How to photograph the northern lights with a digital camera

By Photographer Patrick J. Endres Updated 9/8/2011

If you find the information here helpful please link back to this page.
Thank you ~ Patrick

How to photograph the northern lights with a digital camera

Introduction

For many, just viewing the aurora borealis is a life-long dream. And to capture them with a camera is both a thrilling and awe inspiring experience.

Before the advent of the digital camera, photographing the aurora with slide film was complicated and often involved a good deal of experimenting. When I used to guide trips back in those days, clients were attached to the hip looking for experienced-based guidance on exposure times and camera settings. Without being able to view the results until weeks later, that was essential. While the digital camera has not removed the need for experience, its immediate feedback has opened up photographic opportunities for many that may have otherwise been failed attempts. With today’s average digital SLR and a good lens and tripod, you are likely to get some very satisfactory images.

This article is intended to give you some necessary information to help guide you in your aurora photography venture. While much of what is written below is general in nature and applies to most all digital cameras, the many, many brands and models have their own uniqueness. I will focus on Canon digital SLR’s, since that is what i shoot.

1. WHERE AND WHEN TO VIEW THE AURORA
2. HOW TO DRESS – WHAT TO WEAR
3. CAMERA AND OTHER GEAR
4. EXPOSURE – HISTOGRAMS – FILE TYPE
5. AURORA SHOOTING CHECKLIST

A FEW AURORA RESOURCES

• To learn more about the science of the aurora borealis visit wikipedia.
• A book by Dr. Syun-Ichi Akasofu in collaboration with Jack Finch and Jan Curtis, The Northern Lights Secrets of the Aurora Borealis, is an excellent resource.
• So is Northern Lights: The Science, Myth, and Wonder of Aurora Borealis with excellent photographs by my friend, colleague and maniacal aurora photographer Calvin Hall.

1) Where and when to view the aurora:

WHERE TO VIEW THE NORTHERN LIGHTS?

Because the aurora are drawn to the earth’s magnetic poles, far northern & southern latitudes offer excellent opportunities for viewing auroral displays. Some points to consider when selecting a location for aurora photography:

• Geographic Latitude: It would be ideal, although not necessary to find a spot within the auroral belt. (According to Dr. Syun-Ichi Akasofu, this is the polar region where the aurora is visible about two-thirds of the year). I live in Fairbanks, about 65 degrees latitude, which is geographically well situated for aurora viewing.
• Light Pollution Free: Go somewhere free of light pollution, far from city lights or airports.
• Direction/Orientation: Most of the shooting orientation will be between the northwest and southeast sky. With this in mind, position yourself to shoot with light sources (towns or cities) to your south. When solar storms are very strong and hit the earth’s atmosphere with strength, both the northern and southern sky will contain the aurora, and often in some wild colors.
• Consider a Pellet gun: This may come in handy when you need to quietly turn off your neighbors yard lard light. OK, I am truly kidding, there are more diplomatic ways but I must confess, I have thought of it before.

WHEN IS THE BEST TIME OF YEAR?

Aurora activity is directly connected with solar storm activity on the surface of the sun. Therefore, being aware of this will help determine the optimal times for viewing the most active aurora displays. According to SpaceWeather.com, statistically speaking, March is the most geomagnetically active month of the year; October is a close second. Although the reasons why are not fully understood, there is no doubt that equinoxes favor auroras. This graph from their website plots geomagnetic activity per month. Remember however, that times of year that have less storms and more clear skies can be equally, if not more, productive from a statistical perspective also.

Some scientists predict the years of 2013-2015 to produce very good aurora displays.

• The UAF Geophysical Institute now offers their Northern Lights forecasts through an Iphone App
• The Spring and Vernal equinoxes have been noted as especially good times (March 21/Sept 21 – approximately) However, I’ve seen amazing aurora during all times of the year.

AURORA BOREALIS FORECASTS

If you are checking aurora forecast websites, keep in mind that low activity can still be very acceptable for photography, particularly in the northern regions. So actually, your location may be more critical than the intensity of the aurora display. Below are a few links to aurora activity prediction and forecast sites:

• UAF Geophysical InstituteOffers Alaska-based auroral display predictions both in a long and short term context. Since there are many variables effecting whether or not the aurora will actually be visible, these predictions are generalized, in particular, the long term forecast.
  

