How to Photograph the Aurora Borealis - Northern lights
Yesterday I wrote about finding aurora borealis, today how to actually photograph them.
Tripod
The main requirement is a tripod. Your exposures will be at least 10 seconds and possibly more, there is no way to hand hold the camera and get decent results.
Lenses
You also want to use the fastest wide angle lens you own. Most consumer wide angle zoom lenses are f/3.5, this is barely fast enough. A f/2.8 or f/2.4 is much better. Many SLR cameras come with a 50mm prime lens that most people quickly replace with a more convenient zoom lens. If you still have an old 50mm prime lens laying around, dig it out - it will probably be the fastest lens you own. I have an old f/1.8 that works great. The problem with a 50mm lens is that it isn’t wide enough to capture the full band in most auroras, you usually need a wider lens - more like 28mm or wider. Serious aurora photographers usually own at least one f/1.4 wide angle prime lens. These can be somewhat expensive, and very specialized since most nature photographers don’t need fast wide angles because they are stopping down to maximize depth of field for landscape photography.
Shutter Speed
The idea behind using a fast lens is to reduce the shutter speed by as much as possible. Auroras can have lots of interesting details in their bands and rays, but these details are largely lost with exposures in excess of 30 seconds - the wonderful color is still there, but longer exposures turns the details in to blobs of colors.
ISO Settings
Another way to reduce the shutter speed is to increase the ISO settings on digital cameras, or use higher speed film. Today most people seem to use digital cameras, so my discussion will focus on these. Higher ISO settings on digital cameras lead to increased image noise, especially in dark areas, I would use the highest ISO setting that you can live with noise wise. I have no problem using my Canon 5D at 400 ISO, and wouldn’t hesitate to go to 800, above that, things get fairly noisy. Because of the lack of detail in auroras, these type of images do respond well to noise reduction efforts in Photoshop. I may try 1600 ISO my next night out.
Focus
Since the Aurora is far away, you can set focus on infinity and forget about it. Test your lens in advance in daylight, some lenses need to be backed off slightly from full infinity for proper focus.
Noise Reduction
I talked about image noise from using high iso settings, but there is another kind of noise to be concerned about during long exposures with digital cameras, and that is sensor noise. Sensor noise is basically stuck pixels (all cameras have them) on your camera’s sensor that will show as white dots in your image. To avoid this, you need to make sure the noise reduction feature on your digital camera is turned on. With noise reduction on, your camera will take a second totally black exposure of equal time to your original capture, and then the camera uses this exposure to block out the stuck pixels. This does double your total time for every image, but it is a necessary step for long night exposures. See your manual for more info, on Canon cameras this is typically set with custom function 2.
Exposure
OK, you have a tripod, lens opened all the way, iso set high, focus at infinity and noise reduction on - now you are ready to start shooting. I typically start with about a 20 second exposure and adjust from there based upon what I’m seeing on the histogram. The top photo for reference was 10 seconds at f/2.8 and 320 iso. Exposures can really vary widely depending on the brightness of the aurora and moon, and this is why I rely heavily on the histogram.
Moon Light
Speaking of the moon, a moon lit night can be very helpful at lighting up the surrounding countryside not only adding to the composition possibilities, but the moon makes it much easier to shoot and for walking. It does take a pretty good aurora to compete with the light from a full moon.
Other tools
A headlamp can be very valuable when shooting at night. Be sure to turn your headlamp and any car lights off before taking your photo, as stray light can be a problem with long exposures. A shutter release can be helpful as it reduces camera shake, I often use my two second timer instead. Since auroras are often found in the winter, this entry on winter photography tips may also be helpful.
Composition
Including a mountain, tree or other subject matter can help aurora photos. It is nice to have a reference point for scale. Experiment, horizontal and vertical, include the moon and leave it out, including the surroundings, even shoot straight up, anything goes.
Patience
The biggest secret to Aurora photography is patience. Good aurora photographers spend many nights out in the cold sitting, waiting and even sleeping in their vehicles.
December 20th, 2006 at 6:15 pm
Great tips Ron, I will definitely keep these handy for the next rare time we have the aurora here in SE Michigan. Thanks.
January 16th, 2007 at 11:25 am
This is our last winter here in AK and I am happy to have found your information page. I have yet to take any photos. I have a Kodak Easy Share z760 digital camera. I have been reading the manual and have found all the settings you speak of. However, you list shutter speed in seconds and my camera represents it in a fraction or as a “. Could you help me out? I have been googling but have not been able to answer my questions there.
Thanks so much!
Star
January 16th, 2007 at 11:10 pm
Hi Star,
Yeah, usually your shutter speed is a fraction of a second - but for night shots, it needs to be many seconds. Your camera may not have those setting, but it might have a B setting. The B setting allows you to hold the shutter for as long as you have your finger on it. Check your manual out to see if you have a B shutter speed. Good luck!
January 17th, 2007 at 3:22 pm
Star: when your camera lists shutter speeds, the fractions are all less than a second, and when it shows shutter speeds with ” next to it, that’s in seconds. I’d advise against using bulb or “b” mode, unless you have a cable release or wireless remote (Nikons wireless remote will allow you to open the shutter with one press and close it with the second) trying to not jiggle the camera while holding the shutter for 10-20 seconds is basically impossible.
January 21st, 2007 at 3:48 pm
I found your website and help on dslr photography of the northern lights. I’ll be shooting in March using an Olympus EVolt 500. While I’ve used the camera some, never for night photography. Anything special you can advise??
