Douglas Goodwin, Fletcher Jones Scholar in Computation and assistant professor in media studies, published an article for The Conversation and other outlets on May 23 about what makes smartphone photographs of low-light phenomena like the Northern Lights “even more striking than they appear to the eye.”
Smartphones “enhance your images using digital techniques and algorithms,” Goodwin explains. Image stabilization, multi-image processing, and LiDAR (light detection and ranging) capabilities are used by many phones to enhance photographs.