How to use a smartphone to take photos of the aurora borealis

I was lucky enough to Catch the elusive northern lights on a special delivery flight, Singapore Airlines’ first flight 787-10 Dreamliner delivery flight from Charleston, South Carolina, to Osaka, Japan and finally to Changi Airport.

As our flight approached the state of Alaska, the flyers on the starboard side were was treated to a great performancewhich — with a lot of effort — I was finally able to capture clearly with my point-and-shoot camera.

At that time, I committed to seeing the aurora borealis from the ground – not far from our Dreamliner’s flight path – in interior Alaska. That adventure became a reality in 2019 when I traveled to the ultra-remote camp in Coldfoot, Alaska, along the state’s famous Dalton Highway.

Take photos of the aurora borealis

Many of the best photos you may ever see of the northern lights are taken with wide open exposures.

Because light is often quite dim, at least when compared to objects and effects captured in daylight, photographers often use shutter speeds of one second or more. That means the lights don’t look very bright in person, but on a clear night they look absolutely spectacular in photos.

Generally, if you’re using a “real” camera, you’ll need a tripod—unless you have one special still have hands, which is especially difficult. In many cases, if you take an aurora tour, your guide will provide one, but you’ll definitely want to confirm that first; You may not be able to take sharp photos if you arrive unprepared. I also recommend bringing a flashlight to help with focusing (see more below).

However, in my opinion, there is a much better option.

Newer generations of smartphones Capable of capturing outstanding photos in low light conditions. In 2019, I was able to take some incredible photos using just a handheld iPhone 11 Pro Max, and of course, there have been even more advanced models and technologies since then.

I’ll focus on Apple’s night mode here because that’s what I used, but other recent models also offer similar functionality. Note that the process with some more recent models may differ slightly, although the concepts may remain similar:

• Choose content for your frame — consider incorporating mountains, trees, cabins, and other structures to make your photo more interesting and add perspective.
• Open the native camera app and ensure focus – quickly illuminate a tree or structure with a strong flashlight, if your phone has difficulty focusing on its own.
• Confirm that night mode is active – when using the 1x lens in “photo” mode on an iPhone 11 that is already in use, an indicator will appear in the top left corner, while Other smartphones may offer a dedicated “night” shooting option.
• Shoot multiple frames — the aurora effect changes quickly, so don’t be afraid to shoot quickly!
• Review your work every few shots to make sure you’re happy with the focus, exposure, and other details.

If all goes well, you should get rid of images that look like this:

Related: Why iPhone 15 is a game-changer for travelers

Aurora photo editing

You may notice that the image above looks a bit dull compared to the finished product I included at the top. While you can certainly share images directly from your phone, you can really make your photos stand out by doing some editing directly on your smartphone, like I did here:

Especially for northern lights photography, I recommend making the following adjustments.

• Adjust exposure if necessary — I didn’t make any adjustments here.
• Reduce highlights to bring out more detail in the northern lights — I adjusted to full range (-100).
• Increase the shadow level to enhance detail elsewhere in your image – I adjusted +18 here.
• Increase Vibrance – I added 51 to this image.
• Turn down the warmth — this is my preference, but I feel the image really pops at -13 warmth.
• Adjusting the color tone – I added 94 to this image.
• Increase sharpness and definition, if needed – here, I increased it to 20 and 91 respectively.
• Correct the vertical or horizontal perspective to make sure the tree is aligned (this is a bit complicated, so if you’re not sure how to do this with your smartphone, please skip this step).

Of course, the amount of processing you do will depend on the image and your own preferences – darker auroras may need a little more editing than brighter auroras. If you plan to share to Instagram Story, you’ll also need to crop the image to 9:16 in the photos app to ensure maximum sharpness.

Related: Guide to taking a cruise to find the aurora borealis

How to find the northern lights

Typically, your best bet for capturing the auroras is to go somewhere above the Arctic Circle, including in Alaska and Scandinavia, although there are also chances of seeing the aurora further south, including both in Iceland and sometimes — such as this weekend — even in the contiguous United States.

On my aurora hunting trip, I decided to travel deep into Alaska, a few miles from Coldfoot, a small truck stop, to the tiny village of Wiseman. About 10 people live in Wiseman and the village consists of little more than a few wooden houses, but with its location right below the auroral oval, you can see surprising activity across the sky on a clear night .

In fact, my visit coincidentally coincided forecast period low activity, but that only affects distance from there you can see the northern lights – the display is quite brilliant right below. The full moon also had little impact – in fact, I found it helpful because the moon illuminated the nearby mountains and cabins.

Ideal viewing times vary depending on when and where you go – during a visit to Wiseman in October, I was told we’d have the best shows from midnight to 3am, so plan for one very Long day, perhaps broken up with a nap after dinner.

Although my 5 degree F nights in October were significantly warmer than what you’ll see in the winter, when temperatures can dip below 40 degrees, you’ll have a much better chance of seeing light in the winter. end of the season. That includes spring, when temperatures start to warm again.

Just note that there’s never any guarantee that you’ll see activity, even on a clear night – I missed out on Monday night because clouds and snow appeared after sunset, though There are clear forecasts. A variable that you Maybe However, the control is your camera, and if you’re going to spend the money to travel to see the aurora borealis, I’d also recommend investing in the latest smartphone.

There are also apps like My Aurora Forecast & Alerts that can provide alerts to help you know when it’s the right time to step outside and look up at the sky.

Bottom line

It’s extremely rare for the northern lights to dip as far south as Texas, Florida and even Mexico, but it gives many of us a unique opportunity to enjoy them without having to travel towards north to search for this amazing natural phenomenon. And luckily, your smartphone can capture the moment quite well if you follow some of these tips.

Don’t worry if you miss this round, as we’re forecast to be in for the long haul Northern lights activity is higher than normal in case you feel inspired to start planning a trip later this year with that primary purpose in mind.