How to Photograph Comet NEOWISE: A Beginner’s Guide

This week Comet NEOWISE has become a pretty popular celestial object to capture. I went out this morning and snapped a few photos before the sun washed out the view of the comet. Knowing what I know now, I’m itching to give it another try tomorrow. That being said, here’s how I suggest going about shooting the comet if you have a chance!

Finding Comet NEOWISE

First and foremost, being in the northern hemisphere is a must. Sorry for those of you in the southern hemisphere. Assuming you are in the northern hemisphere, NEOWISE is currently located in the east among the Auriga constellation in the pre-dawn hours. Depending on the darkness of the skies you are in, you may actually be able to see it with your naked eye. I hope you are because it was incredible to see this morning. For myself, when I went about locating it, I couldn’t find it with just my eyes so I snapped a picture pointed in an easterly direction. After that, I immediately spotted it in the sky without the camera and never lost track of it again until about 30 minutes prior to sunrise. With all that in mind, make sure to keep track of the daily progression of Comet NEOWISE for planning your shots.

Timing Your Photo Shoot

Currently, NEOWISE is only visible in the early morning hours, but that will change soon. As the Comet makes its journey through our solar system, it will begin to be visible for longer amounts of time during the night as it skirts its way along the horizon eventually ending up in the North West sky in the evenings after mid July. As that happens, I plan to get more photos myself, but in it’s current state I really like it near the horizon with the sun’s glow. If your planning that shot over the next few days, I suggest getting to your location one and a half to two hours prior to the sunrise time. Depending on your latitude and when the sun’s light begins to break the horizon you will need to adjust. For your reference, my latitude was about 32 degrees North and my time suggestions are based on that.

Lens to Use

I started off using my 24-70mm to help spot Comet NEOWISE with a focal length of 24mm. I quickly zoomed in to 70mm which is what the photo below was taken at. I tried using my 150-600mm, but with the breeze going on at the time I was getting too much shake even at 150mm. Unfortunately, I don’t have anything to span the 70mm to 150mm range, but I would highly recommend shooting at something between 100 to 200mm with a landscape featured in the foreground. If you’re wanting a close up go for longer, but be aware of the shake you may get from your lens if there is any breeze. Also be aware of the shorter exposure times needed when zoomed in to prevent the trailing visible from the earth’s rotation.

Camera Settings for Comet NEOWISE

I used a variety of settings as I took my photos, but that had a lot do with the continual increase in light since I was shooting near sunrise. For my white balance, I held it at 4250K throughout shooting. I wanted to let in as much light as possible with the lens so I shot wide open with my lens at f/4. I would suggest using whatever aperture gives you the most light with your lens. Based on your camera being a full frame of APS-C you will want to adjust your exposure time to account for star trailing if needed. For that, make use of the 330 rule for APS-C or the 500 rule for a full frame camera. For more on that, head over to my How to Photograph the Milky Way post. Finally, you will want to shoot with as low of an ISO as possible. I suggest starting at a higher ISO and with the max exposure you can use to prevent star trailing. If the photo is too dark, increase your ISO until you get to a well balanced photo. If the photo is blown out, decrease your ISO until the photo is balanced. I’ll explain my settings next and recommend some starting points.

My Camera Settings for the Photos Shown

Body: Nikon Z6

Focal Length: 70mm

ISO: 1600

Aperture: f/4

Exposure: 8 seconds

White Balance: 4250K

As you might notice, I didn’t need to use a very high ISO nor did I need a super long exposure with my aperture set at f/4. I honestly would have been comfortable bumping my ISO up to 3200 and shortening my exposure, but at 8 seconds I could keep star trails at a minimum and decrease the amount of sensor noise in the photo from the higher ISO.

Shooting When the Sky is Dark

As the month progresses, there will be more opportunities to shoot NEOWISE in dark skies. Here’s where I plan to start with my settings when that time comes.

Body: Nikon Z6 (full frame camera)

Focal Length: 70mm

ISO: 3200 or 6400

Aperture: f/4

Exposure: 6 seconds

White Balance: 3200K

If you’re shooting with an APS-C format camera, here’s my suggestion on where to start.

Focal Length: Whatever you got!

ISO: 6400

Aperture: f/2.8 (if your lens allows)

Exposure: Focal Length/330

White Balance: 3200K or tungsten if you can’t choose your temperature

Additional Equipment

Finally, make sure you take advantage of a tripod. Without one these photos will be pretty much impossible. Additionally I’d highly recommend a remote shutter to reduce any movement from depressing the shutter button on the camera. Either a wired or wireless will work just fine! Or set a delay if your camera has the option built in. Lastly, if you’re going to try and shoot at much longer exposures with longer focal lengths, you will need to use a star tracker to prevent trailing. For a cheaper less advanced option plan to stack multiple short exposure images in stacking software like Sequator.

I really hope this helps many people out over the coming weeks. Nightscapes and Astrophotography take a lot of patience and can sometimes be very challenging, but I’ve found it to be extremely rewarding. Best of luck and be sure to let me know in the comments if you have any questions and tag my page in any photos you take on Instagram or Facebook!