Photographing the Perseids
Follow our top tips and get the most from your imaging session
1. The basic kit
A basic DSLR or bridge camera – with a standard, wide, kit lens – and a solid photo tripod are ideal for simple meteor photography. Focus the lens by pointing at a bright star, zooming in on the Live View if you have it, and adjusting the focus ring until the star appears as small as possible. Then, set your ISO setting to a relatively high value, point your camera skyward and start taking 10 to 30 second-long exposures.
3. Prepare for a long night
To be in with a chance of capturing a Perseid meteor, your camera’s going to have to operate for a long time. Make sure you have the battery fully charged, and a couple of spares on standby if possible, as it will drain quickly in the cold with the shutter firing continuously. Watch out for dew forming on the lens too; some meteor photographers use specialist dew heaters on their camera optics to combat this.
2. Take as many images as you can
It’s really luck if a Perseid passes through your camera’s field of view, so you’ll want to take as many images as you can to have the best chance. This can be achieved by setting your camera to continuous shooting mode, if it has it, and using a basic cable release or an intervalometer; these usually have the ability to ‘lock off’ the shutter so it fires repeatedly after each exposure has finished.
4. How to identify a meteor in your shots
Meteor photography is hard. Don’t be dismayed by comparisons with misleading social media pictures – many ‘meteor’ images online show satellite trails. Meteors tend to have a slight green tint to their ‘tails’ and are cocktail-stick shaped, whereas satellite trails often begin and end abruptly and are an even thickness. Short-lived shooting stars will only appear on a single exposure, but satellites often show in the frames before and after.