A Beginner’s Guide To Photographing Comet Neowise

The comet C/2020 F3 (NEOWISE) has arrived in the night sky here in the northern hemisphere, delighting skywatchers and photographers alike. With planning, patience and clear skies you can capture an unforgettable image of this celestial event.

In the early hours of Saturday July 11th, I captured an image of Stonehenge with the comet glowing overhead and arguably the year’s most spectacular display of noctilucent clouds dancing behind. I posted the image online later that morning and went to bed for a few hours. I woke up to hundreds of comments, direct messages and emails from admirers of the photo wanting to know where, when, and how to photograph the comet for themselves.

I hope this article will answer those questions for anyone else who hopes to capture this rare astronomical treat.

Where and when to look for comet NEOWISE

NEOWISE appears in the N-NW evening sky. The ambient light in the sky after sunset can make it challenging to find at first, so here’s a tip for locating the comet with the naked eye: try defocusing your eyes and scanning the sky quickly, it helps you see the faint glow of the tail.

If it’s still too faint to see with the naked eye, you can try hunting for it using a fast lens. I took a wide angle shot looking north using my Sigma 14mm f/1.8 and quickly located the comet’s tail 10-15 minutes before I found it easily visible using just my eyes.

Nobody knows for sure how long NEOWISE will be visible at night. In theory the comet should be visible in the northwest evening sky later in July, but this is not guaranteed so shoot it while you can!

Equipment

As essential as the camera itself is a tripod sturdy enough to take the weight of your gear and hold it still for up to 30 seconds (depending on how wide you shoot). A lightweight or travel tripod is a good idea if you’re hiking to a spot, but it may not perform so well over long periods or if there’s a wind.

Shoot with a fast, prime lens if you can – this will work best as a wide aperture allows you to capture more light and a more detailed image.

The tail of the comet covers a larger area than it appears to the naked eye – you could be forgiven for believing you’d need a zoom lens. Actually you can achieve pleasing results with wider angles too.

If you don’t have one already, a nifty fifty (a 50mm prime lens) tends to be an inexpensive option that provides a pleasing focal length to capture the comet with exposure times of up to 10 seconds.

Finally, consider a remote shutter, either wired or wireless cable. You can pick one of these up cheaply on eBay rather than use your camera manufacturer’s branded model. When you press your camera’s shutter release you introduce a little bit of motion which can interfere with your images. A remote shutter eliminates this. Alternatively, check if your camera has a built-in timer. For example, on my Nikon D850 I can safely shoot using the camera shutter release when I set my timer to 5 seconds.

Here’s an idea of how the comet will look at various focal lengths.

35mm

Stonehenge, England
Nikon D850
Tamron 24-70mm f/2.8
35mm – f/2.8 – 10 sec – ISO 200
Single shot; no crop

On a full frame camera you should be able to shoot for up to 14 seconds without any star trailing.

50mm

Tenby, Wales
Nikon D850
Tamron 24-70mm f/2.8
50mm – f/2.8 – 6 sec – ISO 800
Single shot; no crop

On a full frame camera you should be able to shoot for 10 seconds without any star trailing.

200mm

Dryslwyn Castle, Wales
Nikon D850
Tamron 70-200mm f/2.8
200mm – f/2.8 – 2 sec – ISO 1600
Single shot; cropped

On a full frame camera you will only be able to shoot for 2 seconds before star trailing happens. This means you’d need a wide aperture and a high ISO for a well exposed shot

Recommended apps and websites

Composition ideas

Now you’ve located NEOWISE in the sky you need to decide how to shoot it. You could isolate the comet against the night sky, or look for an interesting foreground interest. Here are some ideas for you to try out.

Capture the comet and the landscape

This is the easiest way to shoot it, with a wider lens and illustrating a beautiful starlit landscape.

Consider photographing from higher ground to give you a pleasing perspective of the skies above and the land below in a single frame. This also gives you the advantage of avoiding low level fog and mist that can form on lower ground overnight. 

Photograph the comet with an object or landmark

Find a notable landmark, building or other object and photograph it next to the comet! You’ll need a combination of the apps above to find a suitable angle and time, but when these work in your favour you’ll produce a crowdpleasing image for sure!

Isolate the comet

This is the trickiest to achieve as you’ll need a good zoom, and the longer your focal length, the shorter your exposure must be to avoid star trailing.

If you want to create longer exposures than this, you’ll need to use a star tracker. This is quite an advanced technique, well beyond the realm of this beginner’s guide! An easier alternative is to capture multiple short exposures at a high ISO, and stack these frames using software like Sequator or Starry Landscape Stacker to reduce noise.

The 500 Rule