How to Photograph the Aurora Borealis

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Alerts from my Aurora Borealis (Northern Lights) Forecast apps continue flying across my smartphone this year. Looks like Aurora plans to keep dancing across the sky from time to time. For a refresher on photographing the Northern Lights or if this is your first time, the following outlines a few tips to help ensure your images shimmer and glow.

Looking back, my first sighting of the Aurora Borealis is still a delightful memory. She floated, then she faded before bursting and swirling in an array of colors. I was totally speechless. Fast forward to today, when the Northern Lights sparkle, float and shimmer, it’s just as exciting! Capturing her dance? Even more so.

The Northern Lights, even with all of our technology and forecasts are unpredictable, beautiful, ever-changing. They range from intense and bright, to soft, faint and pail. They subtly move or fill the sky with dramatic dancing.

Even when the Aurora Borealis forecasts are in our favor, there’s no guarantee. All indicators are a go and she’s a no-show. Or, other times our indicators are not favorable and she emerges.

When the forecasts get it right, or we’re in the right place at the right time – we’re in for a treat! She may offer her display early in the evening or in the middle of the night. She is known for forcing you out of bed at 2 a.m.

Or, she may appear in the middle of the day when you can’t see her. Not very happy when that happens!

Let’s get ready to greet and photograph Aurora with these easy tips. These tips include: camera lenses and setting ranges, composition ideas, plus helpful tools in the field including apps I use.

Camera Lenses & Settings for Capturing the Aurora Borealis

• Aperture: When photographing the Aurora Borealis, typically the best lenses include very wide apertures such as a 1.8 or 2.8. This aperture allows you to let in more light to the camera. Typically, we’re photographing her in the dark, so the more light coming across the sensor the better.
• ISO & Shutter Speed: The vibrance and intensity of the Northern Lights dictates the other settings needed to maximize light. With a strong storm, using ISO of 1600, 2000 combined with a shutter speed of 15 – 20 seconds is a good starting point. A bright Aurora needs lower shutter speeds and ISO. Darker, faint views need longer speeds and higher ISO to bring in the color and detail.
• Focal Length: My old 14-24mm 2.8 lens finally bit the dust. In some of these images, my only option at the time was my Nikon 24-120 f/4 lens that night. Fortunately, with a strong Aurora, the f/4 worked along with 2000 ISO and 25 seconds shutter speed. (See image below). Given that we want to capture as much sky as possible, wide (24mm) to extra wide (14mm) are optimal focal lengths. Update: Today I use Nikon’s 14-24mm 2.8 Z (available at Amazon) mount lens for the majority of my Aurora images.
• Focal Distance: Focal distance should be set to infinity. For DSLR cameras to set focus distance, find a bright star or bright light to set your focus. If using auto focus, after you’re focused to infinity, then switch to manual focus to hold your current focal length. Recheck your focus throughout your shoot as sometimes our lenses get bumped impacting our focus. Update: some mirrorless cameras automatically revert to infinity focus
• White Balance: I go back and forth on this one. I typically prefer to go with auto and then correct in post. However, if I’m seeing too much light pollution, I’ll switch to Kelvin at 3000 to cool things down a bit.
• Exposure Delay Mode, Timer Release: When shooting the aurora with very low shutter speeds, we need minimal camera movement. Using Exposure Delay Mode allows you to press the shutter button, then the camera waits a couple of seconds before releasing the shutter. If using DSLR cameras – this locks the mirror up prior to the shutter button release.

TIP: With any Aurora, using a multitude of settings helps ensure more options to choose from in post processing. This includes changing ISO and shutter speed often. The Aurora is ever-shifting. This shifting requires us to adjust our settings in order to create a variety of images to choose from in post processing.

Composition Ideas

As much as Aurora is the star of the show, the supporting cast is important. If possible, scoping out your location before dark is helpful to identify leading lines, reflections or image anchors to add interest in the overall image. Here’s five ideas for consideration:

1. Aurora Borealis with a Silhouette

With the photograph above, the beach really didn’t have a strong anchor point other than a light glow. To add interest, I had my hubby stand still and gave him a flashlight. With strict instructions not to breathe for 25 seconds, he turned on the flashlight in front of him for 2 – 3 seconds. This created the silhouette effect.

I cleaned a couple of soft edges using the cloning tool in Photoshop.

2. Reflections, Soft Light, Waters Edge, Leading Lines

When photographing over the water, stronger Auroras add color to the waters edge. If the water is moving, a soft ethereal glow is an easy story to capture with the long shutter speeds. With beaches, the edge turns in to leading lines. For smooth water with light, I prefer to use 20 – second shutter speeds.

With still ponds and standing water, brighter and sharp reflections deliver strong imagery. Faster shutter speeds help create sharper, clearer reflections. For sharper reflections, I use higher ISO – 2500 – 3000 and a shutter speed of 15 seconds.

3. The Human Element – Emotion of the Moment

The elation of seeing the Aurora Borealis for the first time. These two girls were seeing their first Northern Lights.

True story. We were at our little airport watching the faint Aurora just north of the cloud line. A family was also there and they didn’t realize that the haze they were seeing was the Aurora until I showed them the images in my camera.

Then, out of the blue, the pillars and Aurora went into overdrive as we were talking. Textures and faint color shifted in intensity. These two girls were sharing how they felt seeing Aurora dance for the first time. I don’t know which was more fun…. photographing Aurora or photographing their excitement!

4. Mood

Night photography is dramatic. Add in a faint display of Northern Lights and a dark building and there’s a mystery factor. Captured near Halloween, this image conveys a haunting factor. The interior red light serves as point of interest with the evening green in the distance.

5. Sheer Beauty of the Aurora Borealis

When Aurora gives us a great show, capturing her pillars, colors, creates imagery that shows off her diversity. Whether you’re working with landscapes you know well, or are shooting in a new location, one constant that’s been a helpful guide – frame up and photograph what you find interesting. Then, continue trying new compositions while she’s dancing away.

Tools and Apps

The camera tools include a solid, sturdy tripod. Instead of a remote camera shutter release, I use the camera’s shutter delay mode which reduces camera shake in long exposures. I do keep a remote shutter release in my bag just in case.

I also suggest a headlamp, preferably red to minimize light for others when reaching your spot. (other photographers may be in the area). If you’re camera has night viewing mode, that’s also helpful in reducing light and reading the scene.

I use two apps for tracking and planning. They include:

1. SpaceWeatherLive – This continues to serve as the most reliable source for tracking multiple indicators of the Aurora. All of the measures in the app work independently and together to help gage when conditions are optimal. While it’s never completely accurate, it’s the most reliable to date. I look at the Hemispheric Power, the Bz and Solar Wind.
2. Aurora Forecast – I use this to get a few days out forecast of probability. When it’s the day of, I’m back in SpaceWeatherLive.

Pulling it All Together

When planning to photograph the Aurora Borealis, I start with the apps to determine where to go and timing. From there, once I determine the location, it’s time to head out. My bag is packed with a tripod, camera, wide angle lens with a big aperture and spare battery. As nights tend to get misty, I also keep lens cloths to ensure that my lens is clear. One other tip? Take snacks and plenty of H2O! It’s hard work out there and you work up an appetite in the depths of the night!