Let Me Plan Your Night Photography Shot!

Perfectly capture that once-in-a-lifetime opportunity!

March 8, 2024 is the cutoff date for April 8, 2024 Total Solar Eclipse plans!

Multi-Day, Multi-Plan Packages Available Below!

The Original Night Photography Planning Service

Got an epic idea for a night photography project that just HAS to be perfect?

Imagine

• The full moon rising from behind a beloved landmark

• The timeless Milky Way arching over an ancient Bronze Age stone circle

• The twinkling stars of Orion guarding a pristine wilderness lake deep inside a national park

• The kaleidoscopic Rho Ophiuchi molecular cloud complex emerging from behind a remote, alpine mountain peak

• Or YOUR CONCEPT Here!

Whatever the case may be, you know you don’t want to leave anything to chance - especially after working so hard to spend the time, money, and effort to get yourself and your camera to your chosen destination.

Your Night Photography Plan

Your solution is at hand! Put my decades of photography experience to work on your behalf and allow me to create your custom Night Photography Plan.

Initially conceived for my first book, “The Complete Guide to Landscape Astrophotography,” my Night Photography Plan planning service is now directly available to you for a unique, custom-designed experience.

Your custom Night Photography Plan gives you everything you need to be at the right place and the right time with the right lens and camera settings to get your shot right the first time.

There is Nothing Else Like it on the Market!

Your custom Night Photography Plan includes:

• Simulated view of the actual image you will capture

  • Created by the powerful Planit Pro: Photo Planner app

  • Based on the specific, local terrain of your chosen shooting location

  • Integrates all the elements of your plan: lens focal length, date, time & camera orientation

• Best shooting date for your project

• Time to start shooting, and the expected shooting duration

• A satellite map and a road map showing the camera location, the camera field-of-view, and your foreground subject & location.

• Precise camera location (clickable GPS coordinates included for navigation)

• Instructions for where to aim your camera

• Lens focal length (in mm) to best capture your chosen night sky subject

• Best camera settings (ISO, f-stop/aperture & shutter speed) for YOUR unique combination of lens focal length, specific night sky subject, and shooting location.

• Helpful night photography tips, including focusing & composing in the dark

• Night photography best practices and ways you can help protect our dark night skies

• Essential night photography gear suggestions

Two Custom Night Photography Plans Now Available for Purchase for the First Time

You have two options: the Trophy Night Photography Plan for $99/€93 or the Expert Night Photography Plan for $149/€139. Multi-day, multi-plan packages are also available and described below.

The Trophy Night Photography Plan includes all the information listed above.

The Expert Night Photography Plan includes everything in the Trophy Night Photography Plan PLUS:

• Two alternate dates/times (if possible), with separate simulated images (three total)

• Digital plan you can open and use with the Planit Pro: Photo Planner app

• A FREE bonus plan with the same shooting location, date & time for your choice of:

  • A time-lapse

  • Panorama

  • Star trails image

  • Moon sequence (if possible)

My 100% Satisfaction Guarantee covers both my Night Photography Plans. If you’re not happy, I don’t expect you to pay. You can request either a full refund with no questions asked or a second plan at no extra charge.

Night Photography Plan Feature Comparison

Order Your Custom Night Photography Plan Below!

Let Me Plan Your Whole Trip!

Are you heading out on a weekend getaway? Or perhaps a longer, multi-day expedition?

Let me plan your entire trip and save with the Weekend Getaway Night Photography Plan Package or the Expedition Night Photography Plan Package.

The Weekend Getaway Night Photography Plan Package ($599/€559) includes two Trophy Night Photography Plans and three Expert Night Photography Plans. You select the two dates, up to five night sky subjects and up to five foregrounds.

The Expedition Night Photography Plan Package ($1099/€1028) includes five Trophy Night Photography Plans and five Expert Night Photography Plans. You can choose from up to ten dates, ten night sky subjects and ten foregrounds!

Order Your Multi-Day, Multi-Plan Package Below

You Name It and I’ll Plan It!

Trophy Night Photography Plan Example: Milky Way Over Mt. Ritter

Example excerpt from a Trophy Night Photography Plan.

Here’s How It Works

1) Choose the Night Photography Plan you wish to purchase below and click on the “ADD TO CART” button for your selection.

2) A “Custom Night Shooting Plan Basic Information” form will appear (see example). Here’s where you provide the information needed to create your plan. Please fill out the form as best you can and click on its “ADD TO CART” button.

