The rise of “noctourism,” or nighttime travel, among photographers is about much more than just stargazing. As a night photographer, here are my best tips for capturing the growing art of noctourism.
What is Noctourism?
Noctourism, when photography becomes nocturnal, is swiftly becoming more popular. The industry’s shift to mirrorless devices and sensors with increasingly powerful dynamic range has brought low light photography to the forefront. Beyond nightlife, noctourism is the exploration of experiences at night that, thanks to rapidly advancing technology, can now be captured even with the humble smartphone.
At first glance, noctourism may seem niche or even cliche. However, the experiences encompassing it have worldwide appeal across all ages and cultures. Noctourism experiences range from Thailand’s Lantern festival, snorkeling with manta rays in Hawaii, observing bioluminescent plankton off the coast of Maine, night safari game drives in Tanzania, nocturnal wildlife hikes in Costa Rica, meteor showers, eclipses, the glow worm caves of New Zealand, watching the dance of synchronous fireflies in the United States or Japan, the ever-popular Milky Way, as well as increasing sightings of the aurora borealis.
With so many experiences available, it’s no wonder that even Booking.com named noctourism its top travel trend for 2025.
However, with some understanding and planning, photographers can stay ahead of the curve or at least enjoy the ride as the trend grows exponentially.
Tips for Chasing the Aurora Borealis
As an educator, many of the most popular questions I get regarding noctourism are currently about the aurora. Typically, the aurora can only be seen in cold seasons and at northern (or very southern) latitudes, hence their nickname, the Northern Lights. Over the past year, there have been many sightings that have gone viral, with aurora being able to be seen with the naked eye even in unusual locations, like Death Valley. However, it’s only temporary.
Like the seasons here on Earth, the Sun has something like seasons, although on a much grander scale. The Sun has an 11-year activity cycle, with the greatest point called the solar maximum. The Sun is most active during solar maximum with frequent and intense storms. These storms cause solar flares and coronal mass ejections (CMEs), bursts of plasma and magnetic fields. When charged particles from the storms collide with atoms in the Earth’s upper atmosphere, those atoms emit light, resulting in colorful auroras.
Currently, the Sun is in Solar Cycle 25, which began in 2019, and we are now in the solar maximum phase, which is expected to taper off in 2026. This is why we’re seeing so many intense aurora displays in locations and at times of year when they’re generally not seen. Understanding this science, if you are a photographer whose muse is the northern lights, this would be the time to plan your trips to see it dance.
Local Noctourism Festivals
For other photography genres, the rise of noctourism is still at the forefront. From massive events like Thailand’s Lantern Festival to local community celebrations, the night is ripe with opportunities for photographers. In Pennsylvania, United States, the town of Phoenixville recently held its 21st annual Firebird Festival. Expecting 500 attendees, there were estimates of over 16,000 attendees, who even climbed on neighboring structures to view a 20-foot-tall (six-meter) wooden Phoenix torched in an enormous fiery blaze.
Wildlife at Night
My experience with noctourism extends from planned events and festivals to how I create projects for myself. One source of inspiration for me as a wildlife and landscape photographer is ways I can combine both to create an environmental portrait. Environmental portraits are a specific type of image where you show an animal with more of its habitat visible to tell a story. The animal is often intentionally small in the frame compared to its environment.
I’m drawn to the beautiful imagery of fireflies in the Smoky Mountains of the United States or Japan. When I heard that some of these special fireflies called synchronous fireflies lived in Pennsylvania, I started photographing them as well. There are many challenges, including finding them, dialing in the best camera settings, and nailing the shot. Over the years, I have created images showcasing these rare insects that are only seen at night for a few weeks each year. My favorites are the environmental portrait compositions where many synchronous fireflies are dancing together across the forest floor.
Carefully Capturing Storms and Lightning
Another nighttime inspiration for me is lightning. I exercise extreme caution when photographing storms, of course. Not for the faint of heart, these night displays are best for the experienced adventurer. One of the “safer” ways to view them is at a site set up for viewing, such as the platforms at Arizona’s Grand Canyon Rim in monsoon season. With luck, you can watch a storm in the distance as bolts crack into the canyon, far from your camera. The National Park Service has a great page with safety and viewing tips for the monsoon season.
