Ultimate Guide to iPhone 16 Pro Night Sky Photography FULL TUTORIAL

[@M.R._Saar]

Top tip: Apple Watch can be used as a remote for the shutter of the camera. I use it often. Appreciate your videos! Visiting NZ for the first time next month and I’m looking forward to my first southern hemisphere night photos!

[@ShayneMostyn]

You will love it there. I certainly love it there. Yes I know about the watch, but it really makes zero difference. I really only use it when I have the phone so low I cant see it.

[@M.R._Saar]

@@ShayneMostyn I was mentioning because of the part where you said having two people could be fun someone can snap the picture while the other paints with light. Thanks! Hope to capture photos like you’ve got here.

[@morducal2203]

When it comes to night sky, milky way and the aurora borealis the newer iPhones are doing a great job. What i love about the 16 Pro is how much color it picks up from the stars. For Astrophotography with a Smarthphone currently the 16 Pro, 15 Pro and Pixel 9 Pro XL are my favorites. The 9 Pro XL is sometimes a little sharper with stars and details but it lacks the depth and rich colors, that the iPhone 16 Pro captures. Especially with Aurora Borealis and the Milky Way.

[@عابرسبيل1999]

Good answer

[@ShayneMostyn]

Couldn't agree more mate

[@adamade_]

@@mrninninnin Yes it does bin the pixels down to 12mp to give you a shot with less noise

[@ZStrelok]

Subscribed! In this age of ultra-processed and ultra-edited flashy YT videos, it is refreshing to see your video with clear, concise instructions with your thought process behind every step. Looking forward for more.

[@kitebarbie]

what a GREAT tip with the light pollution map… it’s shocking how little night is left in the developed world…

[@WANT3D-FEL0N]

Just started watching your videos and I find you very informative, keep up the good work mate!

[@ShayneMostyn]

Hey thanks so much mate. I appreciate it

[@01TheAhad]

You made an excellent video Shayne. The pictures, editing and tutorial were all fantastic! Thank you👍

[@ShayneMostyn]

Thanks mate, I appreciate it

[@n3ch4]

Awesome tutorial! Can’t wait to apply these tips! Do you happen to have tips on capturing the Southern Lights? Seeing the activities are quite frequent and significant this year, it even reached Melbourne. Cheers!!!!

[@richardhorton4660]

Another great video Shayne. I’m glad you had to edit on a JPEG this time as I often forget to turn on Raw and you’ve shown that you can get a great shot regardless 👍

[@carlwebb3495]

Always appreciate the work you put in Shayne, especially when you’ve been standing out in the freezing 🥶 cold doing these, and then I’m watching with a glass of whisky in front of a log fire 🔥 cheers mate. #bloodylegend

[@ShayneMostyn]

HAHA legend! I hope youre well mate, enjoy the whisky.

[@jcru40]

Wow Amazing picture plus you have a keen eye to set it up . Bravo 👏🏼

[@rusenakman]

I'm gonna test this, my city not doing great about light pollution but seems fun to try.

[@astrozach7778]

You really captured the subtle, but totally natural, hint of blue lines in the sky! Lol

[@ShayneMostyn]

HAHAHA totally natural

[@kitebarbie]

THANK YOU! Awesome tutorial.

[@Oatsdbl]

Just took a photo for the first time tonight as I've got the new iphone 16 pro max today. It turned out SUPER GREAT!!! Although I want to ask, I've noticed a halo in middle of the photo. Any way to fix that? Awesome video btw! Very helpful

[@LeighAnnNC]

Can you give some tripod recommendations?? Love this video and can’t wait to use your tips

[@ShayneMostyn]

Still waiting for some to come for review, the one in this video is explorerphotovideo.com.au/product/explorer-ex-exppro-expedition-pro-carbon-fibre-tripod/

[@ianlauerastro]

Great tutorial and love the result!

[@ShayneMostyn]

Thank you! Cheers!

[@troxycmmg]

Great video buddy! Keep it up

[@pete1927]

Class tute buddy 👍

[@psimel14]

So what you use now for tripod?

