Jamie Carter

Jamie Carter

Astrophotography expert

Jamie has been writing about all aspects of technology for over 14 years, producing content for sites like TechRadar, T3, Forbes, Mashable, MSN, South China Morning Post, and BBC Wildlife, BBC Focus and BBC Sky At Night magazines. 

As the editor for www.WhenIsTheNextEclipse.com, he has a wealth of enthusiasm and expertise for all things astrophotography, from capturing the Perseid Meteor Shower, lunar eclipses and ring of fire eclipses, photographing the moon and blood moon and more.

He also brings a great deal of knowledge on action cameras, 360 cameras, AI cameras, camera backpacks, telescopes, gimbals, tripods and all manner of photography equipment. 

Latest articles by Jamie Carter

A full supermoon rises over Kamloops, British Columbia, Canada

How to photograph the ‘Snow Moon’ full moon tonight

By Jamie Carter last updated

Tutorial Tips for getting great pictures of the full moon in 2025

Tutorial
Milky Way across Uyuni salt flats, Bolivia

Astrophotography in February 2025: what to shoot in the night sky this coming month

By Jamie Carter published

astrophotography Everything you need to know about what’s happening in the night sky this month.

astrophotography
Man using a spotting scope tripod

The best spotting scope tripods in 2025

By Jamie Carter last updated

Updated The best tripods for spotting scopes are lightweight and portable yet offer both stability and versatility

Updated
Best solar eclipse binoculars

Best solar eclipse binoculars in 2025

By Jamie Carter last updated

buying guide With two major solar eclipses coming up in North America, and Europe seeing one almost every year this decade, it’s time to get a eclipse close-up with the best solar binoculars

buying guide

10 must-shoot events for astrophotographers in 2025

By Jamie Carter published

astrophotography From Northern Lights to total lunar eclipses, these are the 10 events astrophotographers should shoot this year

astrophotography
Saturn occults the Moon

Astrophotography in January 2025: what to shoot in the night sky this coming month

By Jamie Carter published

astrophotography Everything you need to know about what’s happening in the night sky this month.

astrophotography
Easter Island

My 7 top tips for planning the perfect photography trip to Easter Island

By Jamie Carter published

Locations Advice for capturing the magical moai, dramatic coastlines and stunning night skies above the world’s most remote island

Locations
The Geminid meteor shower on December 13, 2020 was photographed in the Kubuqi Desert of Inner Mongolia, China, on a very cold night of minus 20 degrees

Geminid meteor shower 2024 reaches its photography peak tonight!

By Jamie Carter last updated

Tutorial Everything you need to know for photographing the Geminid meteor shower in December 2024

Tutorial
Astrophotographer at night on a clifftop with camera pointing towards the sea and the Milky Way

The best camera for astrophotography: tools and lenses to shoot night skies

By Jamie Carter last updated

UPDATED Shoot the stars with the best camera for astrophotography (and the right lenses, star tracker and other tools)

UPDATED
The conjunction of the waning crescent moon with Venus as they were rising low in the northeast dawn sky in southern Alberta, Canada. Earthshine is visible on the dark side of the moon. The sky exhibits the wonderful transition of colours from the orange at the horizon through the spectrum to the blues at top

Astrophotography in December 2024: what to shoot in the night sky this coming month

By Jamie Carter published

astrophotography Everything you need to know about what’s happening in the night sky this month.

astrophotography
Skywatcher 80mm telescope, a QHY269M monochrome camera and a seven position filter wheel containg Red, Green, Blue, Hydrogen Alpha, Oxygen III and Sulphur II filters. Tracking was done using an iOptron CEM70G mount and PHD2 guiding software. It was entirely processed using PixInsight.

Astrophotography in November 2024: what to shoot in the night sky this coming month

By Jamie Carter published

astrophotography Everything you need to know about what’s happening in the night sky this month.

astrophotography
Silhouetted figure using the best telescopes for astrophotography to study the night sky

The best telescopes for astrophotography and stargazing

By Gemma Lavender last updated

Buyers' guide Study or shoot the cosmos close up, with the best telescopes for astrophotography and stargazing.

