Tips for Photographing the Geminid Meteor Shower

Want to try to capture a photo of a meteor shower?

Well, first you need to ascertain when the meteor show will be at its peek.

The Geminid meteor shower 2012, the final major meteor shower of every year and likely to be the best, peaks overnight Dec. 13 and Dec. 14, and you may be able to see a great show on either side of those dates.

We have another article up with more in depth information about the Geminid meteor shower.

A few tips for how to photograph the Geminids were kindly Tweeted to Iowa City Patch by Noel Chenier LeanPhoto.ca Photography. Here are some of his tips and photographs.

Do I Need A Tripod?

Yes, and the heavier the better!

ISO:

Start with 400 ISO and see how much detail you can pick up. If you aren't getting enough details, try 800 ISO.

Lens:

You want to use a wide(16-35mm) to normal lens(50mm) so you can get a wide range of sky area.

Shooting Mode: Has to be MANUAL as you need to set the shutter speed and aperture.

Aperture:

Use your widest aperture (smaller number, for example 3.5/4.5/5.6) to let in as much light as possible. If you find the meteors coming out a bit bright, you can stop down one setting. 

Shutter Speeds:

The longer the speed you use, the more meteors you will get. However, if you go too long, the stars will begin to form trails. To figure out how to long to shoot the stars without getting trails, you can use this general guide.
Divide 600 by the length of your lens, and that is how many seconds you should use. For example, if you are using a 17mm lens, 600/17mm= 35 seconds. 

Read more at the whole blog post on photographing the Geminid meteor shower.