Watching meteors roam the night sky means witnessing a humiliating but fleeting natural phenomenon. And without photos documenting the ephemeral miracle of burning stones screaming through the ether, what will you need to remember about your experience about this sporadic event? Someone will believe you when you tell them you’ve seen Meteors Lyrid not at all? Spatial photos or did not happen.
But shooting stars means more than pointing the phone at the sky. Here’s 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 in bed.
You need a tripod
When you are looking to capture something as momentary as a shooting star, you cannot trust the firmness of your hands. Meteors sail overhead at blinding speeds, which means you need a tripod to take viable photos.
“You will need it [a tripod] shooting at low exposure speeds, ”he says Aysia Marotta, a photographer based in Brooklyn, New York. Take it somewhere secluded, away from any light pollution that can compromise your photos, she says.
Use a wide-angle lens
If you are shooting with a camera, unlike a smartphone, Marotta describes the basic necessities to capture as much of the sky as possible:
“You will want to work with a wide-angle lens, so anywhere between 8-16 mm it will capture as much of the sky as possible. Stopping F is also important. Try to bring a lens with an aperture of f / 2.8 so you don’t overcompensate with ISO hitting. ”
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If you don’t know the language of photography fluently, you can refer to Marotta’s photographs, which demonstrate the beautiful images that can result if you base your basics on:
Use infinite focus
Another indicator that Marotta recommends is to set your focus to infinity, which will extend the depth of focus of your camera to the highest possible setting. The sky is big and empty, which means you want to capture as much of it as possible.
Photography Money Maker explains how infinite focus works:
Infinity focus is similar to an extraordinarily wide depth of field. When your target is focused indefinitely, then everything within you will be focused, no matter how far away from your target. However, there are a few caveats.
Know your environment
Another useful reference point is to understand how meteor showers and related phenomena work. Chris Westphal, an amateur photographer based in Florida, who works in his amazing night sky photography, advises you to sit under “the dark sky with good transparency, ie the lack of clouds, fog, smoke and fog.”
Westphal notes that meteors usually “come from a radiant near the constellation named Meteor Rain, so it’s good to shoot around those areas.” Lyrids take their name from the constellation Lyra, which is prominent in the northern sky, especially during the summer. In this situation, the “radiant” to which Westphal refers is the star Vega, which provides the lighting needed to catch the Lyrids as they explode through the sky. You can usually locate Vega fairly easily, as it is usually “directly above the head at mid-northern latitudes on summer nights,” according to Space.com.
What about smartphone photography?
If you don’t have a camera, but still want to try taking photos with heavenly delights, don’t worry: there are plenty of ways to get the most out of your smartphone, whether it’s an iPhone or an Android.
Tom Peet, manager al Repair socket, a UK camera repair company, repeats Marotta’s advice when it comes to the need for tripods and wide-angle lenses, but recommends some smartphone accessories that will help you find great photos of meteors.
Although your phone’s camera is a marvel of technology in itself, it’s probably not as good at night photography as your standard DSLR camera. To give a little phone boost, he recommends downloading a long-exposure app, telling Lifehacker:
Prolonged exposure allows your camera to take multiple photos over a period of time – essential for capturing the passing nature of meteors. Some free examples include the Light Long Exposure Camera (iPhone) and the Long Exposure Camera 2 (Android). While good quality paid apps include Slow Shutter Cam (iPhone) and Night Camera (Android).
Disabling the flash and High Dynamic Range (HDR) are also essential steps. While your 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 photos in a row and combine them to include more light than is visible to the lens in a single photo. This can be good for shooting the sky, but tends to slow down the camera, which risks missing meteors in the short time they are visible in the sky.
And whether you’re using a camera or a phone, make sure you take as many photos as possible. Also, never enlarge – you want to capture as much of the sky as possible.