One of the most beautiful memories I have and that is repeated from my childhood and my adolescence is lying on the beach enjoying the rain of stars. The silence broken only by the waves hitting the shore or the rocks, the emotion of making a wish to the tears of San Lorenzo, the magic of summer nights. Every year it was repeated, and if it couldn’t be on the beach, he would look for a place to see them. Did the same thing happen to you? If it is also special for you, surely you would like to photograph the meteor shower with your camera, right? Today I tell you how to photograph the tears of San Lorenzo or any other shower of stars. And if you like night photography, you will love this mega guide that we have prepared for you with tips, tricks and loads of inspiration.
- Equipment to photograph the meteor shower
- How to plan your next star photography
- How to photograph a meteor shower
Equipment to photograph the meteor shower
Let’s start with the basics. To achieve the best results, you need the right equipment. Let’s see what is recommended or what is essential:
- Tripod. Indispensable. If you don’t have a tripod capable of properly stabilizing your equipment, you’d better put your camera away and dedicate yourself to enjoying the meteor shower with your eyes. It is well worth having a good time of contemplation than one of frustration.
- Remote trigger and/or timer. In this case, if you don’t have one, there are alternatives. The objective is that you can shoot without having to press the camera’s shutter button to avoid the consequent shakes and that it is done automatically every x time you mark it. Some cameras offer this possibility, you can also use the application that allows you to do it from your mobile, if your camera has this connection option. If you don’t have any of this, use the 2s fire delay mode. It’s enough, but you’re going to have to shoot continuously, you do need patience and concentration, but if the subject really motivates you, you won’t mind.
- Camera with manual modes. To take good photos, any camera is enough, but we cannot say this in the case of the meteor shower. This type of photography requires a technique that requires manually adjusting the parameters. Cameras that only work in automatic here have little to do.
- Bright target. The brighter your lens, the better results you’ll get. Of course you can try it with an aperture of f/5.6, for example, but you won’t get such spectacular stars.
- Angle lens. It is not essential but it is recommended. The larger angle of the sky you can cover with the lens, the more chances you have to capture shooting stars and make an attractive composition to go with your starry sky.
- Batteries and cards. Long exposure photography consumes a lot of battery, so if you have a spare, I recommend that you carry it well charged. On the other hand, make sure that the memory card has a large storage capacity and a high writing speed.
- Flashlight or headlamp. The most comfortable is a front that leaves your hands free to manipulate the camera or the tripod seeing in total darkness. Although either of the two will work for you and if you wear both much better, then, as I will remind you almost at the end of the article, a powerful flashlight is very useful to illuminate the close-ups that you include in the image, unless what you are looking for is a silhouette.
- Other lighting accessories. This is optional and depending on the type of photography you like, but you can also use LED panels which are continuous lights to illuminate a large area in the foreground, external flash or colored gels. You put the limit (with your imagination and budget).
- Patience. Yes, this is neither bought nor lent, although it is cultivated. Be clear about the patience you will need, this is not to arrive, aim, shoot and go home. It has a few hours ahead of it, so if you go with good company, much better, and if you are one of those people who enjoy solitude and silence, then great, it will scare you.
- Practice. In addition, this type of photography requires more technique and this is achieved with practice. So I advise you, if you can, that before the shower of stars, do some tests, even if it is to capture the stars on a normal night. This will help you with exposure times, focusing on the stars, planning. One or several rehearsals before the night of the rain will help ensure the results if you have never photographed stars before.
- Chair. And since you are going to be there for a long time, the ideal is that you take a chair or something to sit comfortably and wait (a few pipes to accompany are also good 😉 ).
- Mobile phone. Well loaded, in case you have to tell where you are, ask for help, etc. Security is also important, if you go to isolated places at night, make sure they know where you are going to be and if you go with company better than better.
star photographer
How to plan your next star photography
The first and most important thing is planning. Good planning will help you find the best moment and know where to point your camera to achieve the best results.
