For this month’s Instagram Spotlight, we caught up with astrophotographer Paul Harrison. Originally from Lancashire and now based in Perth, Western Australia, Paul combines a lifelong passion for photography with a background in geology and geophysics to capture striking images of the night sky.
Read on to discover the techniques behind his award-winning work, the challenges he’s faced, and his advice for anyone inspired to try astrophotography themselves.
LP: Can you tell us a bit about yourself — what first drew you to photography, and how did you come to specialise in astrophotography and night photography?
PH: I’m originally from Lancashire in the United Kingdom but currently living in Perth, Western Australia. I’ve always had an interest in photography; my first camera was a second-hand Kodak Retinette, and I subsequently moved onto Pentax film cameras.
Until university, I was pretty keen on photography, but then working life got in the way and I was content to take “record shots” of people and places. I’ve got a scientific background in geology and geophysics and have been very fortunate to live and work across many areas of the world over the last 30+ years.
I started to get really interested in astrophotography in 2018 after doing a workshop in the Kimberley Region with Ben Broady. In the last few years, I’ve been transitioning to retirement and have had more time to really develop my skills.
Star Trails around the southern celestial pole above a dried out salt lake in the Wheatbelt of Western Australia
LP: Do you have a favourite location for your night-sky photography? What makes it special?
PH: I was taught by the late, great Dale Sharpe that the Milky Way should be the icing on the cake to any astro-landscape photo. I’m always on the lookout for great foregrounds in dark sky locations that will line up with elements of the night sky. My most recent trip was down to the Margaret River area in southwest Western Australia to photograph the setting Milky Way above a huge offshore rock formation called Sugarloaf Rock. The bay is full of interesting ancient granite rocks which make for great foreground subjects. I’d had to wait a couple of years for the weather, the night sky, and my availability to come together, so it made for a great couple of nights out under the stars.
Closer to home, there are a series of salt lakes due east of Perth which dry out in the summer, and the salt forms these amazing polygonal structures. Combined with the superb dark skies, these make for really interesting places to shoot.
In 2024, my wife and I did a self-planned two-week photo tour of parts of the South Island of New Zealand. Despite it being the middle of winter, we got several nights of clear skies and some memorable astrophotography locations. Shooting the setting Milky Way across Mitre Peak and Milford Sound was an absolute bucket-list tick for me, even though it meant getting up at 2 AM and spending two hours shooting in sub-zero temperatures.
The Milky Way arch setting above Sugar Loaf Rock, Cape Naturalist, Western Australia. The rugged granite coastline makes for a dramatic foreground.
LP: What are some of the biggest challenges you face when photographing the night sky, and how do you overcome them?
PH: For many people throughout the world, light pollution is the single biggest challenge to photographing the night sky. It has been estimated that around 80% of the population of the USA and over 30% of the rest of the world can no longer see the stars due to light pollution.
Western Australia has some of the best dark skies on the planet, so I have access to many locations within a couple of hours’ drive away from the city lights of Perth. I’m not a natural “night owl,” so it can take some motivation to get out and shoot—especially in the winter when it can get very cold out in the field. Good clothing, a warm hat, gloves, warm food, hot tea, and an ample supply of TimTam chocolate biscuits all help!
These days, it is impossible to take a night image without several satellite trails being recorded in the shot. Stacking multiple images not only increases the signal-to-noise ratio of the data but also does a great job of removing the satellites from the final image.
LP: What is your go-to camera, lenses, and software or apps when shooting the night sky and is there lots of post-production work involved?
PH: I initially started shooting astro using a Canon 5DMKiv, but in 2021 I won the top award in the West Australian Astrofest Astrophotography competition, and the prize was a Sony A7iii with the 24mm f/1.4 GM lens. Since then, I’ve shot exclusively on Sony for my astrophotography as the ISO-invariance of the sensors allows for a significant improvement in the quality of my night shots.
Early in 2024, I had one of my Sony A7iii bodies modified to allow me to record hydrogen alpha (HA) light wavelengths. This allows me to use an Astronomik 12nm HA clip-in filter to image some of the vast clouds of ionised hydrogen which are scattered through the night sky, adding an additional complexity to the night sky images.
For the kinds of wide-field astro images I shoot, the best lenses are fast primes: I use the Sony 14mm f/1.8, the Sony 24mm f/1.4, and the Tamron 35mm f/1.4. Even with these wide-angle lenses, I still often end up shooting horizontal or vertical panoramas to get all of the scene into the final image.
For planning an astro shoot, I use the PhotoPills App to determine the phases of the moon, the moonrise and set times, and the orientation and angle of the Milky Way throughout the night. I also use Stellarium to determine where some of the more interesting HA clusters will be in the night sky whilst I’m shooting. The Windy App is my go-to for determining the likely cloud cover, dew point, and overnight temperatures.
In post-processing, I usually stack multiple images to improve the signal-to-noise ratio of each frame, and I use a software package called Sequator for this. I then take the stacked frames into Affinity Photo 2, where I do the stitching of the panoramas and all the post-processing.
I’ve recently started using a plugin called StarXterminator to separate the bright stars from the dim background nebulosity. This allows for more detail to be recovered from the vast dust clouds and HA regions that are present in the night sky. Affinity Photo has some excellent support and tools specifically for astrophotography.
Post-production does take quite a bit of time; some of the large panoramas can have over 250 individual shots to be stacked and incorporated.
LP: What advice would you give to someone just starting out in astrophotography or night photography?
PH: If you are starting out in astrophotography, I’d recommend joining a workshop or finding a couple of like-minded friends to go out and shoot with. Being with a group really improves the motivation to get out and has obvious safety benefits as well if something goes wrong.
Get out and give it a go! Most modern cameras (and even some phones) will give you a decent image of the night sky. Use the kit that you already have until you are sure that this is an area of photography that you want to get further into. You will need a tripod, a good head torch, and a wide-angle lens – the faster the better, but you will still get results with an f/4 lens; don’t be afraid to push the ISO a bit.
Use social media to find suitable dark sky locations close to where you live and check the phase of the moon – it’s best to shoot around the new moon or before the moon rises. An app like PhotoPills will show you where the Milky Way is going to be in the night sky.
There are some great channels on YouTube that share practical advice; Alyn Wallace is sadly no longer with us, but his channel lives on here and this would be my recommendation as a starting location. I always post my shot settings on my Instagram posts, so you can always check there for a starting suggestion.
Finally, learn to operate your camera in the dark – this will preserve your night vision and also means that you don’t need to keep switching on your head torch, which can disturb others who may also be shooting.
We hoped you enjoyed learning about Astrophotography with Paul. For more content updates from Paul, you can find his Astro collection here and his Instagram here.
