Aurora lights tonight - photo help

[Bluebellsinthewind]

Can anyone please help me. How can I take good photos/videos of the lights tonight with my Samsung galaxy S24 ultra?

All tips most welcome I am hopeless with technology.

Also will anyone else be out tonight watching the lights/taking pics? It's UK wide again tonight.

I hope so! Should be fine. Bumped into a woman who saw it yesterday through her phone, photos were great.

I would like to know too please! My phone is a Samsung also but a bit more basic I think.

I took some last night. Set camera to pro and the exposure to about one second. Find something to rest your phone against as there will be blurry wobble otherwise. That worked for me.

@Allwelcone the photos I've seen on social media are amazing. Hope you enjoy tonight.

@DilemmaDelilah my sky watch pitch black last night. I just pointed my phone up and clicked away. It just looked like pink clouds though.

Thanks @Nightblindness I have a gimble somewhere that I can look out. Will look at my camera settings. I think when I tried Pro last night the pictures were just of the black sky.

I have a Samsung and put it in night mode. You need a steady hand but works with that.

@gohomeroger1 thanks. I've just set up Pro, not sure if it automatically goes to night mode though 🤔

I am going to try and see them tonight indeed!

What time is best tonight to see them?

I was also going to ask about best time to see them.

I'd love to get ds to photograph them - he's great with a camera!

An you only see them with a camera? And what time are they more visible?

Includes phone camera tips:
BBC News - Northern Lights: How to see them in the UK tonight
https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-68995042

It was after 11pm last night they started ...got better and better, by 12:30am -1am.

Agree you need to put it on night mode in settings (and no flash). You need to keep very still while it tells you it is saving it. As told when we were in Iceland! Got some good shots last night and my Samsung is 3 years old.

@Totallybannanas Depends on how strong they are and how dark it is where you are. Some people saw them with the naked eye last night but we were in our back garden so not totally dark sky. We could only spot fine trails as if a plane had flown over but through the phone's camera the whole hue of colours became visible.

According to aurora watch, the chances of seeing tonight all over UK is reducing.

Still ok in northern Scotland if that's where you are and might change but in past couple of hours has gone from all of UK, to Scotland and northern UK, to just Scotland.

Hopefully this will change again.

@frozendaisy aww that's a shame. Not checked the app for a while. I am in the Highlands so hopefully can still see them after Eurovision.

Apparently you need to put your phone on night mode when taking the photos

I didn't do anything special except put my flash off

Better chance in Highlands for sure

I had to use the flash on my phone to even see them with it. I think I need to upgrade to a better camera, it looked so good on someone’s latest iPhone.

Go into 'Pro', turn up the 'Iso' to max or near, and then play with your shutter speed whilst pointing your phone at the sky. Not sure if that's official technical advice, but worked for me!

@Liquorish my daughter in law has the latest iPhone and her pictures are amazing. She took a picture tonight of the half moon and its beautiful.