Capturing the lightning and freezing the moment can be done in many different ways, from using a lightning trigger device on your camera to image stacking. I prefer long exposures of up to 30 seconds that I manually control and time during the peak of the storm’s activity. I set up my camera pointed towards the area with the most lightning, with the composition framed wide initially so I can crop for the best bolt shapes later. The sudden bright burst of light from each bolt is tricky to expose, so I create a few test exposures and then trust the process.
The Night Sky as Inspiration
Photographers far from unique events can still make use of our humble night sky. I have photographed the Milky Way for many years in different locations and have had varied successes.
Experienced night sky photographers may already be familiar with the Bortle scale, but for everyone else, it’s a standardized system that classifies how dark a night sky will get at night. The darker the sky, the more stars are visible, and the better the Milky Way can be seen. The colors of the Milky Way are also much more naturally vivid and saturated in truly dark skies. I like to get creative and use light painting, blue hour blends, or extremely long exposures to capture my visions of the night sky with a strong foreground.
Most of my Milky Way photographs are created with a wide angle lens at f/2.8, 10-second exposure, with the ISO as my variable to create a balanced exposure.
Many websites and apps will help you find a darker sky near you, which will significantly increase your success. Search for a Certified Dark Sky Site near you for the best night sky viewing opportunities. Going during a new Moon is also key, helping avoid Moonlight interference as well.
However, despite knowing the importance of a dark sky, I’ve broken the “rules” and photographed near cities. I have some interesting photographs of maritime ruins from the Jersey Shore that are not far from the lights of multiple cities. Facing the ocean helped me avoid light pollution; however, I found the subject compelling enough to create the images despite not being ideal in terms of sky brightness.
I find night sky photography most appealing when it has a foreground element. I seek out interesting foregrounds and use the PhotoPills app to help me pre-visualize when the Milky Way will rise and where I want to set up.
Resources
Apps are a great help for planning your photography and keeping track of night sky events such as meteor showers and eclipses. I add these to my phone’s calendar far in advance with a notification to remind me.
Another excellent resource for local noctourism would be astronomy clubs. These are great resources not only for socialization but they often have meetings, viewing nights, stargazing parties, and educational programs.
One challenge that I have found with local night photography is finding somewhere that I’m allowed to be. Most parks close at dusk; however, the astronomy clubs and societies often have designated places where you’re allowed to photograph at night.
Journeying beyond local noctourism opens the photographer up to a literal world of opportunities. As mentioned earlier, the trend has grown exponentially, with adventures and tours of all types available to night sky enthusiasts.
Wildlife photographers have nocturnal walks, safaris, and bioluminescent displays worldwide to look forward to.
Tips for Eclipses
The current aurora activity and regular lunar and solar eclipses spoil landscape photographers. Travel for eclipses can be planned by looking at eclipse calendars, while auroras are relatively unpredictable. With a lunar eclipse on March 13-14, another total lunar eclipse will be viewable for the other side of the world on September 7-8, 2025 followed by the next total solar eclipse on August 12, 2026.
As PetaPixel Senior News Editor, Jeremy Gray, shared in 2024, the total solar eclipses are no joke when it comes to planning. The article on his experience capturing the eclipse and the stellar photos he created are worth a look for fellow eclipse chasers.
The total solar eclipses are truly the most fevered events, with some accommodations already selling out for 2026. This is when the Sun gets perfectly covered by the Moon, and the world turns dark momentarily. For the least stress, plan everything far in advance: from where exactly you will go (with a backup plan in case of clouds), lodging, and having eye protection for yourself and a solar filter for your camera. As far as where to go, looking for charts online that show the true path of totality is key to getting the ring of fire corona images that are so highly sought after. Enthusiasts can also benefit from joining dedicated photography-specific tours for help with planning, gear, settings, and assistance the day of.
Worldwide Noctourism
For photographers looking forward to events like this, the list of scenic night events and festivals worldwide starts with iconic lantern events in Thailand, China, or Taiwan. There are many more photographic night celebrations from Diwali in India, the Festival of Lights in Berlin, Vivid Sydney in Australia, Gardens By The Bay: Singapore, and the Albuquerque International Balloon Fiesta in New Mexico, United States.
The night is full of opportunities for photographers. However you photograph, from smartphone to full-frame camera, there’s a subject, or festival for you to enjoy the midnight magic of noctourism.
Image credits: Photographs by Kate Garibaldi
