Can I photograph the Northern Lights with a mobile phone?

Yes. Modern phones can capture the Northern Lights, especially in dark places like Teesdale. Using Night mode or a long exposure, resting your phone on a tripod, car roof or wall, and keeping it still while it takes the picture will help reveal colours and detail that your eyes might not see clearly.

What camera settings should I use on a DSLR or mirrorless camera?

A good starting point for Teesdale is to use Manual mode with an ISO between 800 and 3200, a shutter speed of around 5 to 15 seconds and the widest aperture your lens allows, for example f/2.8 to f/4. Point the camera north, focus manually on a bright star or distant light and then take test shots and adjust from there.

Do I need a tripod to photograph the Northern Lights?

A tripod makes a big difference because long exposures will blur if the camera moves. If you do not have a tripod, you can rest your phone or camera on a wall, fence post or car roof and use a two second timer to avoid shaking it when you press the button.

Where are good places in Teesdale to photograph the Northern Lights?

Dark, open spots with clear views to the north work best. Around Teesdale that might include the moors above Bowlees, the shores of Grassholme or Cow Green Reservoir, and high ground near Middleton-in-Teesdale, all of which offer wide skies and very little light pollution.

How to Photograph the Northern Lights in Teesdale

A simple guide for phones, DSLRs and mirrorless cameras

Seeing the Northern Lights over Teesdale is exciting enough. Getting home and discovering that your camera captured colours and shapes you could barely see with your own eyes makes it even better.

The good news is that photographing the aurora is much easier than it sounds.

You do not need to be a professional photographer and you do not need expensive equipment. Modern phones can capture surprisingly good Northern Lights photographs, while a DSLR or mirrorless camera gives you a little more control.

The most important things are a clear sky, somewhere dark with a good view towards the north, and keeping your phone or camera as still as possible.

This guide takes you through it without the technical waffle.

Before You Go Out

The Northern Lights are never guaranteed in Teesdale.

They appear when activity from the Sun disturbs the Earth’s magnetic field strongly enough for the aurora to be visible this far south. Northern England can sometimes get excellent displays, but cloud, moonlight and light pollution can all affect what you see.

The Met Office recommends looking for a clear, dark sky with a good view towards the northern horizon.

Before heading out, check both an aurora forecast and the ordinary weather forecast.

There is little point driving somewhere dark if Teesdale is sitting underneath thick cloud.

We also use the camera on our phone as a quick test. Point it north, switch on Night Mode and take a photograph. Sometimes the camera will reveal a faint pink, purple or green glow before your eyes can properly see it.

The Most Important Thing: Keep the Camera Still

Night photography needs more time to collect light than an ordinary daytime photograph.

That means movement is your biggest enemy.

If you have a tripod, use it.

If you do not, rest your phone or camera on something solid. Even leaning a phone securely against a bag or other stable surface can work.

Once it is steady, use a short timer if your camera has one. That prevents the movement caused by pressing the shutter button from shaking the photograph.

This one simple change can make a bigger difference than worrying about complicated camera settings.

Photographing the Northern Lights With a Phone

Modern phones can do an amazing job with the aurora.

You normally do not need to change lots of settings.

iPhone

Open the normal camera and switch to Photo mode.

When it is dark enough, Night Mode should appear automatically on supported iPhones.

Keep the phone completely still and let Night Mode take the photograph.

If the aurora is faint, allow a longer exposure. If it is bright and moving quickly, a shorter exposure will often keep more detail in the shapes and beams.

Turn the flash off.

If the photograph looks far brighter than the real sky, reduce the exposure slightly and try again.

The biggest improvement usually comes from putting the phone on something solid rather than holding it in your hands.

Android Phones

Most newer Android phones have either Night Mode, Night Sight or a similar low-light setting.

Open the camera and select the night photography mode.

Keep the phone completely still while it takes the photograph.

Google Pixel phones can automatically extend the exposure when they detect that the phone is stable. Samsung and many other Android phones also offer Pro controls if you want to experiment.

But you do not need Pro mode to start.

Try Night Mode first.

You may be surprised by how much colour the phone finds.

Why Your Phone Can See More Than You Can

This catches a lot of people out the first time they see the Northern Lights in Teesdale.

You might look north and see what appears to be a pale grey band in the sky.

Then you take a photograph and suddenly it is pink, green or purple.

There is nothing wrong with your eyes.

A camera can collect light over several seconds, while your eyes are seeing the sky in real time. This means cameras can reveal faint aurora colours and structures that are difficult to see clearly with the naked eye.

The Met Office specifically notes that photographs can make aurora displays appear much brighter and more colourful than they looked to the person standing there.

So if the sky looks unusual, take a photograph anyway.

Photographing the Northern Lights With a DSLR or Mirrorless Camera

If you have a DSLR or mirrorless camera, you have more control over how the final photograph looks.

You still do not need to make it complicated.

Switch the camera to Manual mode.