  Band represents range and extent of aurora borealis visibility in the AK. The graph is not a current prediction, click to check current status.

• 
  Space Weather
• Solarcycle 24
• NOAA’s POES website (Polar-orbiting Operational Environmental Satellite) offers a general, and fairly simple circumpolar pictorial representation of the current location of the auroral oval, which is updated every ten minutes.
  
  Aurora activity approximated in color bar representation. This image
  is updated every 10 minutes. See date stamp in graphic.

IS MOONLIGHT GOOD OR BAD FOR AURORA PHOTOGRAPHY?

I’ve photographed the aurora during all stages of the moon’s presence. Here are some pros and cons to both:

• Moonlight brightens the sky, and thereby minimizes the intensity of the aurora.
• Moonlight illuminates the foreground landscape, offering interesting compositional elements for your picture.
• A snowy landscape that reflects the light is a big help on a completely dark night. It can provide the necessary light for a foreground landscape that contributes composition to your frame.
• Moonless nights offer opportunities for extended exposures enhancing star trails, and silhouetting mountains or trees behind a starry night. Additionally, very stable, or slow moving aurora make good opportunities for longer exposures as well. I have written about this subject in a previous post and you can refer to that for further reading.
• Below are two examples of aurora photos taken on a near full moon, and an evening with no moon presence. They are quite different but both very acceptable and portray very different feelings.

 

WHAT TIME OF NIGHT IS BEST FOR VIEWING THE AURORA?

It is difficult to say what exactly is the best time of night to view the aurora. There are however some generalizations:

• Between 10:00pm to 2:00am seems to be the time frame most conducive to aurora activity, so say the scientists and my experience confirms that. Below is a quote from University of Alaska Geophysical Institute website:

“The best time to observe aurora is near local midnight, when the most active forms often occur. More precisely, the time to shoot for is an hour or two prior to local geomagnetic midnight, and the forecast maps found here are calculated for that time. If you are a serious aurora watcher, plan to spend the night from about 9 P.M. to 3 A.M. watching for auroral action. Auroral activity tends to come in waves during an evening, which are called auroral substorms. Even during an active period, there will be lulls in which the auroral activity is subdued; however, the patient observer will often see a new burst of activity within an hour or two.”

• Stay awake and be ready. I’ve never had much luck by going to sleep and then checking periodically. By the time you actually get dressed and get all the camera gear ready, the show can easily be over.
• Plan to spend a chunk of time viewing. The aurora displays and activity follows a somewhat predictable pattern. Whether it is a homogenous arc, a rayed arc, or a corona, they present different types of photo opportunities, at different times of the night.
• Scout your location in daylight and thus be ready. Displays can vary in duration, sometimes hours, sometimes only minutes. Be prepared when the action happens.
• Remember, it varies widely. I try to get out as early in the night as possible with hopes of catching a little bit of the fading dusk light (and it does not take much) since it offers some wonderful blue colors in the sky.

2) How to dress, what to wear:

Because aurora viewing is best in polar regions, you are likely to be in cold weather, and sometimes, very cold weather especially if you are coming to Alaska in the winter. If the thought of cold weather freaks you out, consider a time like late September or early April, when temperatures are a little warmer, but the skies are still dark at night. Getting yourself dressed properly and outfitted with the necessary equipment will greatly increase both your efficiency and enjoyment while spending a night photographing the aurora. Below are a few suggestions to help prepare you:

• Dressing warm is essential. And get yourself mentally prepared to wait out the night. I’ve written more about cold weather photography here.
• Good winter boots are critical. Make sure they do not fit tight. They should have a substantial base depth to them since you are often standing on cold ground in one place for long periods.
• A pair of wool insoles inside the bottom of the boot add additional insulation, especially since one ends up standing and waiting for long periods.
• First layer clothing: This is important! Do NOT wear cotton as the first layer against your skin. Use either polypropylene, fleece, or a soft Merino wool.
• A warm parka: The conventional wisdom of “layering” is not so true when you are just standing around in cold temperatures. Layering is great if your heat output varies frequently as when climbing and hiking. But loft and air are what really insulate against the cold, so a puffy down parka will do the job great with a sweater underneath.
• Glove liners that can fit inside larger warmer mittens work well.
• Small chemically activated hand warmers are a big help. I put them either in the pockets of my down parka, or in the mittens themselves.
• A warm nearby vehicle is a luxury.
• Headlamp to help get set up with camera and tripod. Many headlamps are now available with a red LED to preserve your night vision, if you don’t have one of those, put a red colored gel over the light. It is amazing how adjusted your eyes become after 10 minutes in the dark of night. If you know your camera well, you can get by without using a headlamp for most of the time.
• Be careful not to breathe directly on your camera viewfinder, lenses or LCD, they will fog/ice up quickly in cold temps.
• If you take your camera directly into a very warm room after having it chilled down, enclose it in something first. I put my camera in the camera bag and zip it up and slowly let it come to room temperature, or inside a down parka where it remains insulated.

