Night photography is not my bread and butter. It just seems like a one trick pony. All star photography images tend to look the same. There are three variants to choose from:

1. Pin stars - short shutter speeds of 90 seconds or less (preferably less than 60 seconds). The stars show no movement.

2. Milky-way - short shutter speeds as above but showing the milky-way.

3. Star trails - long shutter speeds allowing the stars to rotate.

That is about it. Needless to say, I don't shoot these kind of images much. Furthermore, pin star and milky-way images require fast lenses. Being a landscape photographer does not require fast lenses. So I don't want to invest in fast glass just for the odd image once in a blue moon. Having said that, I shoot star images every so often when the blue moon comes around.

Using a tripod is a must. Keep lights totally out of the image. Do not even use lights yourself before the image is taken because your eyes will take 10 or 20 minutes to adjust. Focus before it gets dark and then turn your lens to manual focus so that it will not change when you fiddle with the buttons on your camera. Use the biggest f stop you have. Jack up the ISO till your shutter speed is around 60 seconds. Beware of other photographers as their cameras may give off a red light during their exposures.

          There you go. Try teaching your camera this one trick.