Since their inception, smartphone cameras have advanced significantly. Currently, you can capture quite nice pictures in low light, but what about the lowest light of all—space? If you know a few tips, you can take astronomical photographs.
The sensor and lens diameters are the main limiting factors for astrophotography on Android and iPhone cameras. Camera apps employ a few software techniques to get around this. Even with these tips, you’ll still want some equipment to capture genuinely stunning images of space using a phone.
The most crucial component for photographing the night sky is long exposure, as we’ll discuss later. That implies that taking the picture will take a little bit longer. It’s crucial that the camera remain stable while this is taking place.
The results will be hazy and shaky since you can’t keep the phone stable enough with only one hand. An essential piece of equipment for astrophotography is a tripod.
The ideal tripod for connecting to objects is a tiny, portable one with flexible legs that can be thrown into a backpack with ease. You need a higher tripod if you don’t want to rely on local mounting points.
Utilize Night Mode or Long Exposure
Let’s speak about capturing images in the real world. Long exposure is essential for photographing the night sky, as was previously said. Simply said, it indicates that the shutter is open longer than usual. As a result, it can collect more light, which is essential in dimly lit areas.
Long exposure photography is possible with your smartphone, but the process varies depending on the model. Night Mode and Night Sight are features on the Google Pixel and iPhone smartphones. In “Pro” mode on Samsung Galaxy handsets, you may adjust exposure.
The most cutting-edge approach of the group is that of Samsung. The shutter speed may be adjusted extremely accurately. The method used by the iPhone and Pixel is much more hands-off. In essence, you simply turn on the mode and let the camera’s software do the rest. If it recognises the night sky, Pixel phones even enter “Astrophotography” mode.
When low light circumstances are recognised, the iPhone’s “Night Mode” immediately activates. NeuralCam for the iPhone is a good choice if you’d rather take a manual approach. By doing this, “Night Mode” becomes something you can command. The software costs $4.99 and has a great App Store rating.
Discover the Ideal Location
In your backyard or a neighbouring park, you can shoot a nice shot of the night sky, but not every site is the same. More light is captured in long exposure shots, and you want that light to come from the sky rather than from indoor lights.
The idea is to minimise “light pollution,” which is more difficult than it seems. The lighting in your picture might change even if the city is 30 miles distant. Sadly, most areas make it difficult to avoid light pollution. The Dark Site Finder is a fantastic tool for locating low light pollution regions close by.
Extra Points
Okay, you have your tripod and camera app set up for nighttime photography. You may utilise a few strategies to achieve even greater outcomes. Although telescopes are excellent, they are not often cameras. Through the telescope, you may shoot pictures with a smartphone mount.
A colour filter is an additional camera add-on that can enhance your evening photography. Even though it doesn’t appear that way from Earth, the night sky contains many dazzling objects. Long exposure photographs can benefit from colour filters to reduce brightness and expose more detail.
The most challenging low-light situation to photograph is space, which can be challenging to do with a smartphone camera. Can you compete with a genuine camera? Probably not, but if you keep these tips in mind, you can capture some stunning images that are ideal for sharing.