3) Camera and Photo gear:

CAMERAS

I photograph with Canon Gear, currently the Canon EOS 1Ds MarkIII, which has a 21 Megapixel full frame sensor and the 5D Mark II. Canon’s other digital SLR’s are excellent options as well. Nikon has a strong lineup, and the D3 (D3s) is especially well suited for aurora photography due to its high sensitivity full frame sensor.

THE IMPORTANCE OF ISO

When photographing the aurora, high ISO capability is critical. For a good read on the importance of this over megapixels check out this article at Gizmodo: Why ISO is the New Megapixels

• EOS 1Ds MarkIII (21MP full frame sensor)
• Nikon D3x and D3s (24.5MP full frame sensor)
• Nikon D3 (12MP full frame sensor)
• Nikon D700 (12 MP full frame sensor)
• EOS 1D MarkIII (10MP 1.3x crop)
• EOS 1D Mark IV (16MP 1.3x crop)
• EOS 5D MKII (21MP full frame sensor)
• EOS 7D (18MP 1.6 crop)
• EOS 50D (15MP 1.6x crop)
• EOS Digital Rebel T2i (18MP 1.6x crop)

The upper end of these cameras have excellent high ISO performance with  in-camera high ISO noise reduction and long exposure noise reduction (If you are shooting .jpeg-which I don’t advise by the way) software.  Make sure that these options are turned on. Long exposure noise reduction has an auto setting and kicks in on exposures greater than 1 second. You can ignore this setting if you are shooting RAW files. ISO settings from 400 to 1600 can deliver excellent results. The length of your exposures will depend on how large of an opening (f-stop) your camera lens has. Generally, the smaller the f/stop number, the greater the $$$.

A NOTE ABOUT POINT AND SHOOT CAMERAS:

While it is not impossible to photograph the aurora with a little point and shoot digital camera, it is challenging indeed. The models are constantly changing, and perhaps in the near future it will become easier. A few of the basic limitations of most point and shoot cameras are:

If you have an digi cam with some advanced features, read your manual and see if it looks usable for aurora. You want:

• 400 ISO, preferably 800 or higher
• bulb mode
• manual focus option
• self timer release
• wide angle lens

TRIPOD AND BALLHEADS

A tripod is absolutely essential for northern lights photography. A tall tripod will be more comfortable, as you will be aiming the camera up towards the sky. Squatting under a short tripod cranking your neck can become very uncomfortable, very fast. (NOTE: A GOOD BALLHEAD AND TRIPOD IS REALLY IMPORTANT, ON OUR PHOTO TOURS WE HAVE HAD MANY FRUSTRATED GUESTS WHOSE SMALL TRIPOD AND FLIMSY BALLHEAD EITHER BROKE OR OPERATED SO POORLY THEY MISSED MANY PHOTO OPPORTUNITIES. A GOOD TRIPOD IS WORTH IT.)

• This Bogen 055XB tripod, although on the shorter side, is an adequate inexpensive tripod available at B&H Photo. It even has built in leg warmers to protect your hands from cold metal.
• The GT3541 is an exceptional, and expensive, tripod from Gitzo. It is lightweight and sturdy carbon fiber, and fairly tall. Notice
  it has no center column. If you get a tripod with a center column, the ability to remove it can be advantageous for close up photography. Additionally, one should not rely on expanding the center column completely for aurora photography, since this makes the camera less stable and susceptible to wind movement during long exposures.
• Ballheads are preferred over pan/tilt heads.Kirk Enterprises makes the BH-3, is a great smaller ballhead.
• Foam pads on your tripod legs will help keep your hands warmer

LENSES

There are several desirable qualities to look for when considering lenses for aurora photography:

• Wide angle
• Fast (large aperture of F/2.8 or wider)
• Sharp
• Minimal vignetting
• Inexpensive

As a general rule of thumb, you can pick any three of the above.

