Taking a photograph of a Perseid meteor can be a relatively simple exercise provided you know where to point your camera, and when to expect the peak activity to occur.<\/p>\n
With a bit of preparation, you can set up a relatively hands-free photography station to monitor the sky for you.<\/p>\n
![\""A\"](\""https:\/\/images.immediate.co.uk\/production\/volatile\/sites\/25\/2023\/03\/GettyImages-589513190-ab8dd0b-e1687858061103.jpg?quality=90&resize=620%2C413"\" "\\"\"A\\"\/")
<\/source><\/source><\/source><\/source><\/source><\/source><\/source><\/source><\/source><\/source><\/source><\/source><\/source><\/source><\/picture><\/div>Which camera?<\/strong><\/h2>\nIn terms of which camera to pick when attempting to photograph a Perseid meteor, DSLRs are a good option because they offer the most flexibility for wide-field photography of the sky. <\/span><\/p>\nInterchangeable lenses allow you to select the best equipment for photographing a Perseid.<\/p>\n
Narrow fields of view will lower the likelihood of capturing a meteor in any given exposure, so use your widest lens on its widest setting. Focal lengths between 10-24mm are ideal.<\/p>\n
You could also try using an all-sky camera<\/a> or a multi-camera mount<\/a>.<\/p>\nIf you need help working out where to look in the night sky, read our guide to observing the Perseid meteor shower<\/a>.<\/p>\n ![\""Perseid\"]( "\\"\"Perseid\\"\/")
<\/source><\/source><\/source><\/source><\/source><\/source><\/source><\/source><\/source><\/source><\/source><\/source><\/source><\/source><\/picture><\/div> Perseid trail over Caph, James Robertson, Croydon, 12 August 2016. Equipment: Canon EOS 750D DSLR camera, Sky-Watcher Esprit 80ED, Celestron AVX mount.<\/span><\/figcaption><\/div>\nEquipment and settings<\/strong><\/h2>\nAs with all low-light and time-lapse photography, a tripod is essential for photographing meteors.<\/p>\n
Better yet, you can use compact equatorial tracking systems designed for light payloads to keep your stars nice and sharp over long exposures.<\/p>\n
Use an intervalometer to do the boring bit!<\/p>\n
Taking continuous exposures back-to-back with a large area of sky in view can be hard work, so this valuable piece of photographic kit should make the session more enjoyable.<\/p>\n
![\""An\"]( "\\"\"An\\"\/")
<\/source><\/source><\/source><\/source><\/source><\/source><\/source><\/source><\/source><\/source><\/source><\/source><\/source><\/source><\/picture><\/div> An intervalometer will help you take multiple shots without shaking your camera. Credit: Ruksil \/ Getty<\/span><\/figcaption><\/div>\nMake sure your memory card has plenty of space, and set your camera to shoot RAW images.<\/p>\n
Most cameras have a liveview zoom feature, allowing you to manually focus until a bright star appears as pin-sharp as possible.<\/p>\n
Bear in mind that most lenses focus \u2018beyond infinity\u2019 for mechanical reasons, so you can\u2019t rely on the focus dial entirely.<\/p>\n
You\u2019ll also find that stars at the edge of the field appear much less point-like, but the edges can be cropped out later.<\/p>\n
![\""Perseid\"]( "\\"\"Perseid\\"\/")
<\/source><\/source><\/source><\/source><\/source><\/source><\/source><\/source><\/source><\/source><\/source><\/source><\/source><\/source><\/picture><\/div> Perseid Meteor past Cassiopeia, Mike Barber, West Midlands, 10 August 2012. Equipment: Pentax K-r camera.<\/span><\/figcaption><\/div>\nTop tips<\/strong><\/h2>\n- Experiment with exposure settings. Test out your camera until you get pleasing results for your local sky conditions and camera\/lens combination.<\/li>\n
- Most cameras give best overall long exposure results between ISO 800-3200, but how bright your photo appears will depend on exposure time and photographic speed of the lens.<\/li>\n
- If lens is wide with a maximum aperture of F\/4 or faster, you can rely on 15-30 second exposures to produce sharp stars on a static tripod, whilst ensuring meteors will be conspicuous in the final image.<\/li>\n
- Controlling sky brightness in light-polluted images should also be a consideration: a blown-out sky will reduce the contrast of fainter meteors.<\/li>\n
- Target the highest ratio of exposure to on-board camera processing and keep the delay between images as short as possible.<\/li>\n
- Consider turning off your camera\u2019s on-board long-exposure noise reduction to increase the rate of images you can take.<\/li>\n
- Fewer images means lower likelihood your camera is gathering light at the critical moment. Take steps to clean up noise with software afterwards.<\/li>\n<\/ol>
![\""Perseid\"]( "\\"\"Perseid\\"\/")
