers who follow my work

Capture the Milky Way
The Complete Bundle

$199$19

You get now

  • Capture the Milky Way — the 70+ page guide
  • Astro video course
  • Circumpolar video course
  • The field checklist
  • 10 beginner mistakes to avoid
  • RAW practice pack
  • Moon photography guide
  • Lifetime access and future updates
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