I have yet to discover the perfect lens, but here are a few to consider:

• Canon 16-35mm F/2.8 USM or Nikon 17-35
  F/2.8: Outstanding optical performers, but not exceptionally
  fast. A bit expensive but versatile for both aurora and excellent for daytime general landscapes. It is one of my favorite lenses.
• Canon 24mm IIL F/1.4: New from Canon, a reported improvement over the previous version. Offers a two-stop advantage
  over the 16-35. This means a 30 second aurora exposure can be
  taken in 7.5 second, freezing the shapes and giving more definition.
  Older versions can be found for about $1000.
• Canon Super Wide Angle EF 20mm f/2.8 USM
  Inexpensive alternative to the more versatile zooms
• Sigma 20mm F/1.8: Available for both Canon and Nikon. Provides very good performance
  for an inexpensive lens. The corners are moderately dark and
  soft, which is mostly eliminated on non-full frame digital cameras.
• Any 50mm F/1.4 – F/1.8: These “standard”
  lenses are exceptionally inexpensive and perform well optically
  because they are “easy” to make. However, 50mm is
  not very wide and may not capture the entire aurora shape well.
• An option for those shooting with Digital SLR’s with
  a 1.5-1.6x multiplication factor: such as the Canon 50D or Nikon D90. They are about half as fast but offer wide angle (16-18mm equivalent), and are versatile
  for other landscape work. Only compatible with
  reduced-sensor size cameras
• Canon Zoom Super Wide AngleEF-S 10-22mm f/3.5-4.5 USM Autofocus Lens
• Nikon Zoom Super Wide AngleAF 12-24mm f/4G ED-IF AF-S DX Zoom-Nikkor Autofocus Lens for Select Digital Cameras
• Nikon Zoom Super Wide AngleAF 14-24mm f/2.8G ED, AF lens

OTHER RELATED EQUIPMENT

• Batteries Have a few batteries at your disposal. Keep on warm in a parka pocket.
• Cable release Prevents camera shake and allows for exposures in excess of 30 seconds.
• Chemical Hand warmers I use them all the time. They can be kept inside an over mitt or in a pocket of your coat for a quick hand warming option.
• Headlamp A headlamp allows two hands to be free while handling your camera. Consider the on-off switch before purchasing, as you will be operating the headlamp with gloves on. This Brinkmann Focused Beam LED Headlamp is a good choice, available on REI’s website

TAKE OFF YOUR LENS FILTER

When photographing the aurora it is important to remove the filter from your lens. Why? Look at the photo at right and you will see a series of concentric rings, which appear at the center of the image. This can be a disheartening discovery after a night of shooting the aurora, since the rings are very difficult to remove, with even the best photoshop geek on the job.

What causes the rings? Charles Deehr, a professor emeritus in physics at the University of Alaska Geophysical Institute has been quoted by Dick Hutchinson as saying:

“These are interference fringes due to the parallel faces of the filter and to the narrow spectral emission at 5577 Angstroms in the aurora. That green, atomic oxygen emission line is the strongest emission in the aurora near our film and eye peak sensitivity, so it shows up first when there is any device in the optical path which sorts out the spectral emissions.”

Harry Manos, a physics teacher from California who gave a lecture on aurora photography (and consulted Charles Deehr for material review) describes it this way:

“A haze filter in front of the lens acts as a Fabry-Perot interferometer on the 1S auroral green emission line of oxygen, creating green concentric circles.”

So what does that mean exactly? My interpretation: just take your filter off!

ACHIEVING CRITICAL FOCUS

Pre-focusing your lens: Don’t overlook this important step. With the new genre of autofocus cameras and lenses, there is tolerance built into the lenses to accommodate for changes in temperature. For this reason, you can’t just manually turn the focus dial to infinity and be confident that it will be in focus. The old manual lenses did this perfectly, but the new ones don’t.

