The best way to capture the Aurora is to let the Aurora In Alaska team of professional photographers help you on our tour. ;)
The short Answer is yes if you have IPhone 11 Pro or newer you can take some amazing photos and sometimes even videos.
Video of Aurora Borealis Storm Captured on iPhone
An easy way to figure this out is by looking at the back of your phone. If it has the three cameras the your good to go. If you don't have three cameras you may still be able to see some Aurora in your pictures but not with very much clarity. It will come out looking dark and fuzzy unless it's a spectacular night with a very bright sky.
As always while doing night sky photography with your smart phone, or any camera a tripod will always significantly improve your night sky photos.
The reason for the tripod is the iPhone is taking what is called a long exposure picture. This means the shutter on the camera stays open for typically around three seconds. Any movement during this time will cause the photo to blur.
For these pictures always place your iPhone in Night Mode and never use the flash.
You will see a slider at the bottom of your iPhone when in night mode. You can adjust the exposure upper down as needed however I usually always leave my exposure on Auto.
If you do have a tripod handy I would recommend trying different exsposure settings from 3 second all the way up to 10 seconds. Compare the photos and keep shooting with the settings that look the best.
Here is a photo taken on an IPhone 11 Pro March 5th 2022. Aurora Borealis storm forecasted to be KP 6
When taking a video of the Aurora on your iPhone there are no tricks you simply point and shoot. While it is fairly difficult to video Aurora on an iPhone and it typically only bright enough to be see on very high Aurora activity nights.
In summary well you can use an iPhone 11 pro or newer to capture photos and videos of the Aurora that look fairly decent for your social media they are not photos that would be able to printed out for wall art due to the clarity. If using a properly equipped full frame camera you're able to capture crystal clear images of the aurora and yourself that can be turned into beautiful wall art.
We offer Aurora photography tours in Alaska. That means even if you don't have a newer iPhone or maybe you do and woukd just like that perfect Aurora picture we got you covered. We will have our expensive aurora camera equipment and all photos are included in the price of the tour. We do provide tripods available for your iPhones at no charge. We also have our very expensive Aurora photography equipment with us and will have it set up to get that perfect picture of you and the northern lights. All photos are included for free in the price of the tour. Book Here
