Northern Lights Phone vs Camera by Monika Kross

Given the veritable explosion of aurora borealis & nighttime photos due to the fact phone cameras are finally allowing people to take low light pictures, I think it’s important for folks to understand that even though you can’t get results like you see from some of the best northern lights photographers, these photographers aren’t faking or cheating. They are simply working with much more photo data & understanding of how to apply it than most people.

Monika shares “The difference between a phone shot and a camera shot, each taken several minutes apart. I took quite a few phone shots that night, esp as I worked my way up the coast of the Keweenaw in 28mph winds. In each phone shot, I see noise, blown pixels, and black feathering. Shooting on a camera in raw, we have to edit to put the contrast, color, and texture back into it. It looks very milky before editing and it takes a lot of work.

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PS: The phone camera is on the left!

PPS: More posts about camera operation & cameras on Michigan in Pictures!