[@Greengrass1972]

Superb video buddy, I absolutely love that spot you go to, you've been there a few times now, beautiful photo, sorry I've been a bit distant on here, I'll catch up on vids ASAP 🏴󠁧󠁢󠁷󠁬󠁳󠁿

[@ShayneMostyn]

You better! ;)

[@artcastillejos1735]

Amazing ❤❤❤

[@P1sharky]

Awesome shot and awesome tutorial!! Ty!

[@ShayneMostyn]

Cheers mate, thanks for watching :)

[@giansurgeon4929]

Great one bro!

[@ShayneMostyn]

Cheers mate, thanks for watching :)

[@J3Y0087]

Very nice tips. 👍

[@LarryFasnacht]

I ordered and purchased my iPhone 16 Pro Max on launch day. I conducted the test as you suggested and it’s totally black. I’m using iOS 18.0.1.

[@LeighAnnNC]

I don’t have any marks either…. So far so good….

[@bandek4297]

Great video!(as usual) I have a question…Are you planning to try iPhone Camera equipments, such as lenses, filters, cases grips etc.? (Basically equipments that transform your phone into a “camera”) I’d like to see a video about equipments like these, I want to turn my iPhone as professional , and as good as it can be.😅

[@ShayneMostyn]

Ive done loads of videos like this in the past mate. Its all still relevant.

[@bandek4297]

@@ShayneMostyn Oh okay, thanks. I only knew about one video and If I remember correctly you didn't try telephoto lenses, thats why I asked. But I'll search the others up. Thank you for replying

[@laurentbertrais]

Great work, thanks a lot

[@caseylevin2966]

Thanks for the video. The detail on light painting the subject for improved contrast is great. What torch do you use?

[@ShayneMostyn]

THanks mate, I use a few different ones. Honestly, its whatever I have with me at the time. Any small LED panel with a diffuser on it will work

[@iPhone-Cinematograhy]

Thank you... very helpful!

[@ShayneMostyn]

Cheers mate, thanks for watching :)

[@MarkHarman11]

Shayne, do you have a recommendation for a way to check if the skies will be clear? I need to drive about 2 hours to get to a class 3 Bortle area and want to plan for a clear night for the galactic core. I use Photopills but don’t think it has cloud forecasts.

[@nmfireman]

Are you using the stock software on the iPhone or is this another piece of software.

[@AlwayzLong]

What is the look printed on 12x18 ? Can you share a video on it ? Yopr work is very nice !!!

[@damienlobb85]

Hi Shayne! What's that blue tinting in the foreground? 11:12

[@sebash1026]

I have the same problem

[@damienlobb85]

@sebash1026 I think it's leftover color noise artefacts after the processing if I'm not mistaken.

[@P.N.365]

@@damienlobb85 I was wondering about a hot ccd problem.. We'll see!

[@nicoletiana]

i got the 16 pro, natural titanium, 1tb and did an unboxing and set up on my channel. i love this phone!

[@deeptisavanur9581]

did you edit it in lightroom desktop or mobile? I dont see the masking on mobile app. or is it a paid feature?

[@nmfireman]

And speaking about the moon. Do you have a video on how to take good pictures of the moon I can never get this right

[@TimReusser]

Are you editing photos on your iPhone? If so does Adobe Lightroom and Photoshop support iPhone usage? Do you utilize both editing products? I’m new to this and going to northern Finland next month to hopefully capture the Northern Lights. Have you produced a video on capturing the Aurora Borealis?

[@ShayneMostyn]

Yes to all questions there mate.

[@toivonencresto]

Ho Shayne, i’d like to ask you 3 things about iPhone Photography (i got an IPhone 15 Pro Max). 1 you did a tutorial about night Sky photo which is the best in the whole KZbin imho, can you do a tutorial about Moon Photography (and how to edit it with Lightroom)? I can shoot the moon acting like this: 25x zoom, -2.0 exposition, then i tried to Lock the focus until the moon shows some kind of detail (first thing i don’t understand, why sometimes it Locks getting the focus, and some others not? It depends for the fact that I don’t have a tripod and i do this by free hand?)then, with the focus locked, i hold the finger on the screen and swiping down the exposition goes down more (other thing i don’t understand is why it happens, given that i start putting the value at his inferior limit) so i can get even more detail. Can you give me some advice or make a tutorial (very appreciated)? 2 can you do a tutorial on how to make panning photos with iPhone? 3 are the additional lens kits that are on sale now for years worth in getting better results? Thank you!

