This tutorial is a perfect follow-up to a lesson we posted this morning, explaining how to capture stunning photos of the nighttime sky. Whether you’re photographing nightscapes or other low-light scenes, high ISO settings and the possibility of noisy images is something you have to confront.

This video is the final installment in a series from photographer James Vooght, describing the various aspects of shooting landscape images at high ISOs. His goal is to help you work with these situations rather than against them, and Vooght covers all the basics in barely seven minutes.

Vooght provides several helpful tools and tips, discusses the concept of noise, and reveals what form of these ugly artifacts you’re likely to encounter in various situations. He says that the processing methods you’ll learn today, “are the techniques I use to mitigate noise within my photos.” You can take advantage of this workflow in conjunction with other tutorials in this series that you’ll find on Vooght’s YouTube channel.

There are two types of noise central to this lesson: luminance noise and color noise. A basic understanding of the difference makes it easy to follow the editing tips that that follow. According to Vooght, “both types have their own unique properties that are dealt with in much different ways.”

Before beginning an edit it’s essential to carefully evaluate the noise level within the photo at hand. Vooght explains the procedure for doing this, which begins by zooming in on the photo. And here’s an important warning: stop enlarging the shot as soon as noise becomes clearly visible. That’s because, “if you zoom in too far, and try to correct noise at a much higher level, you may encounter so much pixilation that it simply can’t be corrected.”

Photoshop provides  number of Camera Raw options for eliminating, or at least reducing, noise in your images and Vooght explains what they are and how to use them. One only requires a single click of the of the AI Noise Reduction feature that’s located within the Details panel, but there are other ways to get the job done without trusting artificial intelligence to do a perfect job.

The last tool discussed is the Reduce Noise filter that’s aptly found within the Filter section. Here you’ll be presented with four simple sliders for cleaning up the shot. As you’ll see, there’s also an advanced option where you can make adjustments to noise based upon an RGB channel breakdown of the image.

There’s much more to learn on Vooght’s instructional YouTube channel where you can also watch earlier episodes in this series.

And don’t forget to check out the tutorial we mentioned above, with a beginners guide to nightscape photography.

Are you one of those photographers who only shoots during the day? If so, you’re missing out on a wide range of amazing photo opportunities, from sparkling cityscapes and dramatic light trails, to moon shots and much more.

Today’s video from the B&H Photo Video YouTube channel is a quick beginners guide to nightscape photography—a genre that’s responsible for some of the most epic images captured after the sun drops below the horizon. The goal is to overcome a popular misconception that only very experienced shooters with expensive equipment can get the job done.

Mike Shaw is an astrophotography photography expert, a highly respected author, and popular educator with a passionate goal: “My mission is to help you create incredible images of the night sky.” And that’s exactly what is does in this episode that’s suitable for amateurs and experienced photographers alike.

In less than eight minutes Shaw covers all the basics from shooting techniques, camera settings, and the necessary gear. You’ll also learn why focusing at night requires a different approach than you use during the day, and “how to slay that high ISO dragon once and for all.”

Shaw begins with the challenge of focusing at night. Simply put, ” the autofocus feature of your camera just doesn’t work very well.” So if you want to focus on a bright star or planet, his advice is this: put your camera in Manual focus mode, enable Live View, and use the camera’s rear LCD to locate a bright star.

Next, enlarge this subject using your screen’s magnification feature on your screen and then follow the simple tips Shaw provides. He then moves on to a discussion of the equipment you’ll need, concentrating on using a lens with the right focal length. You’ll also pick up some solid advice for selecting an appropriate tripod and properly putting it to use.

Shaw also has several great tips for planning and preparation. Or as he says, “designing your shot before leaving home, so you know exactly what to expect and when to be at the right place at the right time to get the shot right.”

The video concludes with a topic that’s critical to all forms of low-light photography; namely, solving the demons of shooting at high ISO settings like ISO 6,400 and higher. After watching the video you’ll likely be inspired to get out there after dark and give nightscape photography a try. Be sure to visit Shaw’s Instagram page where can view his spectacular imagery.

We also recommend watching the tutorial we posted recently from another top pro who explains a foolproof method for eliminating unnatural color casts from the photographs you capture outdoors—including images of starlit skies.

Our review of the Nikon Z 135mm f/1.8 S Plena is fully updated! This review was a collaboration between Libor Vaicenbacher, Spencer Cox, and Nasim Mansurov. Today’s update not only includes lab tests, but also a head-to-head shootout between four of Nikon’s top Z-series portrait lenses.

Nikon just announced a major firmware update for the Nikon Z8, bringing it some highly-anticipated features from the Z9 and Zf cameras. The headlining features are a dedicated bird-detection autofocus option, the addition of Auto Capture (borrowed from the Z9) and a Pixel Shift shooting mode that allows capture up to 180 megapixels (borrowed from the Zf). There are also a variety of smaller things added in Version 2.0, including more custom options when assigning buttons, a new “Rich Tone Portrait” Picture Control, and additional shutter sounds.