One night, I was heading out to buy groceries. As I walked towards my car I looked up at the night sky and saw the moon, larger than I’ve ever seen it before. It was bright, and I could clearly observe its cratered surface. Naturally, I pull out my phone and snap a picture.
You probably know from your own experience that the picture was disappointing to say the least. The moon in the picture looked like a tiny illuminated pimple in the sky. Nothing compared to how marvelous the real thing looked to my eyes.
Microsoft has taken it upon itself to reveal some helpful tips on astrophotography. In a recent post on the Lumia Conversations blog, the company suggests you use a tripod with your Lumia when taking pictures of the night sky, this not only allows you to capture sharper images, but also lets you decrease your ISO levels, increase your shutter speed, and get clearer and brighter night pictures as a result. Check out the image below which was taken with a Lumia 1020, in which you can see Jupiter in a twilight sky.
To take good pictures of the moon, extra equipment will be needed. You’ll need a telescope and a phone mount. You’ll then need to adjust the camera settings depending how illuminated the moon is. This can be easily done with the Lumia Camera app for Windows Phone. The result is what you see in the lead image above, also taken with a Lumia 1020.
Windows Phone users are blessed to have some of the best cameras on smartphones thanks to PureView technology, as well sophisticated imaging software that may or may not be the future of smartphone photography. Let us know if you have any tips for taking awesome pictures with your Lumia in the comments section below.
