Tips for cell phone and camera How to take photos of shooting stars
Attention shooting star fans: With these tips and tricks, you can capture the celestial spectacle with a professional camera or your smartphone.
For a magical (and controlled) snapshot, it's important to stay away from light pollution. If the sky is still clear, press the flash-free shutter release between midnight and dawn.
Astronomer Daniel Karbacher from the Urania Observatory in Zurich has some other valuable tips for cameras and cell phones to help you take the perfect shooting star photo.
5 tips for shooting star photos with a professional camera
1. the wide-angle lens makes all the difference
With a wide-angle lens (e.g. 14 mm, f/2.8) on your camera, you can capture a large section of the sky - perfect if you want to capture several shooting stars in one picture.
2. prepare the focus during the day
Focus on a distant object in daylight, then switch to manual focus and mark the position on the lens with tape - at night it is often difficult to adjust.
3. interval shooting or continuous shooting
Let the camera automatically take a new picture every few seconds to give you a better chance of catching a shooting star. With a large memory card (64+ GB) and a spare battery, you could even leave the camera running all night so that every celestial wonder makes it into the picture.
4. switch off noise reduction
Many cameras, such as SLR cameras, have a function that reduces image noise during long exposures. To do this, the camera takes a second photo after each one - which takes the same amount of time. This means that a 30-second photo suddenly takes a minute. During this time, you could miss a shooting star! Switch this function off so that you are ready for the next photo more quickly.
5. the finishing touches
Tools such as Lightroom, Darktable or Affinity Photo make the shooting stars in the night sky shine even brighter. A little extra tip: increase the black level to create more depth in the sky.
5 tips for shooting star photos with your smartphone
1. use manual mode (pro mode)
Many smartphones offer a "pro mode" or "manual mode". This allows you to set the ISO (light sensitivity of the camera sensor), exposure time, focus and white balance yourself, which is important for night shots.
Download the apps "ProCam X", "Halide" or "Manual Camera" for even more control if your phone's default camera doesn't allow this.
2. long exposure time
Use a long exposure time (several minutes, preferably longer). The longer the exposure time, the more trails of light can be captured. Caution: Movements in the sky (shooting stars, aircraft, satellites) become glowing streaks.
3. tripod and remote shutter release (or timer)
Even the slightest movement makes the image unusable. A compact smartphone tripod and a timer or Bluetooth remote control prevent camera shake.
4. set the focus to "infinity"
Autofocus often does not work reliably at night. In this case, you can set the focus manually to infinity (∞) or via sliders. Some camera apps display star focus directly - simply zoom into a bright star region and focus accordingly.
5 Combine RAW mode and night mode
If possible, take photos in RAW format (file format for unprocessed image data) for better post-processing. Some smartphones also have a night mode that combines several shots.
Extra tips from the expert:
- The origin of the Lyrids is near the bright star Vega, and it will be very high in the sky when the Lyrids are expected on April 22. To get the shooting stars in front of your lens, it helps to mount the camera vertically, advises Karbacher. So lie down and try to make yourself comfortable on the ground.
- The speeds of shooting stars vary and range from 40,000 to 250,000 kilometers per hour. The Lyrids are quite fast at 180,000 km/h (50 km per second!). So if in doubt, it's worth putting the camera down and simply enjoying the moment.
