Night sky photography sits at a rare crossroads of craft and wonder. It asks for technical precision—focus in the dark, exposure math, patience with gear and nature—but it rewards us with something deeper: a slowed heartbeat, a sharpened sense of place, and a renewed relationship with the sky above us. This genre is gaining popularity in the photography community, and it is an exciting field where individuals can still distinguish themselves.
This workshop series will explore equipment requirements, planning steps, camera settings as well as post processing techniques for various topics: Night Landscapes, Moon, Milky Way, Star Trails, as well as Deep Sky Objects (nebulae and galaxies). Each session is a complete workshop, so feel free to register independently for each topic of interest.
If you own or are thinking about purchasing a D-SLR or mirrorless digital camera, and a wide angle lens this class is for you! The only requirement is that you have a general interest in photography, a camera that can operate in manual mode, and the willingness to explore imaging software on a computer.
This is a virtual 5-session workshop. A Zoom invitation will be sent prior to the start of each session.
Enjoy star gazing!
Bernhard Wunder- www.magiclens.net
Session 1: Thursday 5/28/2026, 6-8pm - Wonders of the Night Sky, Ideal Conditions, Terminology, Challenges
Session 2: Monday, 6/1/2026, 6-8pm - Equipment & Settings, Basic Processing Techniques
Session 3: Thursday, 6/4/2026, 6-8pm - Moon, Planets, & Star Trails Photography
Session 4: Monday, 6/8/2026, 6-8pm - Milky Way Photography
Session 5: Thursday, 6/11/2026, 6-8pm- Constellations & Deep Sky Objects, Planning your Night Shoot w/ PhotoPills
I was born and raised in the Franconia region of Germany. It’s landscape is not unlike Vermont’s rolling hills, forests and rivers. And this is where, at the age of 10, I started photography when I got my first camera. But education and my profession drew me further and further away until I ended up in Vermont by choice. I feel humbled and proud to call this state my home for over 20 years.
Travel and landscape photography have been my favorite subjects since the beginning. And over the years, I picked up macro and abstract photography as well as a passion for nightscapes.
My equipment and I have evolved (matured?) into the age of digital SLR, and now mirrorless photography. The digital workflow is a perfect fit for me. It not only gives full control of the whole process from composition to print or online publishing. But more importantly, the software tools available these days enable every creative freedom possible.
Photography is more to me than just preserving a memory. It is capturing an emotion, telling a story and expressing myself at the same time. Just as Don McCullin said, “Photography to me is not looking, it is feeling. If you can’t feel what you are looking at, then you’re never going to get others to feel anything when looking at your pictures”.
While classic, journalistic photography is all about capturing and presenting subjects as close to the reality as possible, my style has evolved towards what is called "photo-art". It is more about personal interpretations of the captured scene and ultimately an artistic vision. My post processing techniques are aimed to emphasize the mood and emotions at the time of exposure.
Bernhard Wunder