[@jpstanley0]

More often than not, my 16 Pro will not focus properly in night shots. At first I thought it was denoise smearing until I happened to try it from a darker site and was shocked by how good it was. Still not comparable to my “real” camera (a Canon R6) but it fits in my pocket.

[@artfartzy]

Do you leave the exposure control in the middle default setting or do you turn it down a bit sometimes before taking the shot? It's better to do it before the shot, cause doing it after in edit doesnt give the same look / result. I often turn it down a bit in order to not get the sky too bright. But I guess if you are in a place where it's completey dark around you with no light pollution, it might work better leaving it on the middle default. And then I sometimes use the magic wand in edit to bring the stars out more. Btw. when I turn the sharpness all the way up to 100% and click ok, the image just goes back to how it was before adjusting the sharpness, how can this be? And then if I click edit again the sharpness comes back to the image again on the screen, but only till I click ok, then it goes away again even though it's still at 100%.

[@ShanesTech]

Hello sir. Are you able to take some shots of the Comet Tsushinchan-Atlas with the iPhone? Cheers.

[@johny3133]

Cool fun inspiring!

[@papa3587]

Can you tell me the settings in camera pls? You shoot on proraw 48mp ?

[@e38383]

Just wondering, are the new photographic styles on the 16 any good for this kind of photography? I always shy away from Lightroom, because I mostly mess my photos up.

[@CH_eatthesand]

It can make or break it; I highly encourage you to play around with it.

[@ShayneMostyn]

Just experiment with it mate. I havent used it for that, so I may do the same

[@natjes6017]

Damn, it´s been a while since I've been here, but still familiar and very cool stuff! You´ve really grown a beard though 😁

[@ShayneMostyn]

It has been a while then mate. I reckon Ive had the beard for at least 12 months.

[@natjes6017]

Yeah, it sure has. But I continue to astrophotograph when the opportunity presents itself, like the northern lights 👍 That was you who made me realize what was possible with mobile phones 😊

[@iangrandfield3293]

Is the 16pro any better for astro than the 15pro?

[@bghimself440]

Yes

[@CH_eatthesand]

Not by much based on his recent videos prior to this. They're both pretty solid on the photography. Better than say a 13 Pro Max, or even the 14 Pro Max.

[@ShayneMostyn]

Its very close. Its the same sensor on paper, but different processors. There is almost nothing in it.

[@P.N.365]

In the photo at 11:20, and mentioned at 16:45, could the blue vertical mark be from a 'hot' ccd? With long exposures on some cameras, this is an issue. Could test via long exposure with a pic of a colour grid.

[@oxiaoddity]

Same issue on my phone, and all the phones I tested in the Apple Store. The blue vertical lines decrease in intensity if you take a bunch of 30s exposure photos in a row (definitely could be sensor temperature).

[@Icharis]

Is it possible to add light polution filter?

[@pancmincuk]

Can you tell me what brand/model of MagSafe tripod holder you recommend for astrophotography?

[@chrisball688]

Cheers mate

[@ShayneMostyn]

Cheers mate, thanks for watching :)

[@trabouliste1037]

What does „bloody cold“ in Australia mean?

[@ShayneMostyn]

Up there that night it was -4 wind chill.

[@JunYamog]

Looking at that light pollution map, here in NZ we are spoilt with choice 😅

[@ShayneMostyn]

There are crazy images I see from NZ. Plenty of places. I did a photography tour a few years ago around the south island. So many spots.