Thanks,
Yvonne
January 23rd, 2007 at 7:34 pm
Hi Yvonne,
I really can’t help you with that particular camera, your manual will be the best help. Good luck!
January 31st, 2007 at 4:46 pm
Thanks Ron. I’ve done a lot of reading and just invested in a 14-54mm, f2.8-3.5 lens to replace my 14-45mm, f3.5-5.6. I should be in good shape, especially since I have the ability to set exposure times and shoot in “RAW” format.
Yvone
January 31st, 2007 at 8:48 pm
Perfect, have fun!
December 31st, 2007 at 2:31 am
Thanks for the advice
I only have a Nikon 18-70mm lens f3.5-4.5
and a sigma wide angle lens 10-20mm f4-5.6
tripod and cable release
I leave on tuesday for iceland, what ISO and exposure times should I start with for these options?
many thanks g
December 31st, 2007 at 9:14 am
Hi Gilli,
I would start wide open with a 30 second exposure with at iso 400, and then adjust from there. It hasn’t been a very good year for Northern Lights, hopefully you will get lucky!
Good luck,
Ron
January 19th, 2008 at 7:00 am
Your article is very helpful. Can you advise on which WB to set?
January 19th, 2008 at 10:23 am
Thanks Einat,
I set the white balance to auto - that seems to work well.
Ron
April 24th, 2008 at 10:32 am
Hi Ron
You mention, you rely on your histogram. In your experience, what particular items are you looking for in your histogram?
Thanks
Dave
April 24th, 2008 at 11:54 am
Hi Dave,
I want to make sure the mountain of data isn’t too far too the right or left - especially right with northern lights - I don’t want the lights over exposed.
Because of the black night sky, I don’t mind if a good portion of the data is up against the left side of the graph, it should be since the night sky is largely black. But there will usually be a second hump of data sorta speak - this is the data for the actual lights, and they should be near the middle.
Hope that makes sense.
Ron
July 23rd, 2008 at 12:46 pm
Thanks sooo much for your info ! I have a 35-80 (2.8) Nikon Lense on a D70 Nikon SLR, , and a 18-35 3.5/4.5 Nikon lens, which would be better to use ? You say pick the best, so that would be the 2.8, but it is only a 35, so should I use the 18-35 even though it is 3.5/4.5 ? Also, I have a remote control for the D70, but it seems to fire some of the time only, what do you mean when you say you use your 2 sec timer ? I understand that would simply wait 2 secs before firing ,but how would you get a long exposure with that ? I find your shots incredibly beautiful, and thank you for sharing your knowledge so generously ! sincerely, Frances
July 23rd, 2008 at 8:56 pm
Hi Frances,
Thanks and you are welcome!
That is a tough one. The faster lens is better, but Northern Light can often occupy a big portion of the sky, so then a wider angle would be better. I would use take both. If the lights are in a tight band and really moving, use your fast lens. If they are a big arc and not moving much, then use your wider angle lens. In between, then it is a compromise - you might try them both if you have the time.
I use the two second timer with mirror lockup instead of the remote control. With the remote control, you don’t need to use the two second delay.
Ron
July 23rd, 2008 at 9:10 pm
Thanks for your quick reply ! I don’t understand about the mirror lock up, and the 2 second delay, how do you do that ? Sorry that I am not more experienced, so you will have to explain it to me, sounds like a great idea ! I have only used the mirror lock up to try to clean my sensor, and didn’t know that I could do a time exposure using it, sure would like to know how you do that ! thanks, I looked at your gallery, and I am so impressed, you have traveled , and gone to all my favorite places ! what a treat to see all those lovely images ! I live in BC myself, and Utah is one of my favorites ! I am not schooled in Photography so I kind of fake it, but I really love it !
July 24th, 2008 at 2:10 pm
Hi Frances,
Thanks - I have been very blessed to have been able to travel to so many wonderful places. I really love BC!
The idea behind using the two second timer is it reduces the camera shake created when you hit the shutter button. You are accomplishing the same thing with your remote, but it is a good way to fire the camera if you don’t have a remote. It is great for landscapes, but doesn’t work for wildlife where timing is critical.
Another way to reduce camera shake is by locking up the mirror before you take a picture. It is probably a minor thing, but the mirror can cause the camera to shake a little bit. Not all cameras have mirror lockup, and the way you set it is different with each camera, so you would need to check your manual for the one.
I hope that helps!
Ron
July 24th, 2008 at 4:11 pm
Thanks for your reply, do I understand you correctly ? you use the mirror up, feature to take the picture, but I thought that when you press the shutter down with the mode dial set to MUP,then ,you have to push the shutter button down again to take the picture, so how would that be like a time exposure ? Would that not be just like taking a picture the regular way, except that the mirror comes down after the picure is taken ? Sorry to be so dumb, but I thought that you had a method to take a time exposure without a remote control. I have the remote control for the D70, but I also own a D300, and don’t have a remote for it. Last time I used the remote with the D70 for fireworks I found that it would not go off when I pressed it , so I ended up missing some of the fireworks, it seemed to close the shutter OK, but would not always open it right when I pressed the remote, thought the battery was weak so I bought a new one, and still had the problem, had the new battery checked, and it is ok, so I sure would like to have another way to take a time exposure. Hope you understand all that, I almost don’t !