<\/source><\/source><\/source><\/source><\/source><\/source><\/source><\/source><\/source><\/source><\/source><\/source><\/source><\/source><\/picture><\/div> Perseid fireball above city light, Jeff Dai, Chongqing, China, 11 August 2013. Equipment: Canon EOS 5D DSLR Mark II camera, AF-S Nikkor 14-24mm lens.<\/span><\/figcaption><\/div>\n\u00a0<\/p>\n
If you do manage to photograph a Perseid meteor, be sure to share with us via email<\/a> or on our Twitter<\/a> and Facebook<\/a> accounts.<\/strong><\/p>\nTom Kerss<\/a> is an astronomer and writer. For more stargazing advice, follow him on Twitter<\/a>.<\/strong><\/p> <\/body><\/html>\n
","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":" Find out to photograph a Perseid meteor shower in the night sky and what equipment you’ll need. <\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":24,"featured_media":47699,"template":"","categories":[34],"acf":{"readingTimeMinutes":"4"},"uagb_featured_image_src":{"full":["https:\/\/c01.purpledshub.com\/uploads\/sites\/77\/2023\/07\/how-to-photograph-the-perseid-meteor-shower.jpg",1200,800,false],"thumbnail":["https:\/\/c01.purpledshub.com\/uploads\/sites\/77\/2023\/07\/how-to-photograph-the-perseid-meteor-shower-150x150.jpg",150,150,true],"medium":["https:\/\/c01.purpledshub.com\/uploads\/sites\/77\/2023\/07\/how-to-photograph-the-perseid-meteor-shower-300x200.jpg",300,200,true],"medium_large":["https:\/\/c01.purpledshub.com\/uploads\/sites\/77\/2023\/07\/how-to-photograph-the-perseid-meteor-shower-768x512.jpg",768,512,true],"large":["https:\/\/c01.purpledshub.com\/uploads\/sites\/77\/2023\/07\/how-to-photograph-the-perseid-meteor-shower-1024x683.jpg",800,534,true],"1536x1536":["https:\/\/c01.purpledshub.com\/uploads\/sites\/77\/2023\/07\/how-to-photograph-the-perseid-meteor-shower.jpg",1200,800,false],"2048x2048":["https:\/\/c01.purpledshub.com\/uploads\/sites\/77\/2023\/07\/how-to-photograph-the-perseid-meteor-shower.jpg",1200,800,false]},"uagb_author_info":{"display_name":"importmanagerhub@sprylab.com","author_link":"https:\/\/c01.purpledshub.com\/bbcskyatnight\/author\/importmanagerhubsprylab-com\/"},"uagb_comment_info":0,"uagb_excerpt":"Find out to photograph a Perseid meteor shower in the night sky and what equipment you'll need.","_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/c01.purpledshub.com\/bbcskyatnight\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/rss_feed\/47698"}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/c01.purpledshub.com\/bbcskyatnight\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/rss_feed"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/c01.purpledshub.com\/bbcskyatnight\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/rss_feed"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/c01.purpledshub.com\/bbcskyatnight\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/24"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/c01.purpledshub.com\/bbcskyatnight\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/47699"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/c01.purpledshub.com\/bbcskyatnight\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=47698"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/c01.purpledshub.com\/bbcskyatnight\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=47698"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}
Interchangeable lenses allow you to select the best equipment for photographing a Perseid.<\/p>\n
Narrow fields of view will lower the likelihood of capturing a meteor in any given exposure, so use your widest lens on its widest setting. Focal lengths between 10-24mm are ideal.<\/p>\n
You could also try using an all-sky camera<\/a> or a multi-camera mount<\/a>.<\/p>\n If you need help working out where to look in the night sky, read our guide to observing the Perseid meteor shower<\/a>.<\/p>\n As with all low-light and time-lapse photography, a tripod is essential for photographing meteors.<\/p>\n Better yet, you can use compact equatorial tracking systems designed for light payloads to keep your stars nice and sharp over long exposures.<\/p>\n Use an intervalometer to do the boring bit!<\/p>\n Taking continuous exposures back-to-back with a large area of sky in view can be hard work, so this valuable piece of photographic kit should make the session more enjoyable.<\/p>\n Make sure your memory card has plenty of space, and set your camera to shoot RAW images.<\/p>\n Most cameras have a liveview zoom feature, allowing you to manually focus until a bright star appears as pin-sharp as possible.<\/p>\n Bear in mind that most lenses focus \u2018beyond infinity\u2019 for mechanical reasons, so you can\u2019t rely on the focus dial entirely.