• Switch your camera to a single point focus, preferably the center one.
• Before it gets dark, focus your camera on a distant “infinity” focal point, like a mountain horizon.
• Pick an edge that has good contrast to ensure a good focus lock. Hit the focus button a few times and make sure you see the viewfinder light that confirms focus (not just an audio beep).
• Turn the switch on your lens to manual focus.
• Tape the focusing dial to the non-moving barrel of the lens, to ensure that you don’t bump and move it later on in the dark.
• If you forget to do this you can either focus directly on the moon if it is out, or use Live View.

Using Live View to focus: In my experience, pre-focusing has worked excellent for all lenses except the Canon Canon 24mm 1.4L. For this lens, I’ve switched to using the live-view function (if your camera has it–most DSLR’s have it). The procedure is this.

• Manually turn your camera lens to the infinity focus mark.
• Find the brightest object in the sky and center your camera on it by looking through the viewfinder.
• Turn on live view and maximum zoom in on the object.
• Adjust the focus ring until you are satisfied the object is sharp. It can be challenging if all you have is a star. If this is the case you can use a loupe on the back of the LCD monitor to help out. Depending on your eyesight–and for those needing reading glasses and don’t happen to have them on a chilly night of shooting aurora–I use a small loupe to view the back of the LCD.
• Turn off live view and shoot.

BATTERIES, COLD WEATHER, MEDIA CARDS

• San Disk is a flash card manufacturer with a line of cards called “Extreme” which are made especially for extreme temperatures. My experience with these cards has been good.
• Camera batteries: it is a good idea to have at least two, three is better.
• Keep one in your pocket, or in a nearby warm place. Switching them out occasionally will keep you powered up.
• Long exposures tend to chew up batteries quickly.
• When waiting on a chilly night for the aurora, I remove the flash card and battery and put them in my pocket. When the action happens, I quickly put them back in the camera and start shooting.

4) Histograms, exposure, modes, file formats:

The digital age has taken much of the exposure mystery out of aurora photography, however, there are some specific issues to be aware of.

HISTOGRAMS

• Read your histogram: The preview on the back of your camera is a good reference, but an LDC monitor on a dark night can fool you by making things appear brighter than they are. Michael Reichmann of www.luminous-landscape.com has written an article on how to read a histogram: Understanding Histograms. I strongly recommend reading through it.

EXPOSURE

• Proper Exposure is critical: Even though a RAW file offers latitude for exposure compensation, accurate exposure is imperative, especially when shooting high ISO.
• Shoot in RAW format: If you are uncomfortable with RAW, shoot in RAW&JPEG format (if your camera permits it). Even if you don’t know how to process a RAW file, don’t worry. Someday you will be glad you did. Consider the RAW file like a negative. It will always be there and you can process it at any time.

NOISE AND NOISE REDUCTION:

There are two in-camera settings that many digital cameras have that can control noise in a digital file. I recommend visiting these two articles from Canon’s website if you would like to learn more on this subject:

• High ISO Noise Reduction
• Paragraph on Long Exposure Noise Reduction

High ISO Noise Reduction:

• If you are shooting in RAW format, you can ignore this in-camera setting as the noise reduction takes place in the post production process: As Canon States:

“Don’t expect the High ISO Noise Reduction you may have set in-camera to have any effect with most third-party software programs.”

• If you are a user of Adobe Lightroom to process your RAW files, the two noise reduction tabs are referred to as LUMINANCE  and COLOR under Noise Reduction in the Detail Panel.
• Luminance Noise:is the gray- or black-colored noise or “grain” that you often see when you look at a magnified view of an image on-screen, or closely examine a large print.  Actual subject detail is a component of the Luminance Noise, so you want to be very careful about simply removing this noise altogether — it’s very easy to blur-out the noise, and end up with a smooth picture that’s totally lacking in subject detail.
• Chrominance Noise (or color): is also a part of high-ISO images, but it’s different.  It’s the pastel-colored, speckled noise you sometimes see in mid-tone or shadow areas, upon close inspection.  This noise has far less impact on fine details of your subjects, so it can often be reduced or removed without appearing to blur or soften your images.

Long Exposure Noise Reduction:

• Generally, you want this setting turned on for aurora shooting, but the following quote from Canon sheds light on what actually goes on in-camera when this feature is used:

“Some users wonder why this noise reduction feature isn’t always ON at all times. The answer is that using it can slow down your shooting of one picture after another. Here’s why: to do its job, Long Exposure Noise Reduction has to re-energize your imaging sensor and in effect take a “blank” exposure, after your actual picture is taken, for the same length of time. During this time, you cannot shoot another actual picture — the red card busy light on the back of the camera stays on until the process is completed. If you shoot, for example, a 30 second exposure, the camera has to be tied-up for an additional 30 full seconds before your next picture can be taken.”

