With clear skies and increased solar activity, the aurora borealis could be lighting up the skies across much of the UK, Northern Europe and North America tonight (and these guidelines are equally valid for catching them in the sky below).
This heavenly light show can be captured using just your iPhone. These tips come from Antony Willets, resident photography expert at photo printing service Max Spielmann. To maximize your chances of catching the Northern Lights (or Southern Lights), all you need are four key settings on your iPhone.
Shoot in RAW
If your iPhone allows it, take photos in RAW format instead of JPEG (requires an iPhone 12-15 Pro or Pro Max, or an iPhone 16 model). RAW photos preserve more details and give you more flexibility when editing the photo later.
To view in RAW,[設定]>[カメラ]>[形式]Proceed to[写真カメラ]is under[Apple ProRAW と解像度コントロール]Click. When you’re ready to take a photo, in the camera app[RAW]Tap.
enter night mode
If you’re shooting in low light, most phones automatically turn on night mode. A night mode icon will appear in the top corner of the screen. This allows your camera’s sensor to stay open longer, letting in more light and capturing more details (also known as long exposure).
iPhone night mode is typically 1-3 seconds, but for Aurora you want it to be as long as possible. Here’s how…
Open the iPhone camera hidden menu using the arrow above
Find and tap the Night Mode icon
You will find a slider that allows you to adjust the exposure time
slide to maximum
Oh, don’t forget to turn off the flash
Aurora photographed at Glastonbury Tor in Somerset, England (Image credit: Josh Dury)
Please stabilize
If your iPhone detects shaking or shaking (for example, if you try to hold your iPhone still for an extended period of time), the maximum exposure will be approximately 10 seconds.
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But to capture the Northern Lights in all their glory, you need to keep things steady. We recommend using one of the best iPhone tripods. We recommend placing it on a flat and stable surface. Long exposure time should reach 25-30 seconds.
exposure amount
There’s a good chance you won’t be able to photograph the Northern Lights in Iceland’s vast plains this week, so unless you’re extremely lucky, you’ll want to make the most of the light.
Type “exposure adjustment”. This is different from long exposure, which exposes the camera to light longer to capture details in the dark. Exposure adjustment prevents your photo from becoming overexposed and losing detail.
Here’s how to change the exposure adjustment:
Reopen hidden menu
Look for the small + and – inside the circle
Click this icon to reduce the exposure to a negative value
Alternatively, on newer iPhone models, you can tap and hold the screen and drag up or down to increase or decrease exposure.
The perfect exposure adjustment depends on your surroundings, so you may need to make various adjustments.
And once you’ve captured a great image of the Northern Lights, it makes sense to have it professionally printed at Max Spielmann to show it off at its best.
