“The night sky reminds us that even in darkness, there is always light waiting to be captured.” – MJ Martin
Introduction
Have you ever looked at the night sky and wished you had your serious camera equipment with you? Perhaps the Northern Lights suddenly appeared, the Milky Way stretched across a cottage sky, or you simply noticed more stars than you had seen in years. The good news is that the Apple iPhone in your pocket has become a remarkably credible night photography camera.
It will not replace a large-sensor mirrorless camera with a fast lens, but modern iPhones use computational photography to compensate for their small sensors. Night mode automatically increases exposure and combines information to reveal detail that would otherwise disappear into darkness. Apple specifically recommends using a tripod for more detailed Night mode photographs. Pro models from the iPhone 12 Pro onward can also capture Apple ProRAW while using Night mode, providing considerably more latitude when adjusting exposure, colour and white balance later. (Apple Support)
How to Photograph the Northern Lights
Canada is one of the world’s great aurora countries, and you do not necessarily have to travel to Yellowknife or Whitehorse. Strong geomagnetic storms can produce displays across much of southern Canada.
Mount the iPhone securely on a tripod and turn off the flash. Start with the main 1x camera because it generally provides the strongest low-light performance. Activate Night mode and experiment with relatively short exposures. A rapidly moving aurora may look better at approximately one to three seconds because a very long exposure can turn its delicate curtains into a featureless green cloud. A weaker aurora may require more exposure.
Use the timer to eliminate movement caused by touching the shutter. If your iPhone supports ProRAW, use it. National Geographic similarly recommends stabilization, Night mode, RAW capture and controlling exposure when photographing auroras with modern smartphones. (National Geographic)
Think of photographing an aurora like photographing a dancer. You need enough exposure to see her, but not so much that her movement disappears.
How to Photograph the Milky Way
Milky Way photography is primarily a battle against light pollution. Getting away from city lights can improve your photograph more dramatically than buying another camera.
Canada offers exceptional opportunities. Parks Canada currently recognizes 13 Dark-Sky Preserves, including Bruce Peninsula, Fathom Five and Point Pelee in Ontario, Jasper and Elk Island in Alberta, and Grasslands National Park in Saskatchewan. (Parks Canada)
Choose a clear, preferably moonless night. Put the iPhone on a tripod, select the 1x main camera, activate Night mode and choose the longest exposure the phone offers under the conditions. Avoid digital zoom. Include a foreground object such as a tree, shoreline, barn or mountain because the landscape provides scale to the enormous sky.
For serious processing, capture ProRAW when available. You can subsequently reduce noise, adjust white balance, recover shadows and increase local contrast without pushing a compressed JPEG nearly as hard. National Geographic emphasizes the same fundamentals: dark skies, careful planning, stabilization and longer exposures. (National Geographic)
How to Photograph Star Trails
Star trails require a different philosophy. Instead of trying to freeze Earth’s rotation, we deliberately record it.
The standard iPhone Camera app is not designed to produce exposures lasting 30 minutes or several hours. Specialized applications solve this by repeatedly capturing and combining frames. Apps such as NightCap currently provide dedicated Star Trails and astrophotography modes, while other applications can use interval shooting and image stacking. (App Store)
Secure the iPhone to a tripod, provide sufficient battery power and compose toward Polaris, the North Star, if you want the classic circular pattern. Photographing east or west creates sweeping diagonal arcs instead. Allow the sequence to run for 30 minutes or longer. The longer you photograph, the longer the trails become.
This is where the smartphone becomes less like a conventional camera and more like a tiny astronomical computer.
Summary
Yes, an iPhone can produce credible and sometimes spectacular photographs of the night sky. The secret is understanding its limitations rather than pretending they do not exist.
Use a tripod. Seek genuinely dark skies. Avoid digital zoom. Use the main camera whenever practical. Exploit Night mode and ProRAW when available. For star trails and more advanced astrophotography, consider specialized stacking software.
Most importantly, remember that astrophotography remains photography. Technology can collect the photons, but it cannot decide where you should stand, what belongs in the foreground, or when the light tells a story.
The interesting question is therefore no longer, “Can an iPhone photograph the night sky?”
It can.
The better question is, “What are you going to point it at?”
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About the Author:
Michael Martin is the Vice President of Technology with Metercor Inc., a Smart Meter, IoT, and Smart City systems integrator based in Canada. He has more than 40 years of experience in systems design for applications that use broadband networks, optical fibre, wireless, and digital communications technologies. He is a business and technology consultant. He was a senior executive consultant for 15 years with IBM, where he worked in the GBS Global Center of Competency for Energy and Utilities and the GTS Global Center of Excellence for Energy and Utilities. He is a founding partner and President of MICAN Communications and before that was President of Comlink Systems Limited and Ensat Broadcast Services, Inc., both divisions of Cygnal Technologies Corporation (CYN: TSX).
Martin served on the Board of Directors for TeraGo Inc (TGO: TSX) and on the Board of Directors for Avante Logixx Inc. (XX: TSX.V). He has served as a Member, SCC ISO-IEC JTC 1/SC-41 – Internet of Things and related technologies, ISO – International Organization for Standardization, and as a member of the NIST SP 500-325 Fog Computing Conceptual Model, National Institute of Standards and Technology. He served on the Board of Governors of the University of Ontario Institute of Technology (UOIT) [now Ontario Tech University] and on the Board of Advisers of five different Colleges in Ontario – Centennial College, Humber College, George Brown College, Durham College, Ryerson Polytechnic University [now Toronto Metropolitan University]. For 16 years he served on the Board of the Society of Motion Picture and Television Engineers (SMPTE), Toronto Section.
He holds three master’s degrees – in business (MBA), communication (MA), and education (MEd). As well, he has three undergraduate diplomas and seven major certifications in business, computer programming, internetworking, project management, media, photography, and communication technology. He has completed over 80 next generation MOOC (Massive Open Online Courses) [aka Micro Learning] continuous education programs in a wide variety of topics, including: Economics, Python Programming, Internet of Things, Cloud, Artificial Intelligence and Cognitive systems, Blockchain, Agile, Power BI, Big Data, Design Thinking, Security, Indigenous Canada awareness, and more.
Martin is a volunteer, a photographer, a learner, a technologist, a philosophizer, and a romantic optimist.