If you look to this skies this summer, you’ll want to photograph the Neowise Comet! A surprise visitor according to NASA. It’s big, bright and beautiful. Hovering above the horizon in the late evening to the early morning hours, it’s a gift just to see it.
For photographers, well, let’s just say we’re pretty jazzed about this comet’s dash through space. We’ll do more than see. We’ll be taking a lot of photos. Neowise’s visibility continues to increase where it should peak on July 22. From there, it’ll wane over a few weeks. As I live in Michigan, we’re seeing it earlier than our southern friends. Check out: Comet Neowise, the Brightest Comet in the Sky and How to See it Now.
Our tips include 1) gear needed, 2) camera settings and how to determine which ones to use and 3) composition ideas. The good news? These tips apply to northern lights, the milky way and other star photography moments. See also: Imagery & Artistry: How to Photograph the Night Skies
Gear Needed to Photograph the Neowise Comet
Lenses – focal length
For star photography, most tips suggest (including mine) using the widest possible focal length that you have. The reason? The more sky in the image, the more impactful. We want to capture a sky filled with twinkling stars and star activity.
With Neowise, the suggested focal length is still wide to bring in the whole sky. However, if you’re looking to take tight shots of the comet above the horizon, or above an interesting focal point, a longer lens works too.
What lenses do I use? As wide as possible. My go-to lens for big skies is either is the Nikon 14-24mm or the 24-70mm. Both of these lenses and other brands are available at B&H Photo and KEH Camera.
Tripod & Cable Release or Shutter Delay Mode
When shooting night skies, our shutters are open for seconds. A tripod is a must to ensure clear images. Add in a cable release or using your camera’s shutter delay mode prevents motion from shutter shake.
If you’re looking to purchase new camera gear and accessories, B&H Photo has a tremendous selection of cameras, lenses and accessories to choose from. KEH Camera Store maintains large inventory of high quality used equipment too.
Camera Settings & Decisions Needed to Photography the Neowise Comet
What is the suggested shooting mode? How to you know which settings to choose for your scene? See: The 4 Shooting Modes, Which One is Right for You.
As our light evolves throughout the night, we adjust our settings quite a bit. We balance our lighting by using the biggest aperture possible along with shifting ISO and shutter speeds. Here’s a quick summary including suggested settings:
- Camera Shooting Mode: Manual – For the continual shifting of night sky light, shooting in Manual Mode makes it easy to adjust your settings on the fly. The settings we’re adjusting mostly include shutter speed and ISO.
- Aperture Setting: Wide – To bring in as much light as possible, we’ll use our widest aperture setting. For example, I set my aperture to 2.8 on my Nikon 24-70 f/2.8 lens or 14 – 24mm f/2.8 lens.
- ISO: 1600 – 4000 – In daylight, we tend to use lower ISO settings to minimize digital noise. When I’m shooting landscapes, birds, street and travel photography, lower offers cleaner images. At night though, ISO is your friend! It’s available for a reason – to use it! During night shootings, work with ISO ranges. I start at 1600 and reach up to 4000 ISO to manage light.
- Shutter Speed: 12 – 30 seconds Just as we adjust our ISO ranges, we shift our shutter speeds too. Depending on the sky and surrounding light, shutter speeds typically range from 15 seconds up to 30 seconds. Too long of a shutter speed and the stars begin to look like little magic pills. Too short of a shutter speed and the image is too dark.
Putting it all together: Manual shooting mode, largest aperture possible. Then adjust shutter and ISO using variations. Examples: 20 second shutter speed, ISO 1600; 25 second shutter speed, ISO 2000, 15 second shutter speed, ISO 3500. As the night lighting shifts, so do our settings.
How to Quickly Calculate a Shutter Speed Starting Point
Many of us like to apply a little ‘science’ to the settings selection process. The 500 method starts with using 500 divided by your lens focal length. In the case of my 24mm focal length it would be 500/24 = 20 seconds. If I were using a 14mm, then it would be 500/14 = 36 seconds. This calculation applies to full frame cameras.
If you’re photographing with a cropped sensor, the crop factor comes into play. The calculation is as above with 500/24 = 20 seconds. Then, divide the 20 seconds by your crop factor. For a 1.5 cropped sensor camera it would be 20/1.5 = 13 seconds.
These times serve as a good starting point. But, don’t stick with one shutter speed. The surrounding light, clouds, position of the moon impacts shutter speed times. Plus, you’ll have more to choose from in post processing in Lightroom, Photoshop or other software.
Composition Creates Impact
The composition considerations we use in our landscape photography apply here too. Find elements that support and frame your subject. A comet, by itself is nice. But a comet with balance provides context to what’s happening. If you look at the comet in the image above, the bonfire offers context to the scene.
In our featured image at the top, the red chairs, viewer with a candle and an open seat invites us to sit and enjoy the view. If you have the opportunity to arrive while light, look for interesting subjects to include in your scene. Your natural eye for daylight composition works in the depths of the dark too.
Photographing our night skies requires playing, test shots, trial and error, and taking a lot of photos. At the end of the night, our enchanting night skies rewards photographers and viewers.
