Current:Home > FinanceTaking photos of the northern lights with your smartphone? Tips to get the best picture-LoTradeCoin
Taking photos of the northern lights with your smartphone? Tips to get the best picture
View Date:2025-01-11 13:56:41
The northern lights can be seen again tonight in many parts of the northern United States. Displaying many colors from light pink to dark grays, the phenomenon in the sky is an event you’d want to capture.
Starting on Friday, May 10 many residents across the United States documented their pictures of the phenomenon on social media. The pictures, that look like wallpaper photos, have shown palm trees with an Ombre pink background and metro cities with a distinctive overcast.
Forecasters are predicting that many parts of the northern United States will see the aurora borealis again tonight and on Sunday night between 10:00 a.m. and 2:00 a.m. local time.
Most people are looking up and capturing the beauty of the northern lights with amazing photos. And unless you’re a professional photographer with a DSLR handy, most are doing so with their smartphones.
In a call with reporters on Friday, Brent Gordon, Chief of Space Weather Services Branch for SWPC, said that using your smartphone could be the best way to view the northern lights. Even better than the human eye.
If you want to capture the northern lights perfectly on your smartphone, here are some tips.
Northern lights Saturday forecast:What's your chance of seeing the aurora borealis tonight?
How to get the best photos of the northern lights
Experts say you can capture memorable photos of the northern lights on your smartphone by adjusting the exposure time and enabling night mode if the feature is available on your device. Additionally, you can try out types of compositions on your smartphone for the best shots:
Wide-angle shot: Holding your phone horizontally you can achieve a wide angle shot. To get that wallpaper type picture you’ll want to use this angle to capture everything in front of you.
Pan: If you have the pano feature on your phone, you can flip your phone, either horizontally or vertically, to achieve a good photo that will also capture everything around you.
C or S Curve: Are the lights glowing on the street in your area? Snap a photo of it! C or S Curve photos are used to bring you in and out of a photo hypothetically. To achieve this, a curve has to be present and make the letter "C" or "S" in the photo.
Candid: Are you viewing the northern lights with family or friends? They can get in on the photo too! Standing behind them, you can capture their shadows as they look at the northern lights. You can also have your photo subjects walk in front of the lens as you take the photo. The style of shot is meant to be fun so there’s no right or wrong way you can achieve this.
Photos aside, remember to embrace this event
Yes, you want to get the perfect photo to post on social media or show off to your friends. However, you should still try to make memories with those around you to be able to talk about this event in the future. Remember that photos capture a moment of our lives, but memories are recorded events that we replay again and again in our heads for years to come.
Contributing: Eric Lagatta, USA TODAY
Ahjané Forbes is a reporter on the National Trending Team at USA TODAY. Ahjané covers breaking news, car recalls, crime, health, lottery and public policy stories. Email her at [email protected]. Follow her on Instagram, Threads and X (Twitter)
veryGood! (4317)
Related
- Today’s Savannah Guthrie, Al Roker and More React to Craig Melvin Replacing Hoda Kotb as Co-Anchor
- Sally Buzbee, executive editor of The Washington Post, steps down in 'abrupt shake-up'
- At 15 years old, Miles Russell is set to make his PGA Tour debut at Rocket Mortgage Classic
- 8-year-old girl attacked by 'aggressive' cow elk while riding bike in Colorado
- The USDA is testing raw milk for the avian flu. Is raw milk safe?
- How Hallie Biden is connected to the Hunter Biden gun trial
- How Hallie Biden is connected to the Hunter Biden gun trial
- For Pregnant People, Heat Waves Bring An Increased Risk of Preterm and Early Term Babies, Study Finds
- Inspector general finds no fault in Park Police shooting of Virginia man in 2017
- Georgia's controversial, Russia-like foreign agent bill becomes law after weeks of protests
Ranking
- Kalen DeBoer, Jalen Milroe save Alabama football season, as LSU's Brian Kelly goes splat
- Why jewelry has been an issue in Shilo Sanders' bankruptcy case: `Don’t wear it'
- 8-year-old girl attacked by 'aggressive' cow elk while riding bike in Colorado
- Michigan kills 31,000 Atlantic salmon after they catch disease at hatchery
- The Best Gifts for Men – That He Won’t Want to Return
- Man catches 'massive' 95-pound flathead catfish in Oklahoma reservoir: See the catch
- Nebraska funeral home discovers hospice patient was still alive hours after being declared dead
- No. 4 seed Evansville stuns East Carolina to reach NCAA baseball tournament super regionals
Recommendation
-
High-scoring night in NBA: Giannis Antetokounmpo explodes for 59, Victor Wembanyama for 50
-
Yes, you can have a tidy native-plant garden. Here are some tips
-
Epoch Times CFO is arrested and accused of role in $67M multinational money laundering scheme
-
Kanye West Sued for Sexual Harassment By Ex-Assistant Lauren Pisciotta
-
Trump has promised to ‘save TikTok’. What happens next is less clear
-
Demi Lovato Details Finding the “Light Again” After 5 In-Patient Mental Health Treatments
-
Gen Z hit harder by inflation than other age groups. But relief may be coming.
-
GameStop shares soar after Roaring Kitty reveals $116 million stake