Nightly starry-eye shooting on a smartphone has long been considered the lot of professional SLR cameras, but modern flagships and even budget models Xiaomi and Redmi work wonders. Built-in image processing algorithms combined with large sensors allow you to capture the Milky Way directly in the camera application without installing third-party software. However, automatic modes often do not cope with the lack of light, producing lubricated or over-lit images.
To get a really high-quality image of the cosmos, you will have to take control and use manual exposure settings. In this article, we will discuss the step-by-step algorithm of actions, the necessary parameters for different models of smartphones and life hacks that will help avoid common mistakes in night shooting.
The secret to success lies not only in the hardware, but also in the proper preparation of the scene: you need to find a place with minimal illumination from city lights and ensure maximum immobility of the device during the shooting, even microscopic hand tremors will spoil the long exposure, turning the bright spots of the stars into blurred spots.
Selection of location and preparation of equipment
The first step to getting the perfect shot is to find the location. Light pollution from streetlights, billboards and windows creates a "light dome" that blocks the faint glow of distant galaxies. To shoot stars, you need to go out of town or find a high ground where the horizon is not blocked by buildings.
Without a tripod or a solid support, you can't shoot stars, and you can't shut down in such conditions for 15 to 30 seconds, and you can't physically hold your phone completely still with your hands, and if you don't have a professional tripod, use a sandbag, a rock, or lean your phone against a stable object by locking it.
- 🔦 Bring a red light flashlight or seal with a regular red film so as not to illuminate the matrix when setting up and maintain night vision.
- 🔋 Charge your phone’s battery to 100% and turn off power-hungry features like Bluetooth and GPS, The cold and the camera work quickly put the battery down.
- 🧹 Wipe the camera lens with a soft cloth, as even fingerprints that are invisible in daylight will turn bright stars into ugly glare.
⚠️ Warning: Don't turn on the flash when trying to take a picture of the sky! The flash won't reach the stars, but will completely illuminate the foreground and spoil the white balance in the picture.
Many Xiaomi users do not even suspect that the standard camera application already has powerful tools for astrophotography. You start with the Night Mode, which takes a series of images and glues them together to remove noise, but stars often need a more advanced approach. MIUI And HyperOS, in "More," is often a separate "Long Shutter" or "Starry Sky" -- a algorithm that is specifically designed to capture static objects in the dark, automatically selects the optimal exposure time, but gives the user minimal control over the process. If your smartphone is equipped with a main camera module with optical stabilization (OIS), Automation can work more efficiently by compensating for micro-vibrations. However, relying only on software stabilization when shooting space is not worth it - mechanical fixation is still necessary to obtain a sharp picture. 💡Before shooting, turn on the grid in the camera settings, so that it is easier to align the horizon and build the frame composition.
Setting up the manual PRO mode for shooting space
To get a professional result, you need to switch to Pro mode (Professional), which is where you get full control of the sensor parameters. First of all, turn off autofocus and put the lens in manual mode, setting the value to infinity (mountain icon).
The key is shutter speed (S or Shutter) and the maximum length of the stars is 25-30 seconds, and the longer exposure will cause the stars to turn into tracks (lines) because of the Earth's rotation if you're not using the equatorial platform.
The ISO (sensitivity) setting needs to be selected experimentally, but the starting range for Xiaomi is usually 1600-3200 units. Too high an ISO value will add digital noise, and too low will prevent you from seeing dim objects.
☑️ Manual settings
White balance (WB) is best set manually in the range of 3,500–4,000 Kelvin, so that the sky has a natural deep hue, rather than going into yellowness or unnatural blue.
Shooting in RAW format: why it is necessary
In the top menu of the camera, be sure to activate the save in RAW format (or enable the option “Save a copy to RAW”). Unlike compressed JPEG, the RAW file contains raw data from the matrix, which provides tremendous opportunities for subsequent processing.
When shooting stars in JPEG, smartphone algorithms often “smear” small stars, taking them for noise, and redefine bright areas. RAW-file saves the entire dynamic scene, allowing the editor to pull details from the shadows without loss of quality.
⚠️ Attention: Files RAW occupy 5-10 You have more space in your phone's memory, so you can free up a few gigabytes of space in advance so that you don't interrupt the shooting.
Processing RAW-Files require skill, but the result is worth it. You can adjust the exposure, remove color noise and increase the contrast of the Milky Way, which is impossible to do with conventional. JPEG artifactless.
What is the difference between RAW and JPEG?
Table of recommended settings for different conditions
The settings of the shooting are highly dependent on the environment and the model of your smartphone. Below is a table with basic values that can be used as a starting point for experiments with your device.
| Filming conditions | Excerpt (sec) | ISO | White balance (K) |
|---|---|---|---|
| Clear skies, outside the city | 25-30 | 1600-2000 | 3800 |
| Light haze/cloud | 15-20 | 2500-3200 | 4200 |
| Shooting with zoom (2x) | 10-15 | 3200-4000 | 4000 |
| City lighting | 10-15 | 800-1200 | 3500 |
Use these values as a template. If the picture is too dark, increase the ISO or shutter speed. If you see strong digital noise (colored dots), try to reduce sensitivity.
Image processing and post-processing
The picture taken is only half the work, and the star image needs to be processed to make it look impressive, and for mobile devices, Lightroom Mobile, Snapseed or Adobe Camera Raw are great.
First, work with the Light and Color tools. Raise Shadows and Blacks to show the structure of the Milky Way. Be careful with the Clarity and Texture slider -- moderate magnification will highlight the stars, but brute force will turn the sky into dirt.
- 🎨 Color correction: Shift the temperature to the cold spectrum and the hue (Tint) to a little purple to remove the greenish light from the city light.
- 🔇 Noise Reduction: Use the Noise Reduction tool, but don’t max it out to avoid losing small stars.
- ✂️ Cut the extra edges, level the horizon and remove random objects (trees, wires) if they spoil the composition.
Don't be afraid to experiment with Curves, creating a lightweight S-shaped profile to increase contrast, which will add depth and volume to the picture.
💡
The quality of the final image depends on 50% of the competent post-processing RAW-file that allows you to unlock the potential of the smartphone matrix.