We talked to Felix Heisig about how he takes photos stunning like these!
What’s your focus in astrophotography?
From autumn onwards I focus on deep sky imaging.
From spring onwards, when the center of the Milky Way can be seen again, I prefer to take Milky Way photos.
I also like to photograph our little son, or sometimes macro and animals.
“A lot of things are completely unplanned and spontaneous. You never know when you will be where and what the weather will be like.”
Where do you do your imaging?
I live in Ingelheim, which is near Frankfurt in Germany. Astrophotography is very difficult here because it is very bright.
I usually photograph deep sky from the garden and only with narrowband filters. It’s just too bright with Bortle 5.
How do you plan your shots?
Most of the Milky Way photos are taken on vacation when we are travelling in a motorhome.
A lot of things are completely unplanned and spontaneous. You never know when you will be where and what the weather will be like.
At home I try to implement more creative ideas, and then I go further out into the country.
The tools I like to use are:
What gear do you use?
Cameras
The main camera I use for landscape astrophotography is the Sony A7III.
I had this astro-modified by Julien Steeland from Astrolabservice.
I previously had the Sony A7S, which was also modified.
My camera for deep sky is the ZWO ASI183MM Pro.
Plus I use the ZWO ASI120MINI for guiding.
Lenses
I have a range of lenses, including:
- ZEISS Batis 18mm f/2.8
- Tokina 20mm f/2
- Sony FE 14mm f/1.8
- Canon EF 18-200mm f/3.5-5.6
- Sigma 40mm f/1.4
- Sony 90mm f/2.8 Macro
Telescopes
My telescopes are the:
Mounts
I have a number of Sky-Watcher mounts:
Plus I have these star trackers:
You can find more information about my gear listed on my website.
My wish list is still very long. There are still a lot of better telescopes, better astro cameras and lenses…😉
“One of the most beautiful moments I have experienced was in La Palma, at the top of the Roque de Los Muchachos.
At first it was cloudy and then the clouds disappeared and the stars appeared.
I never thought you could see the stars like that. You had the feeling you could touch them. You could even see the darkness. I won’t forget these moments.”
What post-processing do you do?
I use:
- Astro Pixel Processor (for stacking)
- Pixinsight
- Photoshop
For single Milky Way images I use Lightroom and then Photoshop.
What learning resources can you recommend?
- Katja Seidel’s book is a great read for beginners.
- Frank Sackenheim’s YouTube channel offers a lot of free knowledge when it comes to Deep Sky.
- I once wrote a book about editing Milky Way photos. It’s getting a bit old, but I still do a lot of things the same way today apart from a few new tools.
- There are also a few posts on my website. But since the site is new, I haven’t re-integrated everything yet.
What’s your favorite moment in astrophotography?
One of the most beautiful moments I have experienced was in La Palma, at the top of the Roque de Los Muchachos.
At first it was cloudy and then the clouds disappeared and the stars appeared.
I never thought you could see the stars like that. You had the feeling you could touch them. You could even see the darkness. I won’t forget these moments.
You can follow me on these channels:
- Facebook (this is where I am most active)
- My website
