Night Photography Websites and Apps
Here are some of the apps and websites we recommend to participants on our nature photography workshops and photo tours. These tools help us plan for clear skies, track the aurora, photograph the Milky Way, and determine the best sun and moon positions for successful night photography.
Recommended links that I share on my “Photographing the Night Sky Presentations” and with participants on my photo tours.
Star Stacking Programs
Focus Stacking
Weather
Weather Underground
Weather Underground covers Cloud cover info, maps, interactive radar and/or satellite, astronomy section and hourly forecast
Light Pollution
Dark Site Finder
Light Pollution Map
Aurora (Northern Lights)
Space Weather
Space Weather is a great site for astronomy events and for the aurora forecast. You can also subscribe to their aurora alerts.
Solar Ham
Solar Ham has great information on the Aurora
My Aurora Forecast & Alerts
My Aurora Forecast & Alerts help track aurora activity, including viewing probability, KP index, solar activity, and cloud cover.
My Favorite Apps for Night Photography
Sky Map or Star Walk
Identification of stars, planets, etc.
Photographer’s Ephemerals
Classic program for forecasting sunrise, sunset, and the Milky Way
Light Pollution Map (LPM)
Dark Sky and Astronomy Tools: Shows light pollution with cloud cover and aurora overlays, moon information, etc.
Planit Pro
Landscape photography planning: golden hour, blue hour, Milky Way, star trails, time-lapse, eclipses, seascape, and more.
Sun Surveyor
The Live Camera View, Interactive Map (with Street View), 3D Compass, and detailed Ephemeris
View augmented reality projections of the sun and moon paths, and pinpoint the time the sun or moon will be at a particular location in the sky
Predict and plan for the golden hour, blue hour, and every sunrise, sunset, moonrise, and moonset
Prepare night photography shots with the Milky Way & star trail features
Photo Opportunities - an interactive listing of critical times to help inspire and generate shot ideas, including the full moon looming low in the sky during magic hour, total darkness for stargazing, and more
Photopills
PhotoPills is hands down our favorite photography planning app. It helps you determine the position of the sun, moon, and Milky Way at any location and time, making it an invaluable tool for planning landscape and night photography.
One of its most useful features is the ability to visualize Milky Way alignment and track moon phases, allowing you to choose the best dates and times for photographing the night sky. Whether you're planning a Milky Way composition or timing moonrise over a landscape, PhotoPills helps take the guesswork out of planning so you can arrive prepared.
While this article focuses on apps for planning and photographing the night sky, we also rely on a variety of other tools for weather, tides, navigation, wildlife identification, and travel planning. Be sure to check out our article, Our Favorite Apps for Nature Photography, for a complete list of the apps we use while scouting and leading our nature photography workshops.
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