Your Take Today: USA TODAY's top reader photo

Shooting the stars in the night sky is one of Steve Montalto's favorite things to photograph because of the unique understanding it requires.

In order to capture such beautiful images, Montalto says a photographer must know what's going on in the sky and how to use their equipment to complement their skills.

Montalto says he wanted to capture the Milky Way in the latter part of the summer, so on Aug. 23 he traveled to Bass Lake, Calif. He used a Sony A7S mirrorless camera, designed for low light shooting, with a Sony FE 35 mm lens, 13-second exposure, 4 F-stop and a 32000 ISO.

"(It's amazing) how the world continually gives us grand the images and experiences," Montalto says. "All we have to do is look."

To get the proper effect, Montalto edited the raw files for exposure and white balance with Abode Lightroom and Adobe Photoshop to stitch together the multiple exposures to highlight the stars and show the details of the Milky Way.

"As long as you are willing to experiment and play around, you can create some interesting results," Montalto says. "It can be great fun!"

For more of Montalto's work, visit his Twitter, Instagram and contributor profile on Your Take.

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