[@JunYamog]

@@ShayneMostyn yes we are spoiled with rocks or mountains we can use as subjects

[@piotr9010]

@ShayneMostyn please make a comparison. iPhone vs VIVO x100 ultra. Vivo have 1inch main sensor and 200mpx very good telephoto. It will be very interesting video. Thx

[@瓦阿K]

I want to know 14pro vs 15pro and vs 16pro they use a same coms

[@ShayneMostyn]

Check my old videos. I did exactly this a year ago.

[@pianoekket]

Will there be a Pixel 9 Pro video soon of the night sky? I have the phone, takes great pictures, but I wouldn't mind learning something I might've missed.

[@ShayneMostyn]

I tend ot skip generations with Pixels. The astro stuff doesnt really change from phone to phone. Check out the 8Pro videos and you will learn how to do. I will be looking at the next Pixel

[@pianoekket]

@@ShayneMostyn Thank you for the reply!

[@manosg180]

Hey Shayne I just noticed this! When you shot an Astrophotograph in pro raw mode the exposure time 🕰️ is 10sec, when you shot in jpeg mode (pro raw disabled) the exposure time is 30sec. At least that’s my iPhone 13 Pro Max shows in the details of the photograph!

[@ShayneMostyn]

You still get 30 seconds, its just stacked 3x10s pics. Its not obvious, but thats how it works

[@manosg180]

Thank you very much for your reply 🙏

[@dusanzigic1349]

A Question, is it possible to do this at the level 4 lightning ? Or it must be at max of 3 ? The nearest level 3 is about 4 hrs of ride for me, so should I even try this ? :)

[@petermclennan6781]

Magsafe works fine as long as you DON'T MOVE THE TRIPOD with the camera installed. Ask me how I know. Also, reeeeely well produced video, Shayne. Kudos!

[@ShayneMostyn]

Oh No! Damn that sucks. I do take it off if Im moving it a ways. Thanks mate, I appreciate the feedback. I like this one too.

[@Alanvictoryoung]

Whoops! I missed it… are you recommending the Raw max mode over the 24mp regular jpeg?

[@CH_eatthesand]

So Raw Max = still 12MP photography. Night mode in any form will still fire 12MP from the sensor because that's the best way that Apple can get the most amount of light, especially in otherwise very dark scenes like this. Your photos won't be 24MP nor 48MP, the pixel binning algorithm defaults to 12MP when Night mode is active.

[@ShayneMostyn]

Thanks mate, perfect response

[@Alanvictoryoung]

@@CH_eatthesand so use the raw max mode? Will it give us more exposure latitude than normal mode? More detail?

[@CH_eatthesand]

@@Alanvictoryoung sort of neither. Regardless of setting, if night mode is active, you get 12MP. If night mode is not active, RAW max means 48MP RAW image file and is only useful in well-lit scenes. Generally means more detailed images and better HDR quality but about it.

[@Kinetica_tm]

I have a question and i need you to be honest with me. How much better is iPhone 16 pro max from iPhone 15 pro max?

[@KARMA-vu8ii]

What's with the red progress bar running across the bottom of your video? unable to crop in post?

[@ShayneMostyn]

No, its just because it a very long video. People can see how fast this segment will be and choose to skip it or not.

[@bartschoonbrood1312]

Is this possible with the regular iPhone 15 ?

[@simulacrae]

Yes

[@ShayneMostyn]

Yep

[@bartschoonbrood1312]

@@ShayneMostyn thnx !

[@khaleesibhabhi4631]

will I get the same result with "iphone 16" non pro model?

[@ShayneMostyn]

yes

[@khaleesibhabhi4631]

@@ShayneMostyn thnx 🙏🏻

[@ProfPod]

So the fact my house is a bottle 6 and the nearest bottle 3 is about 70 miles away I'm hosed but I can enjoy everyone else's photos.

[@Grateful.For.Everything]

I’ve been out the last few nights taking loads of the 30 second shots with the 16 pro max and they all have these same vertical bars of darker color that I see in yours as well, not sure what they are or why they are there lol, anyone know?

