In this post, I am going to share some suggestions about how to photograph the northern lights (aka aurora borealis). I had the luck to experience this wonderful natural phenomenon twice, first in Tromsø in northern Norway, and later in Iceland. When I was in Norway, all my attempts to capture the aurora failed. So believe me, I know how frustrating it can be going back home with empty hands. Experience is the best teacher. In Iceland I did not repeat the same mistakes and I got several nice shots. Let’s see if any of these suggestions will help you be successful!
There are a few things that are necessary to photograph the northern lights. The most intuitive is that you must be in a place where you can see the northern lights. Although a very strong solar activity could make you experience the northern lights also in countries where the northern lights are rare, this phenomenon is only common within or close to the Arctic Circle. The choice usually falls between the northern part of Scandinavia (Norway, Sweden, and Finland), Russia, or Canada. The same phenomenon happens in the Southern Hemisphere. However, Ushuaia “fin del mundo” (Argentina), the closest city to the South Pole, only reaches 54 degrees of latitude - approximately like Copenhagen, Denmark - which is not enough. Alternatively, you may want to go to Antartica, where you can surely see the northern lights, but that’s not a simple trip.
Other important things are warm clothes, spare batteries and memory cards, a flashlight, and a tripod. A remote control to reduce the shake caused by the hand is not essential (I never used it), but it helps. Use whatever camera and lens you prefer. Forget about being comfortable in a café while you watch the show. You will have to escape light pollution and search for clear sky with no clouds. You might also want to check the solar wind activity from Nasa’s ACE spacecraft (http://www.aurora-service.eu/aurora-forecast/) to know how likely it is to see the aurora.
And now the most interesting part: the settings. To photograph the northern lights you should use the camera in manual mode so that you can play with the ISO, the exposure length, the aperture, and the focus. It goes without saying it, but let’s mention it in any case: no flash! And now a little secret: there is no single set of best parameters. Based on how fast is the aurora moving and how intense it is, you may have to play with the settings until you get good photos.
- ISO is a number indicating the sensitivity of the camera to the light. Usually, you try to keep a high ISO value, but not too high (otherwise the photos get blurred). The newest cameras can reach incredibly high ISO values, and they are getting better and better at avoiding unwanted noise in the photo. For the northern lights ISO between 800/3200 are fine, and I usually start at 1600, but again: it depends on how intense is the aurora. Don’t panic. You can always change it and shoot again.
- The exposure length has to be long. The slowest the aurora is moving, the longest time you might want to use (you need it to give the impression that the northern light is moving). Usually, you keep it between 2-20 seconds. This is why you need the tripod, warm clothes, and spare memory cards and batteries. Every shaking will kill the photo.
- The aperture is the easiest part. Just keep it as wider as possible (f/2.8 or so).
- Focusing light is not easy. You can start using autofocus to point at the moon or a tree, and then switch to manual focus. This is where the flashlight could be handy.
Et voilà.
(Nikon D7200, 18mm, ISO: 6400, f/4, 20s)
Don’t forget that to have a nice photo it’s not enough to have the aurora. Look for a church, a tree, a lake, a person, or some other element to include in the photo.
You should know by now that I don’t do post-processing of my photos. If you plan to do it, remember to shoot in RAW.