To see the Northern Lights on your phone, especially for capturing photos or videos, here are the key steps and tips:
- Use your phone camera's Manual or Pro mode if available. This lets you control settings essential for night photography such as exposure time, ISO, and focus.
- Set ISO between 800 and 1600 to increase light sensitivity but balance to avoid too much noise.
- Use a long exposure time of about 5 to 15 seconds to capture enough light from the auroras. A tripod or stable surface is critical to avoid blurriness from hand movement.
- Adjust aperture (f-number) to as low as possible (like f/2.8) if your phone supports this, to allow more light into the lens.
- Focus manually to infinity or tap on a distant light source to lock focus for sharp aurora and stars.
- Turn off your phone's flash to avoid overpowering the natural aurora light.
- Use night mode if your phone has it, which might activate automatically in low light.
- Download third-party camera apps with manual settings (e.g., NightCap Camera, ProCam) if your native camera app is limited.
- Use a timer or remote shutter to avoid shaking the phone when taking the photo.
- Find a dark location with minimal light pollution, clear skies, and preferably check aurora forecast apps for best timing.
Simply viewing the Northern Lights with your phone camera is also possible by pointing your camera to the northern sky on a clear night, but to really capture their beauty, following the above photography settings will help you see and record them effectively with your phone.
