How to Photograph Meteor Showers (Pro Tips & Settings)
- Ryan Oswald
- Apr 30
- 4 min read
Want to capture a meteor streaking across the night sky? This tutorial covers the gear, camera settings, and techniques you need to shoot meteor showers like the Perseids or Geminids.
REQUIRED GEAR
DSLR or Mirrorless camera (manual mode capable)
Fast wide-angle lens (f/2.8 or faster)
Sturdy tripod
Intervalometer
RECOMMENDED STARTING SETTINGS
Manual Mode Is a Must
Auto settings will fail in low light. Go full Manual so you can control exposure precisely.
Aperture: f/2.8
You’ll miss many fast moving meteors without a wide aperture, especially the faster, dimmer meteors. But don't let that stop you! You an still capture the bright and best metoers streaking across the sky with f/3.5, you'll just need to up your ISO to 12,800 (and be sure to stack your skies to reduce the noise).
ISO: 6,400
Your single image will have noise, but this will help pick up on fainter, less bright shooting stars. You will want to stack your images with Starry Landscape Stacker (if you have a Mac) or Sequator (if you have a PC) to reduce the noise.
Shutter: 10-20 seconds (avoid star trailing)
Your goal is to be open as long as possible without having stars trail. This will give you the best opportunity to capture those fast meteors. A 20 second shutter only has 3 seconds not open during 1 minute. A 5 second shutter has 10 seconds not open during 1 minute. It's truly unbelievable how many meteors happen between frames!
Manual Focus
Use live view, zoom in on a star, nail focus, then switch to manual focus. If you forget to turn it off, your camera may refocus before every shot and miss completely.
Use Continuous Shooting
Set your intervalometer to shoot one exposure every 1-2 seconds for at least 1-2 hours. This maximizes your chance of catching meteors.
White Balance: 3500–4000K
Leaving in Auto WB can make blending certain skies more difficult if the white balance changes for some reason, like if light gets introduced to the frame, which happens no matter how much we pray it doesn't. It also makes putting together all the frames you shot into a timelapse far more difficult to have a seamless video.
File Type: RAW
Always shoot in RAW. If you want a Jpeg, most cameras have the option of Jpeg + RAW.
KNOW THE BEST TIME & PLACE
Where:
Choose a dark sky site facing a direction with minimal city light pollution and a wide open view of the sky. Check lightpollutionmap.info.
When:
Peak nights are usually after midnight during major showers (Perseids, Geminids).
Conditions:
Check apps like Clear Outside or Stellarium to monitor conditions. I
INCLUDE FOREGROUND
Compose smart. Don’t point directly at the radiant (the source of the meteor shower)...meteors will look short. Don't stop with the sky. Include a silhouetted element or shoot a landscape foreground separately and blend in later. Don't just photograph meteors in the night sky, tell a story to help share your experience.
STACK SKIES FOR IMPACT
Combine multiple meteor frames into one frame. To clean the noise in the sky, stack 25 images in Starry Landscape Stacker (or Sequator).
Want the stripped-down cheat sheet for use in the field?
Grab the Quick Guide →
Join our Night Landscape Photography Workshops!
Timed around the new moon, our landscape astro workshops are built for those who want to chase unique compositions off the beaten path & capture the Milky Way like never before.
WANT MONTHLY ALERTS LIKE THIS? JOIN THE NIGHT SKY WATCH LIST.
SHARE YOUR SHTOS WITH THE GUILD
Join the Image Guild Discord to swap shots, get feedback, and talk gear and settings with photographers across the country. We’d love to feature your Lyrid or Milky Way photos in next month’s Sky Watch.
Frequently Asked Questions (FAQ)
What’s the best time to photograph a meteor shower?
The best time is typically between 12:00 AM and 4:00 AM, when the sky is darkest and the radiant is high in the sky. Peak activity usually occurs a day or two before or after the official peak night
What is the radiant?
The radiant is the point in the sky where all meteors from a specific shower appear to originate. It’s an optical illusion...meteors travel in parallel paths, but from our perspective on Earth, they seem to radiate outward from a single spot (like railroad tracks converging in the distance)
Should I point my camera at the radiant?
What’s the best lens for meteor photography?
Use a wide-angle lens (14mm to 24mm) with a fast aperture like f/2.8 or lower. This gives you a large field of view and lets in more light to catch meteors.
Can I shoot with a moon in the sky?
If the moon is full or bright, it can wash out fainter meteors. Ideally, shoot during a new moon or when the moon has already set below the horizon.
How many photos should I take?
As many as possible. Set an intervalometer to shoot continuously for 1–2 hours or more. More frames = more chances to capture meteors.
How do I stack meteor photos in editing?
コメント