To see meteors crossing the night sky is to witness a humble but ephemeral natural phenomenon. And without photos documenting the ephemeral wonder of the burning rocks screaming through the ether, what will you have to remember from your experience of this sporadic event? Someone will believe you when you tell them you’ve seen the Meteors of Lyrid Absolutely not? Images of space or did not happen.
But photographing the stars involves more than pointing the phone at the sky. This is what you need to know about photographing meteor showers, shooting stars, comets and other celestial wonders that force us to stay awake and out when otherwise we would be in bed.
You need a tripod
When you’re looking to capture something as momentary as a shooting star, you can’t rely on the firmness of your hands. Meteorites navigate over at blinding speeds, which means you need a tripod to take viable photos of them.
“You will need it [a tripod] shoot at slow shutter speeds, ”he says Aysia Marotta, a photographer based in Brooklyn, New York. Take her somewhere secluded, away from any light pollution that could compromise your shots, she says.
Use a wide-angle lens
If you take pictures with a camera, unlike a smartphone, Marotta describes the basic needs for capturing all the sky you can:
“You will want to work with a wide-angle lens, so that between 8-16 mm you can capture as much of the sky as possible. Also, stop F is important. Try to wear a lens with an aperture of f / 2.8, so that you are not overcompensating with your ISO.
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If you do not speak the language of photography fluently, you can consult Marotta’s photos, which show the magnificent images that can result if you are nailing the basics:
Use infinite focus
Another indicator that Marotta recommends is to set the focus to infinity, which will extend the depth of focus of the camera to the largest possible setting. The sky is big and empty, meaning you want to capture as much as possible.
Picture of Money Maker explains how infinite focus works:
Infinite focus is similar to an extraordinarily wide depth of field. When the target is focused to infinity, everything in the frame will be focused no matter how far from the target. Still, there are some caveats.
Get to know your surroundings
Another useful reference point is to understand how meteor showers work and related phenomena. Chris Westphal, a Florida-based amateur photographer who trades in his stunning night sky photography, advises settling under “dark skies with good transparency, meaning lack of clouds, fog, fog and fog.”
Westphal notes that meteors typically “originate from a radiant near the constellation from the name meteor shower, so it’s good to shoot through those areas.” The lilies get their name from the constellation Lyra, which is prominent in the northern sky, especially in summer. In this situation, Westphal refers to the “radiant” star that is the star Vega, which provides the lighting needed to catch the lilies as they explode into the sky. You can usually locate Vega quite easily, as it is usually “directly at the headwaters in mid-northern latitudes on summer nights,” according to Space.com.
What about smartphone photography?
If you don’t have a camera but want to try taking photos of celestial delights, don’t worry – there are many ways to get the most out of your smartphone, whether it’s an iPhone or an Android.
Tom Peet, manager of Repair outlet, a camera repair business in the UK, echoes Marotta’s advice when it comes to the need for tripods and wide-angle lenses, but recommends some smartphone accessories that will help you look great photos of meteors.
While the phone’s camera is a marvel of technology in itself, it’s probably not as good at night photography as the standard DSLR camera. To increase the speed of your phone, we recommend downloading a long exposure app and telling Lifehacker:
Long exposure allows the camera to take multiple shots over a period of time, essential for capturing the flight of meteors. Some free examples include Easy Long Exposure Camera (iPhone) and Long Exposure Camera 2 (Android). While good quality paid apps include Slow Shutter Cam (iPhone) and Night Camera (Android).
Turning off the flash and high dynamic range (HDR) are also essential steps. While the flash denies the purpose of shooting in the dark, your HDR poses other challenges.
Peet says:
HDR stands for High Dynamic Range. This setting allows the camera to take multiple shots in a row and combine them to include more light than is visible to the lens in a single shot. This can be good for shooting in the sky, but it tends to slow down the camera, which runs the risk of losing meteors in the short time they are visible in the sky.
And, regardless of whether you use a camera or a phone, make sure you take as many photos as possible. Also, never expand; you want to capture as much of the sky as possible.