Buyers' guide
BlackRapid Double Breathe Dual Camera Harness Strap

The best camera harness

By Jamie Carter last updated

Updated Protect your neck, back and shoulders from pain, with the best camera harnesses for outdoor shoots

Updated
Comet C/2022 E3 (ZTF) over the road in the mountains at nigh

Astrophotography in October 2024: what to shoot in the night sky this coming month

By Jamie Carter published

astrophotography Everything you need to know about what’s happening in the night sky this month.

astrophotography
BeaverLAB Finder TW2 telescope on a tripod with some blurred green plants int he background

BeaverLAB Finder TW2 telescope review: this all-in-one astrophotography rig is not what it seems

By Jamie Carter published

Review A poor build quality and a basic camera makes this telescope anything but smart

Review
GoPro Hero13

GoPro Subscription explained: what do you get, and is it worth it?

By Jamie Carter last updated

UPDATED Is a GoPro Subscription value for money? We explain the ins and outs of the service, and whether it’s right for you

UPDATED
Unistellar Vivid Color launch at IFA

Unistellar upgrades smart telescopes to show the true colors of the universe

By Jamie Carter published

News Smart telescope maker announces Vivid Vision tech will add detail, color, and authenticity to deep-sky objects

News
Northern lights over alone tree in night scene, songkhla, Thailand

Astrophotography in September 2024: what to shoot in the night sky this coming month

By Jamie Carter published

astrophotography Everything you need to know about what’s happening in the night sky this month.

astrophotography
Unistellar Odyssey telescope outside

Unistellar Odyssey review: this smart telescope replaces an eyepiece with a camera sensor for exquisite urban astrophotography

By Jamie Carter published

Review A compact and relatively affordable serious, smart telescope with high-end features.

Review
Perseid meteor shower

How to photograph the stunning Perseid meteor shower

By Jamie Carter last updated

LEARN Everything you need to know for photographing the Perseids – which promises to be the best meteor shower in 2024

LEARN
A meteor from the 2016 Perseid meteor shower streaks across the night sky above some pine trees in the Cleveland National Forest. Mount Laguna, San Diego County, California. USA

Astrophotography in August 2024: what to shoot in the night sky this coming month

By Jamie Carter published

astrophotography Everything you need to know about what’s happening in the night sky this month.

astrophotography
Milkyway from Segara Anak, Lombok, Indonesia

Astrophotography in July 2024: what to shoot in the night sky this month

By Jamie Carter published

astrophotography Everything you need to know about what’s happening in the night sky this month.

astrophotography
Best smart telescope - a couple use the Vaonis Stellina to view the night sky via an iPad

The best smart telescopes: view the night sky via the screen of your phone or tablet

By Jamie Carter last updated

buying guide The best smart telescopes make it easy to observe and photograph faint deep sky objects even from cities

buying guide
Unistellar Odyssey Pro telescope on a tripod outside on a tiled floor

Unistellar Odyssey Pro review: rip through light pollution and make deep-sky and solar system astrophotography easy

By Jamie Carter published

Review Smaller, more affordable, and easier to use than other smart telescopes, this travel-friendly addition adds solar system imaging and a Nikon eyepiece

Review
A time-sequence composite of the August 21, 2017 total solar eclipse. In this case, time runs from left to right, from the last filtered partial phases I shot, through unfiltered shots of the rapidly changing last glimmer of sunlight disappearing behind the advancing Moon at Second Contact, forming Baily’s Beads, to totality at centre. The sequence continues at right with the Sun emerging from behind the Moon in a rapid sequence at Third Contact, followed by two post-totality filtered partials to bookend the total eclipse images. The C3 limb had a beautiful array of pink prominences. The Contact 2 and 3 images were taken in rapid-fire continuous mode and so are only fractions of a second apart in real time. Most are 1/4000th second exposures. The totality image is a blend of 7 exposures, from 1/1600 second to 1/15 second to preserve detail in the corona from inner to middle corona. These were aligned, and merged into a smart object and blended with a Mean combine stack mode. The partials are 1/2500-second exposures through a Thousand Oaks metal-on-glass solar filter for the yellow colour. The placement of the frames here only roughly matches the actual position and motion of the Sun across the sky during the time around totality. Partials and C2 and C3 images layered into Photoshop and blended into the background totality image with a Lighten blend mode, and masked to reveal just the wanted bits of each arc. The site was north of Driggs, Idaho in the Teton Valley, north of the centreline. Thus the diamond rings are above the centre of the Moon's disk.

The next total solar eclipse is two years away - but I'd start planning now

By Jamie Carter published

The ultimate guide to when and where to photograph the total solar eclipse on August 12, 2026, in Western Europe

Astrophotography
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