• There are other ways to get around the in-camera long exposure noise reduction processing, but it is a more complicated procedure that requires blending images in photoshop. Astro photographers use this method but it is beyond the scope of this article.

EXPOSURE CHART BASED ON ISO 400 AND MODERATE AURORA BRIGHTNESS:

Keep in mind that the chart below is just a reference. The exposures vary based on the intensity of the aurora, the amount of ambient light from the moon, and the reflective light from the snow. The best thing to do is take a shot, look at your histogram, and make adjustments from there.

Approximate exposure times in relation to f/stop @ 400ISO – varies based on ambient light.
Camera Lens	F-stop	Time
Canon EF 24mm L	f/1.4	7.5 seconds
Canon EF 35mm L	f/2.0	15 seconds
Canon EF 24mm	f/2.8	30 seconds
Canon EF 16-35mm L	f/2.8	30 seconds
Canon EF 10-22mm	f/3.5	50 seconds

SHOOTING MODES

If there is a great variation in the intensity of the auroral displays, and you have a fast lens, you can shoot in Aperture Priority mode, otherwise bulb or manual mode is required. I shoot both in AV and manual modes, depending on the circumstances and lens choice. As you get familiar with judging the intensity of the aurora, you can make pretty good guesses on exposure times. Remember your histogram!

• Set your camera to Aperture priority mode.
• Set your lens f/stop at its largest opening.
• In general, a slight overexposure tends to be helpful when doing this, perhaps ½ to 2/3rd’s of a stop.
• Using Bulb mode: If your exposure exceeds the in-camera timer of 30 seconds, switch your camera to Bulb mode. Plug in your cable release (or if you have the Nikon D3 you have the benefit of the built in intervolometer–come on Canon–give this one to us Canon shooters!) Your exposure will go as long as you hold the release button down. Be aware of the helpful clock that counts in seconds on the top LCD panel when shooting in bulb mode.
• NOTE: MOST WIRELESS REMOTES CAN ONLY TRIGGER THE CAMERA SHUTTER IN ACCORD WITH AN ACTUAL SHUTTER SPEED AND DO NOT WORK ON BULB MODE. SO LOOK FOR A WIRED REMOTE THAT YOU CAN PLUG IN YOUR CAMERA AND USE WITH BULB MODE, ALLOWING FOR EXPOSURES GREATER THAN 30 SECONDS.

PROCESSING RAW FILES

There are a number of programs for making modifications and corrections to raw files:

• Google Picasa (free)
• Adobe Lightroom (my preferred choice)
• Photoshop
• Apple’s Aperture
• and a few others.

In these programs you will find the necessary tools to address white balance, color saturation and tonality, noise reduction, shadow and highlight control, etc. The question of shooting a raw file over of .jpeg file will be immediately answered at this point!

5) Checklist for photographing the Northern Lights

1. Shoot in RAW format
2. Turn on Long Exposure Noise Reduction
3. Set LCD Brightness to low
4. Remove the filter from your lens
5. Pre focus your lens on infinity or use live-view with loupe
6. Test exposure, consult histogram
7. Have 2 batteries and 2 flash cards
8. Use a tall but sturdy tripod
9. Use a cable release (not a wireless one)
10. Check the aurora forecasts
11. Scout a location in daylight
12. Don’t breath on your viewfinder
13. Use your lens hood to protect against frost/condensation on your lens
14. While waiting for aurora, point your camera lens down to prevent frost gathering on the glass.
15. Have a luminex cleaning cloth accessible to clean frost from lens if necessary
16. Put black tape over your red processing light under the wheel (for Canon users-your fellow photographers will like you)

And finally, good luck and have fun! Getting yourself in the right spot, with clear skies, good aurora activity, and smooth working gear can take a few attempts. Be patient and enjoy the night sky. You are likely to learn a few constellations in the process!

• Northern Lights information
• More Aurora information
• Northern Lights Photo tour: Guided by professional photographer Hugh Rose & Patrick Endres