<\/p>\n You\u2019ll also find that stars at the edge of the field appear much less point-like, but the edges can be cropped out later.<\/p>\n \u00a0<\/p>\n If you do manage to photograph a Perseid meteor, be sure to share with us via email<\/a> or on our Twitter<\/a> and Facebook<\/a> accounts.<\/strong><\/p>\n Tom Kerss<\/a> is an astronomer and writer. For more stargazing advice, follow him on Twitter<\/a>.<\/strong><\/p> <\/body><\/html>\n Find out to photograph a Perseid meteor shower in the night sky and what equipment you’ll need. <\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":24,"featured_media":47699,"template":"","categories":[34],"acf":{"readingTimeMinutes":"4"},"uagb_featured_image_src":{"full":["https:\/\/c01.purpledshub.com\/uploads\/sites\/77\/2023\/07\/how-to-photograph-the-perseid-meteor-shower.jpg",1200,800,false],"thumbnail":["https:\/\/c01.purpledshub.com\/uploads\/sites\/77\/2023\/07\/how-to-photograph-the-perseid-meteor-shower-150x150.jpg",150,150,true],"medium":["https:\/\/c01.purpledshub.com\/uploads\/sites\/77\/2023\/07\/how-to-photograph-the-perseid-meteor-shower-300x200.jpg",300,200,true],"medium_large":["https:\/\/c01.purpledshub.com\/uploads\/sites\/77\/2023\/07\/how-to-photograph-the-perseid-meteor-shower-768x512.jpg",768,512,true],"large":["https:\/\/c01.purpledshub.com\/uploads\/sites\/77\/2023\/07\/how-to-photograph-the-perseid-meteor-shower-1024x683.jpg",800,534,true],"1536x1536":["https:\/\/c01.purpledshub.com\/uploads\/sites\/77\/2023\/07\/how-to-photograph-the-perseid-meteor-shower.jpg",1200,800,false],"2048x2048":["https:\/\/c01.purpledshub.com\/uploads\/sites\/77\/2023\/07\/how-to-photograph-the-perseid-meteor-shower.jpg",1200,800,false]},"uagb_author_info":{"display_name":"importmanagerhub@sprylab.com","author_link":"https:\/\/c01.purpledshub.com\/bbcskyatnight\/author\/importmanagerhubsprylab-com\/"},"uagb_comment_info":0,"uagb_excerpt":"Find out to photograph a Perseid meteor shower in the night sky and what equipment you'll need.","_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/c01.purpledshub.com\/bbcskyatnight\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/rss_feed\/47698"}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/c01.purpledshub.com\/bbcskyatnight\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/rss_feed"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/c01.purpledshub.com\/bbcskyatnight\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/rss_feed"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/c01.purpledshub.com\/bbcskyatnight\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/24"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/c01.purpledshub.com\/bbcskyatnight\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/47699"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/c01.purpledshub.com\/bbcskyatnight\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=47698"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/c01.purpledshub.com\/bbcskyatnight\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=47698"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}![\""Perseid\"](\""https:\/\/images.immediate.co.uk\/production\/volatile\/sites\/25\/2019\/02\/image_16-a2c88c4-e1595336373455.jpeg?quality=90&resize=620%2C349"\" "\\"\"Perseid\\"\/")
<\/source><\/source><\/source><\/source><\/source><\/source><\/source><\/source><\/source><\/source><\/source><\/source><\/source><\/source><\/picture><\/div>Equipment and settings<\/strong><\/h2>\n
![\""An\"](\""https:\/\/images.immediate.co.uk\/production\/volatile\/sites\/25\/2017\/07\/GettyImages-486746464-bb43590.jpg?quality=90&resize=620%2C414"\" "\\"\"An\\"\/")
<\/source><\/source><\/source><\/source><\/source><\/source><\/source><\/source><\/source><\/source><\/source><\/source><\/source><\/source><\/picture><\/div>![\""Perseid\"](\""https:\/\/images.immediate.co.uk\/production\/volatile\/sites\/25\/2019\/02\/Perseid-Meteor-681f9fd-e1595336410349.jpg?quality=90&resize=620%2C412"\" "\\"\"Perseid\\"\/")
<\/source><\/source><\/source><\/source><\/source><\/source><\/source><\/source><\/source><\/source><\/source><\/source><\/source><\/source><\/picture><\/div>Top tips<\/strong><\/h2>\n
![\""Perseid\"](\""https:\/\/images.immediate.co.uk\/production\/volatile\/sites\/25\/2019\/02\/Perseid-Meteor1200-7476810.jpg?quality=90&resize=620%2C413"\" "\\"\"Perseid\\"\/")
<\/source><\/source><\/source><\/source><\/source><\/source><\/source><\/source><\/source><\/source><\/source><\/source><\/source><\/source><\/picture><\/div>
","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"