[@oxiaoddity]

I have the exact same issue on iPhone 16 Pro. I went to the Apple Store and tested it on all the Pro models there (both sizes) and they all had it to some degree. You can test this - set it to 30s in an extremely dark room with the sensor covered. You'll get vertical blue artefacts. No idea how to fix it - Apple are convinced it's software related but it appears to be related to sensor temperature more than anything.

[@Grateful.For.Everything]

@@oxiaoddity 🤞🏽it is software related so they can fix it with an update. I’m glad I’m not the only one seeing these lol, so thank You for looking into this issue yourself. Now what do we do? Who can we reach out to that may know more to help us get to the bottom of this?

[@PrinceJoseMiguel]

❤️😮

[@Loiswomgawesome]

How would this look if you get it printed?

[@ShayneMostyn]

They print ok. Ive only printed astro images to A3 size.

[@davidbrown6137]

Almost as good as pixel astrophotography

[@ShayneMostyn]

There isnt much in it these days

[@richardharker2775]

Cool! I still get blown away by what a phone camera can do now. I think it was the year 1995 that Bill Gates stated mobile phones will be the future of computing. Hmm!

[@abrahamsandoval6257]

It sucks when u live in Chicago and have light pollution😪

[@badgaming1588]

I can only take a one sec picture

[@gamingwithjack3520]

Being in Australia, don’t you have to deal with all kinds of snakes and spiders out in the grass late at night?! 😳

[@ParagOak]

He is a regular visitor in that area so now all of them are his team mates 😉

[@ShayneMostyn]

If you stay scared of those things, you would never leave the house!

[@ShayneMostyn]

I need to work out how to get the snakes to carry my tripods.

[@romaintauber9957]

Too bad mate, you put flare on the iPhone's lens using a torch to hilight the rocks on the first plan. You could use a black cardboard with a magic arm mounted on your tripod to protect your lens (which is very sensitive to flare and prone to lose info/colors and produce artifact when facing direct strong light). You will observe major improvement on your pictures being aware of flare. Good luck in your entreprise and sorry for my English. Peace from France.

[@muhammadtanbour2801]

Blue lines is obvious in the photos ,,,,,

[@berryg.6125]

Anyone else see the silhouette of an alien in that rock? Pretty cool and creepy.

[@deavo74]

Tony, a friend of mine, asked “how do you get the 30 seconds and are they the same seconds you get on DSLR?”

[@CH_eatthesand]

30s "exposure" on an iPhone Pro model is not the same as a traditional DSLR. To get the 30s on an iPhone, the device must be solidly mounted and not moving about. A steady finger is needed to press the shutter button on screen to get the 30s optimally, otherwise consider using a remote shutter that's bluetooth, or an Apple Watch. Lastly, 30s on iPhone is actually a stack of several images aligned and processed by the device to get a sharp shot, much like what you'd need in astrophotography. Hope this helps!

[@ShayneMostyn]

Thats Deavo, one of the Admins on the FB group. He is taking the piss, but I think its great youre helping folks out mate.

[@deavo74]

@@CH_eatthesand thank you. Sorry I kinda feel bad now. It’s ongoing joke that may have run its time lol.

[@mykidsmom1999]

I hold my hand in front of the lens blocking any light and it will go to 30. Then I shoot for desired time with my remote.

[@CH_eatthesand]

@@deavo74it’s all good 😂😂😂

[@bghimself440]

I bet you also have a Dji !!!

[@ShayneMostyn]

Correct. Drone, action cam and pocket 3

[@nouserfree8188]

No C/2023 A3 is not enough, sorry.

[@fabiocampioli7443]

I live in Italy the lowest level of light pollution in 4 😫😭😭

[@iydeesselvarajoo555]

Waiting for tat s24 guy🤣

[@ShayneMostyn]

After the S23U issues with updates, I decided to skip the S24U. We will see what the 25 brings.

[@juanmagimenez29]

Do you make some pics to stack them later or just one shot? (For example for milkyway) Thanks 🫶

[@jpstanley0]

More often than not, my 16 Pro will not focus properly in night shots. At first I thought it was denoise smearing until I happened to try it from a darker site and was shocked by how good it was. Still not comparable to my “real” camera (a Canon R6) but it fits in my pocket.