Whether you are looking to get into astrophotography or take your skills to the next level, 2020 has lots of great astronomical events happening all over the world. Planning in advance and being in the right place at the right time is the first step to getting amazing shots.
What the backyard astrophotographer can achieve these days is pretty impressive, and there are all kinds of photography and astronomy gadgets that can improve just what is possible; for example, check out my review of this star tracker. However, most of us already have everything we need to start taking pretty great images of things like the sun and moon, Milky Way, meteor showers, and more. The most important step in getting great astro images is planning ahead of time instead of hearing about an event on the news and running out the door at the last minute. Planning lets you do research and maybe even some test trips. Scout out the best locations for landscape photography with PhotoPills or the nearest dark sky location with Dark Site Finder. Some events are only viewable in very specific locations, while others can be seen from anywhere. So, it is important to know when and where are the best times to photograph them.