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How to Photograph Shooting Stars

There is nothing more beautiful than a meteor shower on a dark night. It's difficult, but not impossible to take pictures of these interstellar visitors. If possible, use a 35 mm film SLR. You can try a digital camera. But digital cameras heat up during long exposure time. The camera interprets this heat as light and it will distort the photograph. Called "thermal noise," this distortion is minimized by keeping exposure time to 20 seconds or less.

Things You'll Need

SLR camera
Locking tripod
Cable shutter release
Power cord or extra batteries
Several rolls of 100, 200 or 400 speed film

Instructions

- 1
  Travel to an area that has little or no light pollution. This usually means leaving any city.
- 2
  Load the film in the camera. Start with 400 speed film if there is little or no light in the area. While 100 speed film will be darker and sharper, it can be used if the sky is clear and the stars are bright. One suggestion is to shoot several different speed films a few nights ahead of the planned meteor shower. Play with the length of time you leave the shutter open. Develop the film and see which speed and time works best for your camera and location.
- 3
  Hook the shutter remote to the camera and make sure that it is set for either T (for timer) or B (for bulb.) Set the distance to infinity. Make sure the flash is turned off. Install fresh batteries.
- 4
  Set up the tripod and lock the legs into place. Attach the camera to the tripod. Once everything is set, don't touch the camera. It must remain entirely still.
- 5
  When the meteor shower begins, push the shutter button to open the shutter. Start counting with a stop watch or second hand. Unless you know how long to leave the shutter open, try different lengths of time from 30 seconds to four minutes.
- 6
  When the film is developed, look carefully at the negatives as well as the prints. If streaks can be seen on the negatives, try sending them to a high quality film developer, or a professional photographer. They may be able to play with the print time to bring out the best picture.

Astronomy