3) Next, make your payment, and you will receive a confirmation email.

4) Sit back, relax and wait for your Night Shooting Plan to arrive in your email inbox within seven days!

That’s it! If I have any questions or clarifications, I’ll contact you right away. In the meantime, start charging your camera batteries in preparation for your trophy shot!

The Lagoon Nebula peeks over the mountains in Death Valley National Park (left); simulated view from the Trophy Night Photography Plan (right).

Dr. Mike Shaw’s Night Photography Plan Foundations

Did you know? I helped create the integrated video tutorials in the Planit Pro: Photo Planner app in collaboration with its developers. You can access them simply by tapping on the “?” symbol in the lower-left corner of the Planit Pro app home screen. You can also preview a few of them HERE. Do you recognize my voice?

Coupled with:

• The wealth of astronomy, photography and planning information I’ve shared in my two books, “The Complete Guide to Landscape Astrophotography” & “Creative Nightscapes and Time-Lapses”

• Over a decade of experience with The Photographer’s Ephemeris, PhotoPills, Planit Pro: Photo Planner

• A lifetime spent exploring the world’s night skies with my camera

• My decade-plus experience leading night photography workshops

I can assure you that you are in good hands!

Both the Trophy Night Photography Plan and the Expert Night Photography plan synthesize the following sources of information for THE best opportunity to capture your dream shot:

• Moon phase

• Moon position above/below the horizon

• Night sky seasonality

• Nightly sky motion

• Night sky object angular dimensions

• Night sky object altitude

• Civil, nautical & astronomical twilight times

• Local latitude

• Exposure values (EV) for popular night sky subjects

• Local Bortle Scale for the degree of ambient skyglow from human-caused light sources

• Shooting direction compared with nearby urban light domes

The constellation Orion rises behind the North Window Arch in Arches National Park (left); simulated view from the Trophy Night Photography Plan (right).

Example Night Sky Subjects You Can Include in Your Plan:

·      Milky Way

·      Full moon

·      Crescent moon

·      Constellations / Asterisms; for example, The Big Dipper/Plough, Orion, the Fishhook in Scorpius, the Southern Cross or Perseus

·      Meteor showers, for example, the Perseids, Geminids or Leonids

·      Planets

·      Stars

·      Comets (when visible)

·      Novae (when visible)

·      Deep-sky objects (nebulae, galaxies, open/globular star clusters)

·      Lunar eclipse

·      Solar eclipse

Make sure you’re at the right place at the right time, with the right camera and lens to get your shot right the first time.

Satellite map showing the shooting location (blue pin) and foreground subject (red pin), along with the camera field of view (green fan), camera orientation (green line at the center of the fan), and Milky Way core azimuth (short green line within green fan). You will receive a similar satellite map with your Expert Night Photography Plan.

Want to Learn How to Do-It-Yourself?

Would you prefer to learn how to use the Planit Pro: Photo Planner app yourself? Click HERE to view dozens of my free video tutorials. They are the identical ones that are used within the app. I created them with the app developers to help simplify learning how to use Planit Pro: Photo Planner.

You can also click HERE to purchase my books, both with detailed instructions for creating your own Night Photography Plan, along with much more.

Zoom with Me!

Click below to schedule a private, 1-on-1 tutoring & strategy session with me on night photography planning with the Planit Pro: Photo Planner app, PhotoPills, The Photographer’s Ephemeris, and other tools. The cost is only $158/€147 for a two-hour session and includes a free, bonus Trophy Night Photography Plan.

I’ll teach you how to create your own Night Photography Plan, including live instructions and demonstrations for using the Planit Pro: Photo Planner app.

I guarantee you’ll be amazed by what you learn!

Go the extra mile to make sure your trip of a lifetime delivers the goods.

Order your Mike Shaw Photography Custom Night Photography plan(s) today!

The simulated view from the Trophy Night Photography Plan (left) of the March, 2020 Supermoon setting behind the State Capitol Building in St. Paul, Minnesota (right).

DISCLAIMER: All plans are offered as guidance only. Local restrictions may apply that block or limit access. Check with local authorities for questions regarding access and safety; be sure to confirm site availability before embarking on your trip. Respect private property. Some sites may require entry fees or photography permits. Weather and other natural phenomena are beyond the control of this planning process.