Night sky photography with your phone is as rewarding as it is challenging. You have to work with the natural elements and use special phone tricks to guarantee your picture highlights the beauty of the sky perfectly.
Despite the complexity of the situation, you can still take stunning night sky photos with your smartphone. All you have to do is know the right camera settings, apps, and accessories that can help you capture that breathtaking shot of the night sky. To help you out, here are some basic tips that’ll make it easier for new photographers!
4 Tips for Night Sky Photography with Your Phone
1. You Need a Tripod
Smartphones have gotten pretty good with eliminating camera shake or taking better pictures at night with complicated algorithms and whatnot. But using a tripod for night sky photography can go a long way. When taking 15-second photos (that’s the ideal shutter speed) using your phone along with a tripod can help stabilize the camera and help capture scenic pictures. You can use one of these mini tripods by Joby or buy a mount to fit a tripod if you already have one for a typical camera.
2. Capture the Night Sky Outside the City
The light pollution of the city can impact your camera phone photos, so it’s better to take your photography session outside the city if you can. A country landscape is the best to view the night sky in all its glory. You can steer clear of the ambient city lights and leave behind the glowing background to capture the stars, meteors, and moon.
3. Use the Right Camera Apps
The built-in camera app for most smartphones does not have shutter speed control, so you have to use other apps in tandem for both Android and iOS photography. If you have an Android smartphone, you can use Night Camera or Camera FV-5 Lite. For iOS users, Average Camera Pro or Slow Shutter Cam are equally great options. These smartphone apps can take multiple pictures quickly and recreate the long exposure effect, making them ideal for photographing the night sky. Then you can use an app like Snapseed to edit them. I’ve written about how to use Snapseed here!
4. Use Manual Mode for the Photos
For night sky photography with your phone, use the manual camera mode to adjust ISO and focus. A higher ISO is ideal for low-light photography, but it comes with the consequence of a “noisy” or pixelated picture. Since the phone’s sensor may not be as advanced as that in a DSLR, we recommend using 1600 to get a clear night sky photo. As for the focus, use it manually instead of opting for autofocus. The autofocus is good for day pictures when the sensor can easily pick up on an object in focus. But at night, it’s harder for the cameras sensor to pick up an item to focus on.
Wrapping Up
Are you ready to capture the endless wonders of the night sky with your smartphone? Use these simple tips to enhance your experience of night sky photography! As a beginner, you can benefit greatly if you learn to capture the night sky in all its glory without compromising the image with the wrong settings. Once you have practiced enough with these settings and apps, you can try different apps and various night-time settings to improve your photography. Have fun!
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