As a simple starting point, try:

ISO: 1600

Shutter speed: 8 to 10 seconds

Aperture: f/2.8 to f/4

Focus: Manual

White balance: around 3500K or Auto

Those figures are only a starting point.

Take a photograph and look at the result.

Then adjust.

That is much easier than trying to find one magical setting that works every night.

If the Aurora Is Faint

When the aurora is faint, the camera needs to collect more light.

Try something around:

ISO 1600 to 3200

Shutter speed 8 to 15 seconds

Aperture as wide as your lens allows

Do not worry if the first photograph is not perfect.

Take another.

Night photography is often just a case of making small adjustments until the sky looks right.

If the Aurora Is Bright and Moving

A strong aurora is actually easier to photograph, but you may need a faster shutter speed.

Try:

ISO 800 to 1600

Shutter speed 1 to 5 seconds

Aperture around f/2.8 to f/4

Shorter exposures help preserve the shapes of fast-moving beams rather than turning everything into a soft blur.

If the photograph looks too bright, lower the ISO or shorten the exposure again.

How to Focus at Night

This is the bit that often causes more trouble than the exposure settings.

Autofocus can struggle in a dark sky, so switch the lens to manual focus.

Find a bright star or a very distant light.

Use the camera screen to magnify it.

Slowly turn the focus ring until the star becomes the smallest, sharpest point you can make it.

Then leave the focus alone.

Do not automatically trust the infinity mark on the lens. On many lenses, perfect night-sky focus sits slightly before or after it.

Once you have sharp stars, you are ready.

Make the Photograph Feel Like Teesdale

It is tempting to point the camera straight at the sky, but some of our favourite night photographs include part of the landscape too.

A dark hill.

A dry-stone wall.

The outline of a tree.

A distant village.

A familiar Teesdale skyline beneath the colour.

Including something in the foreground gives the photograph a sense of place and scale.

Move around a little before the aurora arrives and think about what will sit underneath the northern sky.

Just make sure you are somewhere you are allowed to be after dark. Reservoirs, visitor attractions and other sites can have their own night-time access arrangements, so never assume daytime access means you can automatically enter at night.

Where to Look

In Teesdale, start by looking north.

You want as little bright light in front of you as possible and, ideally, a wide view of the northern horizon.

On weaker nights the aurora may appear very low in the north.

During stronger geomagnetic storms it can spread much higher across the sky and, occasionally, appear almost overhead.

Do not become too obsessed with exactly where everyone else is photographing it.

A quiet, safe and legally accessible place with a clear northern view can be just as good.

Take More Than One Photograph

Do not take one photograph, look at the screen and decide you have finished.

The aurora can change incredibly quickly.

A faint glow can suddenly form into beams.

Colours can strengthen.

Shapes can move across the sky.

Keep taking photographs and occasionally change the exposure.

Some of the best images can appear only seconds apart.

A Few Things That Make a Big Difference

You do not need a huge bag of photography equipment.

Keeping the lens clean matters.

Keeping the camera still matters.

Turning the flash off matters.

A short shutter timer helps.

Cold weather can drain batteries faster than normal, so starting with a fully charged phone or camera is sensible.

And if your photograph is blurry, check the focus before changing everything else.

Most importantly, do not spend the whole night staring at the back of the camera.

Look up as well.

Be Realistic About What You Will See

Northern Lights photographs from Teesdale can sometimes look incredibly bright.

The real experience may be more subtle.

On a strong night you can see obvious colour and movement with your own eyes.

On weaker nights you might see a pale arch, faint beams or something that initially looks like unusual cloud.

Your camera may then reveal far more colour than you expected.

That is completely normal and is part of what makes photographing the aurora so enjoyable

The Simplest Settings to Remember

If you forget everything else on this page, remember this.

Phone: Night Mode, flash off, keep it completely still.

Camera: Manual mode, ISO 1600, around 8 seconds, wide aperture, manual focus.

Take a photograph.

Look at it.

If it is too dark, make the exposure longer or raise the ISO.

If it is too bright, shorten the exposure or lower the ISO.

That really is enough to get started.

One Last Thing

Photographing the Northern Lights in Teesdale should be fun.

You do not need the perfect camera.

You do not need perfect settings.

And you certainly do not need to understand every piece of photography jargon before going outside.

Find somewhere dark and safe, look north, keep the camera steady and take plenty of photographs.

Then remember to put the camera down for a minute and actually watch the sky.

Sometimes the photograph is brilliant.

Sometimes the memory is better.

🔗 Explore More in Teesdale’s Night Sky

🌈 What Are the Northern Lights?
⭐ When & Where to See the Northern Lights in Teesdale
⭐ Start Stargazing in Teesdale with Our Beginner Friendly Guide
Learn how to watch meteor showers in Teesdale
🌌 Dark Skies of Teesdale (main guide)

🧭 Discover Teesdale
our complete guide to waterfalls, walks and wild places across the dale.