When to photograph the meteor shower
To find out the best time to photograph the stars, you can use astronomy pages that tell you when the peaks are or that give you the job done and save time with the Photopills application (iOS/Android). Although it is paid, its price is well worth it if you really like photography, and especially photographing the sky, stars, moon, sun, etc. Although it offers much more (if you want us to talk more in depth about this application and tell you everything it is capable of, please leave a comment below ⬇️ ⬇️ ⬇️).
Returning to the planning of our meteor shower, in Photopills you will find a section called “Meteor shower” that locates your location and shows you the meteor activity, but if you enter the Calendar it shows you all the meteor showers and in what intensity will take place, with information on its maximum peak. Yes, you can look at the next few years, in case you need to plan way ahead.
We are now going to focus on the Perseids, because they are the ones that are currently active and whose peak will take place in the next few days. I warn you in time so you can plan 😉 . Although this article will help you learn to photograph any other shower (meteor showers, of course).
Once inside the Photopills Calendar, it tells you the day and time of the maximum peak of your location. Where I Am Now will take place on August 13 at 1:53 a.m. with approximately 49 meteors per hour.
It is important to take into account the day and time when the rain is at its peak to have more chances. In addition, you must also take into account the presence of the moon, as this prevents the visibility of many meteors. The greater the moonlight, the less chance of capturing meteors. Once again, the importance of planning well is highlighted, not only the place, but also the moment.
If you go inside the Peak at your location in Photopills and slide down, a graph appears that indicates the intensity of meteors per hour throughout the night. In this graph you can also see the path of the moon, and know at all times if it will be above or below the horizon. In the same graph the path of the radiant also appears, in a moment we will see what it is and why it is so important.
Where to photograph the meteor shower
The most important aspect is run away from light pollution. This does not allow us to see the stars in conditions, much less photograph them. If you can flee to a place far from cities or towns, do not hesitate. To find out which are the most suitable areas, you can use a light pollution map.
Choose a spot free of light pollution that allows you to focus on the part of the sky that interests you most, we’ll talk about it now, while also allowing you to include an attractive foreground to contextualize your sky and add interest to the image.
How to compose your photograph of the Perseids
Beyond an attractive composition that includes some element such as trees, mountains, a house or any other that contextualizes your photography and accompanies the stars, as we have just mentioned, there is a very important aspect.
It is about locating the radiant. This is the point from which all the stars seem to rain and the one that gives each shower its name. In this case, as it takes place in the Perseus constellation, the shower is called the Perseids. If you include it in the frame you get a drawing similar to this image by astronomer Fred Bruenjes. A photograph like this is achieved by joining several long-exposure images, and it is not made with an amateur lens, but this is another topic, now you are interested in seeing the type of photographs you can achieve depending on how you frame it and, if you include the radiant , the stars converge to a point as in that image.
This does not mean that you have to compose yes or yes with the radiant within the frame, but rather that it will help you plan or choose your composition depending on the result you want. The closer to the radiant, the shorter the traces, the farther from the radiant, the longer. Knowing this will help you fine-tune with the result you are looking for.
How to find the radiant in a meteor shower?
The radiant is in the constellation of the name of the rain, if they are the Leonidas, then you will have to look for the constellation of Leo. I have used the RA (Augmented Reality) of Photopills.
The AR allows you to locate the radiant in the location where you are and if you slide your finger, it changes its position depending on the time.
This helps you when deciding your frame in the same place, even if it is not the same day as the rain.
Also, you can see where the Milky Way will be.
Ideas to compose your meteor shower photography
As we have talked about, depending on what type of image you want to achieve, you will have to plan your photography. What options do you have?
- You can photograph the Milky Way with a shooting star crossing the sky. To do this, you frame the Milky Way and avoid the radiant as much as possible. You will be able to achieve it in a single photo, but equally, not in a single shot. Achieving it the first time is almost more difficult than getting the euromillionso you will have to pull the interval meter anyway to catch some at some point.
- Or, simply, a very attractive foreground without the Milky Way but with the long-tailed star. The process would be the same but without the care to capture the Milky Way.
- A stacked with many shooting stars in the sky. You stack in Photoshop the images in…